Child benefit tax code change despite no longer claiming?

[PatChaunceysFruitCake]

I stopped claiming child benefit midway though 2022 because mine and DH's salaries are both over £60k. Up until this point pay had fluctuated around the £57-£60k for both of us so I completed the tax return and paid back what was owed through tax code adjustment.

I've completed the 22/23 tax return two weeks ago and declared the limited child benefit received and arranged to pay it back through next year's PAYE.

I received a letter today to say tax code for 23/24 will be adjusted in anticipation of me claiming full child benefit for two children.

I'll ring HMRC tomorrow (dreading trying to get through) but does anyone know how easily they will be able to correct this? I don't want to pay £1,500 odd 'back' when I haven't claimed it.

Depending on the advisor you speak to at HMRC it will range from very easy to virtually impossible. I call them almost daily at work and honestly you get a different answer on most things depending who you are talking to. So if they say they can't do it, which they 100% can. Call back another time and try someone else.

Good advice @Hellocatshome. It really ought to be as simple as 'you've made a mistake, I don't claim child benefit, please change tax code back' but I know it won't be.

Soooo.... waited 1hr and 13minutes to get through. It was an odd conversation because she explained that as we'd been in self assessment for so long we now wouldn't need to complete the tax return and they'd just take the child benefit through PAYE

This didn't make any sense as a few years back we were both earning between £50 and £60k so would have been entitled to some of the child benefit. I don't know how they would have known to refund us without the self-assessment.

Anyway, she accepted the tax code was incorrect as we'd stopped claiming child benefit in 2022. She then couldn't change it as her system wasn't working. Fortunately she was determined to help and arranged for a colleague to do the correction. Obviously they will still be taking money they aren't entitled to this month and we will have to wait to get it back.