Child Benefit changes - are you entitled to additional income?

Child benefit is money paid to parents or anyone responsible for bringing up a child. Previously anyone with income over £50,000 would start to lose their entitlement to this benefit, receiving nothing once your income reaches £60,000.

HMRC have announced some important changes in relation to child benefit and therefore lets explore this to ensure you are not losing out on any benefits available to you :

Change in rates :

For the 23/24 tax year the amount received was £25.60 per week for the 1st Child, this is raising to £25.60 per week from April 24.

If you have any additional children, the amounts are increasing to £16.95 per child (previously £15.90 per week)

High income Child benefit charge :

For the 23/24 tax year, if your income (or your partners income if higher) exceeds £50,000, you have to report your income to HMRC via a Self-assessment and calculate a charge for the amount received in excess of what you were allowed. This charge has to be repaid to HMRC by 31/01/2025.

For the 24/25 tax year, HMRC have increase this threshold to £60,000, now meaning that if you (or your partner) have income of £60,000 or under you will no longer require a self-assessment to report this charge. If your income (or your partner's) exceeds £60,000 then you will require a self-assessment to calculate and repay any child benefit charges. You will need to register for self-assessment by 31/10/2024, and report and pay the charge by 31/01/2026

Re-registering for child benefit :

You may have have previously cancelled your Child benefit, to avoid self-assessment reporting. If this is the case, then you may want to re-register for child benefit to ensure you are receiving your full entitlement from April 24 onwards - this could generate you additional income in excess of £1,331.20, that you may have otherwise not be receiving ! Check how much you could be entitled too here!

To make a claim or check your eligibility you can do so directly from your HMRC app or via the HMRC website : https://www.gov.uk/child-benefit-tax-charge/restart-child-benefit

If you would like support on anything raised or to see how HPC Accountancy could support you and save you tax, get in touch today!