If your Child Benefit has been reduced or stopped you may be wondering why this happened.
The benefit is an allowance paid to you for each child that you have and is relied on by many homes, to help with basic living expenses like food, fuel and heating. You get Child Benefit if you’re responsible for bringing up a child who is under 16 or under 20 if they stay in approved education or training and it is normally paid every four weeks.
However, you must report any change of circumstances to the Child Benefit Office. These include changes to your family life or to your child's life.
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According to tax experts at Income Tax there are several circumstantial changes that could affect your payments. They have also advised on what you can do to get your payments back if they are stopped.
Your circumstances have changed
You must inform HMRC of any changes to your circumstances as soon as possible, as this can affect how much Child Benefit you are entitled to. Some changes could mean you get more money. However, the following changes in circumstance will result in reduced or no Child Benefit:
- You or your partner starts earning more than £50,000 — You will start paying a Child Benefit tax charge. If you earn more than £60,000, this tax will cancel out what you get in Child Benefit.
- You separate or divorce from your partner — Only one of you will receive Child Benefit, which will usually be the person the child lives with.
- Your living arrangements have changed — Moving house won’t affect your Child Benefit if the child still lives with you. If you go abroad, you will still get Child Benefit for the first eight weeks you are away (or 12 weeks if you are having medical treatment) as long as you still live in the UK and aren’t abroad for more than a year.
- Your immigration status has changed — If you are from the EU, Norway, Iceland, Switzerland or Liechtenstein and lose your ‘right to reside’, your Child Benefit will stop. If you are not from the EU, Norway, Iceland, Switzerland or Liechtenstein and your immigration status changes, your Child Benefit could be affected. However, your partner may still be able to claim.
Your child’s circumstances have changed
Again, you must inform HMRC of any changes to your child’s circumstances. The following instances might affect your entitlement to Child Benefit:
Your child has turned 16 or 20 if they are in education or training
Your child is aged 16 to 20 and leaves education or training
Your child is over 16 and starts working more than 24 hours per week
Your child gets married or forms a civil partnership
Your child goes missing or dies
Your child lives away from you for more than eight weeks in a row
Your child moves in with their partner on a permanent basis
Your child leaves the country for more than 12 weeks, unless it is part of school education or to get medical treatment
Your child goes to prison for more than eight weeks
You’ve started receiving other benefits
Your Child Benefit might be reduced or stop altogether if you start receiving payments from your local council or someone else who is looking after the child. Note that if you are receiving other benefits, you may receive less Child Benefit due to the benefit cap.
If your child starts receiving other benefits, such as Employment and Support Allowance, Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance, Income Support, tax credits and Universal Credit, your Child Benefit will stop.
There’s been a bank holiday
Usually, Child Benefit is paid every four weeks on either a Monday or a Tuesday (or you can get your money paid weekly if you are a single parent or you’re receiving other benefits like Income Support). However, bank holidays can affect your payment date.
If your payment date falls on a bank holiday, HMRC will make a partial — or full — payment earlier than usual. If you do get a partial payment, HMRC assures you will still receive the full payment by the expected date.
You haven’t updated your details on time
Your Child Benefit will stop automatically on August 31 after the child turns 16 — unless you let HMRC know that your child is continuing in full-time education or training or they are joining the armed forces or a government-sponsored careers programme.
If your child stays in education or training but then decides to leave, you will continue to get Child Benefit until whichever date after their 16th birthday comes first:
The last day in February
May 31
August 31
November 30
If you fail to update your details in time, you may still be able to claim Child Benefit, but your payments might be late.
What are the current Child Benefit rates?
There are two Child Benefit rates. For an eldest or only child you can get £21.80 per week. For any additional children, you can be paid £14.45 per child.
If a family splits up, you get £21.80 a week for the eldest child. If you have two children and one stays with you and the other stays with your ex-partner, you’ll both get £21.80 a week for each child.
If you both claim for the same child, only one of you will get Child Benefit for them. If you have other children who are entitled to Child Benefit, you’ll get £14.45 for each child.
If two families join together, the eldest child in the new family qualifies for the £21.80 rate and any other children who are eligible will get the £14.45 rate.
If either your or your partner’s ‘adjusted net income’ is over £50,000 a year, you may have to pay the High Income Child Benefit Charge. Your adjusted net income is your total taxable income before any personal allowances and less things like Gift Aid. Your total taxable income includes interest from savings and dividends.
If you have to pay the charge, you can still get the other advantages of Child Benefit like National Insurance credits. The charge will not be more than the amount you get from the Child Benefit payments.
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