Who gets Child Benefit??

[WantingToEducate]

I’ve just seen a casual mention on another thread that if a parent earns over £50k they are not entitled to child benefit?!

Is this true??

Me and DH have been receiving Child Benefit since our children were born (they are now 9 and 5 old) and we had assumed it was non-income based?!

I’m now slightly shitting myself that we’ve been getting money that we are not actually entitled to!!!

Help!

Reassurance or guidance is desperately needed 😬

How much do you each earn OP after pension deductions? It’s calculated on taxable pay and is a sliding scale

This article may help:

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/family/child-benefit/

Well my pay has never been above that and I have also recently resigned so I have no income.

My husband’s salary is about £54k.

My DH recently got a pay rise that puts him over 50k. So I’ve spoke to HMRC who said you have to fill out a self assessment tax return and pay a% back for everything 100 you earn over the threshold . So if you or your DH earn more than 50k you’ll have to do that and you can be fined for not doing it

It's a sliding scale after 50k

You do a self assessment tax return to show what your entitled to between 50-60k

My income varies through bonuses so does DH so when we reached the 50-60 mark I just requested to stop having it as couldn't be bothered with the faff

You can still get the ni contributions

You can still claim it and you should if you are not working to get the NI contributions but money is then clawed back through the tax system and the high earner then has to full in a self declaration tax form.
However it's important to note that pension contributions are taken off the salary before they look at income. So if your husband pays 4k a year in pension contributions you would be ok

He’s out today but I will get him to look at his P60 when he comes home. Thank you!!

https://www.gov.uk/child-benefit-tax-calculator

The link PP posted from money saving expert also explains very clearly about pension contributions including any private pensions he may be paying into and other allowable expenses.

If you do stop claiming it, then make sure that you register to get the NIC credits towards your state pension (you can get them up to youngest DC aged 12)

The higher earner needs ro register for self assessment and do a tax return if they earn over £50k. Between £50-£59k you pay back a proportion (10% for each £1k over £50k) and once you reach £60k it would all need to be paid back.

How long has your dh earned over £50k as he may owe money back from previous tax years too?

It's taxable pay that has to be above £50K and there's a sliding scale from there to £60K. It's worth your DH putting more into his pension to avoid it because it effectively pushes up you marginal tax rate because of the amoint youhave to pay back, it varies depending how many DC you have but if I didn't keep an eye on my pension contributions I'd pay 67% tax on my income between £50 and £60K.

My cousin didn't realise the rules had changed, around 15 years ago. She carried on claiming even though they were on £150,000 per year. It got picked up through his taxes, and they had to repay quite a bit years later.

My husband earns over 50k so we aren't allowed to get it, I am a stay at home mum at the moment. Had to fill in a form to 'opt out' though, so my pension is covered during this time.

My friend, on the other hand, gets it even though her and her husband earn 45k each. Go figure...

You are 'allowed' to get it. You can either claim it and the higher earner pays some/all back or claim it and opt out of payment to protect NI credits

Yes sorry that's what I meant, I've claimed it but opted out of payments to protect my NI (because my husband would have to pay it all back anyway). Actually there was a Martin Lewis programme recently which said many women are not claiming it and will also lose out on protecting their pensions/NI, so may be a future problem for some.