Huge overpayment child benefit

[sarahjnm]

Hadn't realised living with £60k earner meant that I shouldn't rcve child benefit for my daughter. Only just realised. It's been 10 years.
Anyone else been in this situation? I'm guessing I pay all back and penalties too. Could be as much as £15k.
I'm feeling suicidal at the thought. Our family are struggling as it is with various other things.

I don't understand your figure of 860 a month.

Do you mean 860/year?!

@theblindman But there’s a world of difference between someone who has knowingly and deliberately misled HMRC, even falsified records, and someone who has made a genuine error. 4 years plus penalty and interest seems punitive enough for me - it’s a drop in the ocean compared to businesses and billionaires using tax loopholes to avoid billions.

@sarahjnm This is NOT all on you, you know. Your DP should have checked when he was completing his tax return that you weren't claiming CB. You are both at fault, so please stop taking all the blame on yourself. These things happen.

I believe it’s 60k before tax etc

This is going to sound harsh

but that’s really your fault. You’re meant to know this.

meant with love though

Get your MP involved. It's a govt dept. MP intervening will help.

I've recently arranged to pay back a tax credit overpayment at £50 per month, total money owed is 3k.
It came about because my husband who is now deceased was changed from esa to jsa and esa had never been included in the household finance calculation but jsa was. The overpayment was initially divided between us but when he died the full debt fell to me.
I found them very easy to negotiate with so I'd prioritize phoning them and be realistic about what you can pay.

The HICBC is only payable when the adjusted net income of the Child Benefit claimant or their partner exceeds the earnings threshold of £50,000, up to 5 April 2024, or £60,000 from 6 April 2024. The charge is reported and collected under Self Assessment

The HICBC is only payable when the adjusted net income of the Child Benefit claimant or their partner exceeds the earnings threshold of £50,000, up to 5 April 2024, or £60,000 from 6 April 2024. The charge is reported and collected under Self Assessment

@Efrogwraig That would help if HMRC had done something wrong or were being unreasonable - but as there’s no suggestion of that, I very much doubt any MP is going to get involved in this.

Oh OP I feel for you. We were in this situation. We owed roughly 10K plus penalties. They reduced the penalties because we owned up to our mistake. I knew about the CB change and told my husband - he claimed he never heard/doesnt remember me ever telling him so never accounted for the CB in his tax return. We increased the mortgage to pay for it so never went into negotiations to repay it in instalments.

OP I made this mistake too. We claimed £860 in child benefit and got a bill of about £1,000. It was a hard lesson and you have my genuine sympathy.

This happened to us – we just took our eye of the ball. I hadn’t even realised it was going into my account (I was doing a mix of freelance and regular work so although I cd see it was being paid, I just assumed it was because I was below a certain threshold) and my husband hadn’t realised we were getting it ended up with numerous phone calls to HMRC. They did not give us the correct figure to begin with – they asked, for a lot more than we were due. I’m just letting you know that so that you have confidence in challenging anything that doesn’t sound right. It took another two goose before they got to the correct figure.

please remember this happens all the time. I know it can be scary, but it will b ok. Try and get some advice from a local citizens advice bureau or welfare advice shop.

good luck - I know that this is a pain in the hole but remember this is common and you are not alone with it x

Can you explain what you mean by 'net income' please?

Just stop receiving it now and don't say anything

Less certain allowable deductions such as pension contributions and donations. The SA form makes it all clear.

This is all terribly wrong isn't it? I wonder how many men are in the same situation, and will find themselves £10K or more in debt to the DWP for child benefit their live-in partner has received? Doesn't seem fair for the OP's partner to have to cough up all the money. As you say, especially when it's not even his child!

People really do need to be a lot more transparent about finances in relationships.

A good case for joint finances here I think. I don't know why people who live together have totally separate finances, especially when they're married. DH and I have had joint finances for nearly 30 years, (since we had children,) and we both see everything that goes into the account. And everything that goes out.

@sarahjnm I am sorry this is happening to you, but did you really not know about this £60K rule for an entire 10 years? You do seem to be holding your hands up though and admitting you're wrong, so hopefully the DWP will be kind to you and not stick fines and penalties on top. They will want it all back though, because to be fair, you have had all this extra money for 10 years.

I work for big corporate company and did excess overtime so went over the threshold and got a letter for financial year relatively quickly asking to do a tax return, it wasn’t the full amount I had to pay back but but sure how they write to some people and not others.

it’s such a stupid system, not sure why they can’t tell you how much you owe like with tax credits etc.

I don't see why op is at fault. The section on the self assessment form is very clear and anyone filling in the form would realise they needed to check with partner.

Hard to believe at 60k plus he wouldn't be filing an SA, expenses, company car, savings interest etc - almost anything outside the p60 mean you get an SA request.

I was/am in that situation and there is no way I'd see my partner being in receipt of child benefit meaning I'd claim it from her to pay my tax bill.

Its always been a weird tax - effectively insisting that you should know your partners financials. I don't actually know whether my partner claims it, I'd be surprised if she didn't so I've always used the hmrc online calculator to tell me what would have been paid.

(At one point the form said you should enter the CB you were entitled to - it's now reverted to the CB you received.)

I don't know if anyone has ever gone to Hmrc and said "I don't know, her finances are not my business"

Again, if I did know, why would i have not gone to hmrc sooner to sort this out - or be posting about it on here this eve. As you can see in quite a few posts above, many people also didn't know about this rule and have been caught out.
Yes we called today and are working together to get this sorted with them. Totally my fault for not realising and assuming I qualified for that monthly payment. Wish I had been more savvy. Believe me, my eyes are very puffy this evening, a huge mistake I've made and the guilt is very heavy. Especially with other family issues going on right now.

They will catch you in the end. I don't want that dark cloud hanging over me or our family.

Thank you so much, nice not to feel so alone. I feel embarrassed and guilty.
Thank you for the advice regarding correct figure, we will bear this in mind.

How much were the penalties with £10k owed please?
I am going to work flat out to pay this off within a year! Will be a tight 2025!

Don’t think 111 is going to be much help!

Totally disagree that most people on 60k would be filling in SA?! Why on earth would they?