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Original poster

High Income Child Benefit Charge - Panic!!

22 replies

MamaBerg · 07/01/2025 16:59

Hi I have 2 kids 9 and 6. Been claiming child benefit since they were babies. For the last few years my husband had a company car with fuel card adding £17k to his taxable income. This has pushed his modest income into "high income" I think and now I'm scared we owe thousands back that I just don't have. He pays all his tax through PAYE so it's never occurred to us we need to pay more. His personal tax free amount is actually negative so he pays tax on every penny he earns and more so actually his take home is very little compared to his "pre tax income"

Does anyone here know how to find out how much we owe and can we pay in installments? I can't believe no one ever told us about this and found out by chance

OP posts:
ForLovingAquaSheep · 07/01/2025 17:01

HMRC will raise an assessment when they get round to it, nothing to worry about.

Depending on the amount they'll either further restrict his code to get it back or let you set up a payment plan

Jmaho · 07/01/2025 17:04

@ForLovingAquaSheep this is completely incorrect
HMRC won't raise anything. Its up to the individual to sign up for self assessment if they have been claiming child benefit and are over the income threshold
You can repay anything owed via tax code adjustment or possibly a payment plan but you need to look into this ASAP

Jmaho · 07/01/2025 17:05

Also recommend searching child benefit on this board as there are loads of posts on it

gohomeroger1 · 07/01/2025 17:06

The sooner you try and resolve it the less penalty payments you will have.

dementedpixie · 07/01/2025 17:09

@MamaBerg prior to April 2024 the threshold was 50K with it all paid back at 60K. After April 2024 the threshold changed to 60K with it all paid back at 80K.

What was your dh getting paid and in which tax years would he be over the threshold? He'd need to register for self assessment and then submit tax returns for the relevant tax years to find out how much is owed back.

EauNeu · 07/01/2025 17:10

The amount you have to repay tapers up, it's not that if you are just over the threshold immediately you have to repay it all.
I would recommend looking at money saving expert on this topic. There is a link to a calculator on there so you can get an idea how much you may have to repay

anniegun · 07/01/2025 17:10

I don't understand why so many people don't check their tax. There are plenty of online calculators and it is your responsibility to pay the tax due. Plus it is not inconceivable that you are paying too much tax and hence worth claiming it back.

dementedpixie · 07/01/2025 17:10

ForLovingAquaSheep · 07/01/2025 17:01

HMRC will raise an assessment when they get round to it, nothing to worry about.

Depending on the amount they'll either further restrict his code to get it back or let you set up a payment plan

No they won't
The onus is on the person to register for self assessment and know they need to pay some back

Readysteadygo1 · 07/01/2025 17:16

Jmaho · 07/01/2025 17:04

@ForLovingAquaSheep this is completely incorrect
HMRC won't raise anything. Its up to the individual to sign up for self assessment if they have been claiming child benefit and are over the income threshold
You can repay anything owed via tax code adjustment or possibly a payment plan but you need to look into this ASAP

This.

Cavello · 07/01/2025 17:24

Your DH needs to sort this out as soon as possible, as the deadline for submitting 2023/24 self-assessment is 31st January and he will need to be allocated a registration number. Good luck. It is a sliding scale and HMRC can do payment plans.

SizzlingPrickle · 07/01/2025 17:27

Definitely don’t wait for HMRC to do it - the longer it goes on, the more interest and penalties he’ll have to pay!

I would get him to call HMRC and they should hopefully be able to tell him how many years it will apply for over the phone, he will then need to apply for a UTR and note which years he needs to do tax returns for. The 31 January deadline won’t apply to him, he’ll get a deadline when they write to him with the UTR.

TooManyCupsAndMugs · 07/01/2025 17:41

It is on the person to know but HMRC wrote to us the very first year we had to pay the charge; Self Assessment was done and charge was paid via tax code the next year. Get in touch with HMRC pronto.

BumpandBounce · 14/01/2025 22:12

Don't panic OP. I did the same thing last year and had a complete meltdown about it.

I would suggest that your DH registers for self-assessment online straight away. It can take a couple of weeks to get a Government Gateway code in the post so that should be the priority.

You can use this calculator to work out your entitlement and whether the High Income Benefit Charge applies.

Child Benefit tax calculator - GOV.UK

If you have to pay back the Child Benefit you have received, you may be able to set up a payment plan. Unfortunately, you can only pay it back via next years PAYE if you owe less than £3,000 and have filed your return by 31.12.24.

In future, you may want to opt out of receiving the payments but make sure you still claim as it will protect your NI contributions for your State pension.

Child Benefit tax calculator

Estimate the Child Benefit you've received and your High Income Child Benefit tax charge

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

TooManyNiblings · 14/01/2025 23:17

I am about to start a job over the limit for the first time. As DH already does self-assessment, can he claim it and add it on to his? He doesn't earn anywhere near the limit!

Ubugly · 14/01/2025 23:23

Jmaho · 07/01/2025 17:04

@ForLovingAquaSheep this is completely incorrect
HMRC won't raise anything. Its up to the individual to sign up for self assessment if they have been claiming child benefit and are over the income threshold
You can repay anything owed via tax code adjustment or possibly a payment plan but you need to look into this ASAP

HMRC wrote to me to me to advise to do a self tax return even though PAYE as went over the threshold and had to pay some back for 2 years. The third year they wrote to me and I had cancelled my child benefit so filled in the form and owes nothing. I was doing loads of overtime so went over so could claim again now.

so yes they do contact you and you fill in an online form and pay it back.

dementedpixie · 14/01/2025 23:23

@TooManyNiblings he could claim child benefit but as the higher earner you'd need to do the self assessment and pay back any money owed. It's often the case that 1 person claims it and the other person is responsible for paying it back.

PokerFriedDips · 14/01/2025 23:30

This isn't your tax issue it is his. You are 100% entitled to claim the benefit and haven't done anything wrong. He has failed to keep his tax affairs in order and he should sort it out.

If he hasn't done a self assessment before he can register now. The deadline for the tax year ending april 2024 is going to close in a couple of years so he needs to be quick. If there's a problem with previous tax years too then the sooner he volunteers the information the cheaper it will be.

BumpandBounce · 14/01/2025 23:30

TooManyNiblings · 14/01/2025 23:17

I am about to start a job over the limit for the first time. As DH already does self-assessment, can he claim it and add it on to his? He doesn't earn anywhere near the limit!

It doesn’t matter who claim the Child Benefit. If either of you earn over the threshold you have to pay the Higher Income Charge.

PokerFriedDips · 14/01/2025 23:33

TooManyNiblings · 14/01/2025 23:17

I am about to start a job over the limit for the first time. As DH already does self-assessment, can he claim it and add it on to his? He doesn't earn anywhere near the limit!

It's irrelevant which of you claims the benefit. If you earn over the threshold and anyone in your household claims CB then you are liable for the tax charge whether it is you or him that earns it and whether it is you or him that claims it.

However if you are only just over the limit you can bump up your pension contributions and owe nothing - it's your post-pension-deduction income that is relevant.

Joey124 · 17/01/2025 12:07

Jmaho · 07/01/2025 17:04

@ForLovingAquaSheep this is completely incorrect
HMRC won't raise anything. Its up to the individual to sign up for self assessment if they have been claiming child benefit and are over the income threshold
You can repay anything owed via tax code adjustment or possibly a payment plan but you need to look into this ASAP

I'm sorry you're going through this, we went through this too. We set up a payment plan over 1 year to repay what was owed. If you are late informing them they add a fine, so it is best to inform them as soon as possible. When we first signed up to CB apparently we were informed of this, but that was 6 years ago and we were earning way under the threshold then. It is appalling that they do not check on this and inform people when they have access to all PAYE salary info and it is a matter of sending one automated letter/email when you go over 50k. People posting above are right that they have recently starting informing people after criticism in the press, but they didn't for many years. We found out from word of mouth via many other people this happened to.

Whydoeseveryonewanttoargue · 17/01/2025 12:08

Jmaho · 07/01/2025 17:04

@ForLovingAquaSheep this is completely incorrect
HMRC won't raise anything. Its up to the individual to sign up for self assessment if they have been claiming child benefit and are over the income threshold
You can repay anything owed via tax code adjustment or possibly a payment plan but you need to look into this ASAP

Exactly this. My husband does his taxes every year and just ‘owes’ the money back.

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