One week left to update post-16 child benefit claims
HMRC is reminding parents and carers of 16 to 19-year-olds that they have until 31 August to confirm whether their teenager is staying in full-time education or approved training
Letters have been sent to 1.3 million parents and carers of children, who are in the last year of school or education, to remind them to update their child benefit records by 31 August, otherwise their child benefit will automatically stop. More than 600,000 families have already notified HMRC, but many have yet to do so.
Child benefit is worth £21.80 per week for a first child, equivalent to £1,133.60 a year, and £14.45 for each additional child. There is no limit to the number of children you can claim for.
Parents and carers can update their child benefit records using their personal tax account on gov.uk, online or by telephone.
Angela MacDonald, HMRC’s deputy chief executive, said: ‘Child benefit provides vital financial support for families and we want to make sure no-one misses out because they haven’t updated their details on time.
‘The quickest way to notify HMRC is via your personal tax account online, or search ‘child benefit when your child turns 16’ on gov.uk for more information or further options for contacting us.’
Child benefit is paid to eligible parents or carers who are responsible for a child under 16, or under 20 if they are in full-time non-advanced education or approved training. This includes A-levels/ Scottish Highers, NVQs up to Level 3, or certain traineeships – a list of approved courses and training schemes is available on gov.uk.
HMRC also warned that if parents or carers have an income over £50,000 (or their partner does) and receive child benefit, they will have to pay the high income child benefit charge via an annual self assessment tax return. If your income is over the threshold you can still get child benefit payments, but will have to pay a tax charge at the end of each tax year.
The charge is equal to 1% of a family’s child benefit for every £100 of income that is over £50,000 each year. If an individual’s income is over £60,000, the charge will equal the total amount of the child benefit.
In 2019/20, 373,000 individuals had to pay the higher income child benefit charge, which raised £416m in additional tax revenue. Meantime, 624,000 taxpayers have opted out of child benefit due to the higher rate tax charge.
The latest figures on non-compliance show that 4,742 individuals had to pay fines of £420,000 during tax year 2018/19. This figure has dropped significantly from 20,281 the previous year when £3.6m was paid in fines.
Story wrote by Sara White.