Child benefit

[Donotpanicoknowpanic]

Hello Does anyone have any thoughts

I am a single parent (kids live with me 7 days a week)

My basic pay is £37668

My bonus is roughly £3000 - it varies a bit

Lunch allowance roughly £1000

I get a company car on top

It suddenly occurred to me that I seem to be a higher rate tax payer (boo)

As part of my divorce agreement I get the child benefit paid into my bank account (only I have access)

However it's in my ex's name (they have a lot smaller income)

My question is am I doing anything wrong with child benefits

As far as I can tell I can claim as long as I earn under £60,000

I don't want the child benefit in my name as it might put me in confrontation with my ex and we get on fine at the moment

higher rate is from £50,271. But you have to earn over £60k this tax year to have to pay back.
if you pay pension this is before tax and brings you down again so you are fine.

Thanks, I read somewhere that income tax higher threshold was from about £37000 though maybe I read the wrong number

I think it's that after the 12500 tax free amount. So 12.5k tax free then next 37 at standard rate, then above 50k at higher rate

If you're in England, you've definitely got that wrong, are you a higher rate tax payer?

So he is fraudulent in claiming for child benefit.

As the person who is paying the tax for this I am slightly cross. Claim it for your kids future, if you don't need it now.

And stop being complicit with his fraud

Pretty sure you're not personally paying for this specific benefit! We all pay tax - including OP :)

OP is entitled to Child Benefit, and it is going into her account. Sounds like it was originally set up under the ex's name. There's no money going to the wrong person here, and not really any fraud according to the Gov website - he can be the one claiming as long as it is passed along to OP (which it is). OP is well under the threshold as others have explained.

Sorry, I read that it was in his name and going into his account. And this fraudulent

But is actually in his name and going into the OPs account.

I can only recommend getting the name on the benefit changed t9 the OPs.

Thanks for pointing this out to me, I was in a rush to get out of the house so misread

Y

But the OPs company car reduces her tax free allowance, although it won't affect her entitlement to CB, as the rules currently stand.

However, it seems odd that it's in your ex's name. Although it sounds like you keep the money? But it wouldn't affect your NI credits, which aren't an issue as long as you are working as you'll get them anyway.

But if you started to earn above £60k, it could look like you're trying to get around the higher earner CB tax rules by putting the claim in your lower earning ex's name as he's outside your household.

If it goes into your bank then it needs to be in your name otherwise you could get into trouble with tax if you do go over the threshold. But for now you are quite a bit under it, it’s £60,000. You are also well under the higher rate tax as that’s over £50k once the personal allowance is taken into account.

I have the kids 7 days a week and the money goes to me

It was set up in my exes name as they did the paperwork at the beginning

It's easier to let things be

The bank account is controlled by me

(I also get maintenance intermittently at best)

Sounds like neither of you earn above the 50k or 60k from April 2024 so it won't be a problem.

I think you're confusing the 12.5 tax free allowance plus the 37k you start paying tax on.

You are not a high rate tax payer. You don't earn over £50,270.

If your ex earns more than £50k then they should be declaring it on self assessment regardless of who's bank account it goes into. As long as they are it's fine to go into your account.
Transferring it into your name is correct if you have kids 7 day a week and are therefore primary carer.
Don't forget anything you pay into a pension reduces your taxable income for child benefit purposes, so assuming autoenrollment you are still a way off the threshold.

Yep, you are correct

I made a mistake

I was a bit surprised, I misread it