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.

Good point!

So in my case - no gift aid, no car it’s only pension credits that can make a difference. Which figure do I use? My contributions or my employers?

If your ex- husband is the Child Benefit customer. You won’t be liable (higher earner for tax charge). Because no one in your household is receiving Child Benefit!
You only get NI credits until child is 12.
You will need to claim in your own right and opt out!
The payment can go into any ones account if that is what the Child Benefit customer gives.

@Mojodojocasahous To work out your adjusted net income you take gross income and deduct your gross pension contributions (not your employer’s). There is guidance here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/adjusted-net-income

If you look at it from the high earner point of view (my current husband) his household has been rcvng this extra money when it shouldn't have been. So he's at fault as he should have declared it. The benefit was still contributing to our household.

Doubt it

But you aren’t the Child Benefit customer! Please phone and speak to CHB to confirm you aren’t the customer!

I told them today, they said its up to the customer where the money gets debited to.

How long ago was this please?

So, if they’ve accepted that your exH is the “customer” and he has decided it should be paid into your account surely you’re in the clear regarding the high salary rule.

I don't really think so..

If you look at it from the high earner point of view (my current husband) his household has been rcvng this extra money when it shouldn't have been. So he's at fault as he should have declared it. The benefit was still contributing to our household.

Why are you taking all the blame for this?
He should have checked but didn't.
The household benefitted from the extra money so that includes him.
And now you're the one who is going to pay it all back?
And then cancel the claim (or whatever way it works, I'm not in the UK) so you're paying it all back despite receiving less money personally?

@RoaryLion1 Thank you, much appreciated.

Hope you get sorted op

This happened to us. Ex DH was earning well over (which I wasn't aware of) we had to pay it back. HMRC did allow an arrangement, I'm still to this day unsure what it was as he was incredibly cagey about it all. MIL lent us some of it but the entire family blamed me for it. It was a bit of a shit time tbh. Part of the reason he is now an ex.

Sounds like you do need to pay it back. Best to call hmrc and be transparent.

This may not be as bad as you fear unless your husband earns (earned) significantly over 60k (was 50k). As other have said, unless he has additional company benefits his pension contributions, charitable donations and any childcare vouchers should reduce the salary down. I actually wonder if there are more people opt of child benefit who could claim it, than people who claim erroneously. I read on here so often of people hitting 50k and just opting out. Surely you’d be paying a few k pension anyway regardless of purposely retaining CB?

I have 4 children ranging in age from 24 down to 13 and had no idea about this until last year so it is entirely possible!

Child benefit should be automatically taken off your husband's earnings after £50 000? X

Truly bizarre that people are blaming OP’s DP. Someone upthread wrote it’s his fault for earning too much..

The suggestion that he’s basically financially abusing OP unless he pays every penny back himself since he was was benefitting from this ‘household money’ is also ridiculous. He earns more than £60k. Something tells me he’d have survived just fine without the £25 a week CB which I sincerely doubt was spent on him/he benefitted from. MN can be quite infantilising - these kinds of threads encourage women to see themselves as helpless victims who should expect to be bailed out by partners/husbands.

OP - it’s a crappy situation. When I had DD I was on about £45k. In the tax year she turned 1 my work situation changed and I earned sales commissions that took me over £60k. I didn’t really pay attention and then a year or so later when I got a higher paying job I closed my CB claim and that’s when HMRC hit me with a large fine plus I had to pay money back. I do remember I wrote a long letter making excuses and they did reduce the fine slightly.

Thought everyone is entitled to child benifit no matter how much they earn

My DH is on PAYE and still has to do a tax return and we still have to pay it back EVERY YEAR.

No it isn't
The threshold is now £60k and the higher earner needs to do a self assessment tax return and declare the CB and pay some or all of it back.

You're half right in that anyone can apply for it

Unfortunately if someone in the family earns £60K or over then some or all of it would need to be paid back using a self assessment tax return. £80K is when it all gets paid back

Have you not thought about opting out of payment if he earns over £80K