Child benifit overcharge help

[YourRubyMaker]

Hello so we’ve received a letter stating we have to pay back some child benifit for the last two years , we have the option of filling out a self assessment or doing it through wages . We’ve decided to cancel future payments as it’s just not worth the hassle tbh , but as we’ve decided to stop them can we still pay the overpayment back though my partners tax code ? Or will it just presume I still get the payments in the future ? And how complicated is a self assessment for the charge ? Really unsure if what way to pay it back and clueless so would be grateful if anyone could give me some tips thanks

I would find out first how much you have to pay back, if you do it through self assessment you would probably have to pay it back in full. The fact that they are suggesting paying it back through PAYE code, you could assume it’s a reasonable amount and paying it back over a longer period may be better. I don’t think you have the option of just paying it back in full, but you could ask.

incorrect. You can only pay back through PAYE if it is less than a certain amount. And you might not have to pay it all back depending on your income. There is a calculator online. Use it and go from there.

If you have one parent at home and out of the labour force, it is really important for that person to continue claiming CB. It pays your NI stamp for pension contributions. You can opt to claim but not receive the actual
money.

if you only have employed income and have claimed CB for full tax years, filing takes about 10-15 minutes. It’s dead easy.

We have had to pay back some of the child benefit before they changed the thresholds
The self assessment was fairly simple to fill in and took about half an hour. Our repayment was £150ish so we paid it when we completed the self assessment.
They have changed the system so that in future years you don't have to fill in a self assessment form if the only reason for needing it is child benefit which has made the process a lot easier and I think it automatically changes my partners tax code to repay it. We haven't yet reached the new threshold for repayment but possibly will do next year so we already have it in place

If they've given you the option to pay back through PAYE you aren't paying back the full amount so still worthwhile claiming. BUt if you've decided to cancel future claims you can still opt to pay what you owe for last year through PAYE. Self assessment is also very straightforward if your financial affairs are straight forward. It talks you through the steps and unless you have anything complicated going on just do it yourself you don't need a tax advisor or anything.

In my household we claim it.

Then pay it back later.

There are a few advantage to this.

My partner gets NI credits as the benefit is claimed in their name- so I don't need to worry about it.

We are paying it back after claiming it- if you're good with money- you can use this cash to generate more.

Better to have 1k use then return it than not have it at all.

I do a yearly self assessment anyway as self employed.

If you don't think you can pay it back at once With the tax bill. It might be better for you to have it removed via the PAYE.

Juts make sure you don't need the NI credits and you or your partner aren't missing out on the NI credits.

Before you cancel - do you pay full NI in your own right? If not, keep it and let it be repaid through PAYE, you will receive NI credits that way.

We never claimed it, but I still received NI credits as a SAHM, as I registered to do so.

I receive it and do a self assessment every year. It’s not that complicated, it just asks for my salary for that year which is on my P60 then I fill in some info re interest rates (but tax on that is deducted at source). Dd is 18 in March so it will stop in August but i’ll have to do another tax return or 2 as it’s the prior tax year i’ll be doing shortly. It’s worth a few hundred a year for me so still worth claiming.

Friend of mine wasn’t aware she had to pay any back and had a letter through so is facing a big bill for last few years. I did stop claiming it but then they changed threshold to under 80k still receive some so I restarted.

There's a box you can tick to keep the NI credits but not receive the payments.