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Original poster

HI CB Charge - I'm not the parent.

29 replies

Abaacus · 23/05/2025 11:26

I live with my partner and her son, who lives with us the majority of the time. We own our home and have fully combined finances.
We both work, but I have a high-paying job and am likely to be promoted soon, which would put me over the Child Benefit threshold.

We're prepared to stop claiming Child Benefit to avoid the High Income Child Benefit Charge. That’s not a huge issue financially, but I do have a concern: if we stop claiming, I worry that the child’s biological father—who is involved, but only when it fits around his work schedule—could then start claiming it himself. That would mean I’m effectively covering the cost while someone with far less day-to-day involvement receives the benefit.

Has anyone been through something similar or have any advice?

OP posts:

Blackdow · 23/05/2025 17:29

Abaacus · 23/05/2025 16:27

You're very contradictory. Also you're the only one getting wound up here. All I've done is layed out a very real scenario which is taking place and advice on what to do. Earlier you were saying this is per household and not an individual claim and now your defence is that the link I sent is for parents in 2 different households. Have some consistency please.

Now I appreciate that you made me aware of the "claim but don't receive payment" option as I was unaware of it.

However with your current logic your suggestion is now redundant.

If your statement is true that :

"There is zero situation where they are going to come after you for the child benefit high income charge. That doesn’t happen."

Then your suggestion of :

"claim but don’t receive the payment"

Is redundant as my partner should be able to claim the full child benefit without a High Income Child Benefit charge being applicable to me.

The High Income Child Benefit Charge is widely documented to be applicable to non parent partners and not unique just to parents.

"It does not matter if the child living with you is not your own child."

The issue I am seeing here is that if the father does take more child care responsibility and then gets a decent claim to take the child benefits, in the way the rules currently work I would have to pay him for looking after his own son which is wrong. Fortunately with the claim but don't collect payment option we can avoid that situation.

Edited

Show quote history

I should have thought the meaning was clear. There is zero chance of them coming after you for the charge IF THE EX CLAIMS IT. That’s what your worry was; and that is not going to happen. Nothing is have said is contradictory.

Your partner claiming it is different. Why should she be able to claim it and have that charge not be applicable to you? The whole point is to charge it if you are treated as one household. You are.

Lots of parents live apart for work reasons (but are very much a couple) and one could claim it because they live apart when, in reality they are one household with two homes, but the higher earner is supporting everyone, so the higher earner still has to pay the charge.

You are the partner of the person claiming. You live as one household. So you pay the charge. You are not the partner of the ex and they do not contribute to the running of your household or cost raising of the child beyond maintenance, so no one in your house has to pay the charge if he is claiming it.

If your partner is claiming it, you pay the charge because you are living together as a couple. It doesn’t matter that you’re not the parent.

Nothing I have said is contradictory. You just don’t understand it.

Liondoesntsleepatnight · 23/05/2025 17:32

How would he ever know that you are not claiming it?

Blackdow · 23/05/2025 17:32

If the ex partner claims it, the current rules DO NOT mean you will have to pay the charge, no matter how much childcare he does. I promise you, that does not happen. The current rules do not allow you to have to pay the charge for HIS claim. You have completely misunderstood it. Call citizens advice and ask them.

If he ever launches a rival claim, and somehow manages to win that, this is not something you need to be concerned about.

Many single parents claim child benefit. Their ex partners and ex partner’s new spouse are not paying the high income tax charge because of that single parent's claim. That doesn’t happen.

IsItTime2GiveupChocolate · 24/05/2025 12:53

One parent should claim child benefit, especially if they are NOT working

Because this pays their National Insurance Contributions towards their state pension & other benefits until the child is of a certain age. So this is important

Can claim child benefit, but not the money

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