Six reasons HMRC can stop your child benefit payments – and how to avoid them

MOST parents of kids under 16 get child benefit, which is a payment designed to help with the costs of raising a family.

But sometimes these payments can be abruptly stopped – and you might not realise why.

The benefit is paid every four weeks and is worth £1,331.20 a year for the eldest or only eligible child, and £881.40 each for each additional child.

It also gives valuable National Insurance credits, which can be used to build up your state pension entitlement.

For instance, a stay-at-home parent would get a year’s worth of credits which counts as 1/35^th of the full new state pension.

You need at least ten years to get any state pension at all.

There are lots of things that can impact your entitlement to child benefit, including pay rises, separations and divorces, and what your child chooses to do when they turn 16. 

Here’s the full list of things that can stop your payments and how to make sure you’re not missing out unnecessarily.

If you or your partner starts earning over £60,000 a year

Once either you or your partner starts to earn more than £60,000 a year, you start losing some of your child benefit. It is paid back via the higher earner, who will need to fill in a self-assessment tax return.

This amount is tapered between £60,000 and £80,000. If either you or your partner earns £80,000 or more, you need to pay all of the child benefit money back.

If you’re just over the thresholds, you might want to increase your pensions contributions to bring you back under the limit. 

The thresholds and calculations are done based on your adjusted net income (ANI), which is how much you earn from employment and things like rental income and savings interest, but deducting Gift Aid charitable donations and pensions contributions.

This means that by throwing a few extra thousands of pounds into your retirement fund each year, you can boost your financial security in later life and still get the child benefit payments.

If you’re significantly over the threshold or you can’t afford to give up some of your take home pay for your retirement, you’ll need to pay the child benefit fee. You should set aside money to do this, so it’s not a shock at the end of the tax year.

If one partner is a stay-at-home parent and the other earns over £80,000, you can choose to get the National Insurance credits, but not receive any of the money, which can cut down on the admin and means you don’t have to pay anything back.

When your child turns 16

Once your child turns 16, child benefit payments will cease, unless they stay in approved training or education. This includes doing A Levels, Scottish Highers and traineeships.

However, you need to inform HMRC of your child’s plans, or the payments will stop automatically on August 31 in the year they turn 16.

The education must be full-time, which the government classifies as more than an average of 12 hours a week of supervised study or course-related work experience. 

This can include:

• A levels or similar, for example Pre-U, International Baccalaureate
• T levels
• Scottish Highers
• NVQs and most vocational qualifications up to level 3 – excluding intermediate and advanced apprenticeships
• home education – if it started either before your child turned 16 or after 16 if they have special educational needs and disabilities
• traineeships in England

You cannot get Child Benefit if your child is studying an ‘advanced’ course, such as a university degree or BTEC Higher National Certificate, or if a course is paid for by an employer.

You can inform HMRC online here.

When your child turns 18

If your child heads off to university or gets a full-time job, your child benefit payments stop, as this no longer counts as approved education or training.

However, there are some paths they might choose where you are still entitled to the payments. These include:

• NVQ level 1, 2 or 3
• BTEC National Diploma, National Certificate and 1st Diploma
• Traineeships (England)
• National 4 and 5 (Scotland)
• SVQ level 1, 2 or 3
• Scottish Group Awards

You need to tell HMRC that your child is staying in education using the CH297 online form or your payments will stop.

You can also get Child Benefit for a young person aged 16-20 who is in approved training under one of the following programmes.

• In Scotland – The Employability Fund
• In Wales – Foundation Apprenticeships or Traineeships
• In Northern Ireland: United Youth Pilot, Training for Success, including Programme Led Apprenticeships, Pathways for Success (Pathways for Young People element) or, The Collaboration and Innovation Programme

If your child is 19, they must have been accepted or enrolled on the course before they turned 19.

Tell HMRC your child is staying in approved training using the CH297 online form.

If you’ve separated or divorced

If you separate from your children’s other parent or get a divorce, it can impact child benefit payments.

Only one person can get the money for each child, and you need to figure out who that will be. Usually, it’s the “resident parent”, which is the person who the child lives with most of the time.

If you have two children and share care equally, you could claim for one child each and both would be paid at the eldest child rate.

If you and your ex can’t agree, you can each apply and let HMRC decide. There are specific rules about who gets priority, but HMRC usually gives the benefit to the person the child lives with the most. You cannot challenge HMRC’s decision.

If you move in with a new partner

When you move in with a new partner, this could also impact your child benefit, especially if they have children and also claim child benefit.

You and your partner can claim for your respective children, but if you live together, only one of you can receive the higher “eldest child” rate. If both of you claim it, you will have to pay some of the money back.

There’s not much you can do about this, so you should factor it in when making decisions about living with a new partner and how you set up your finances.

If you go abroad for more than eight consecutive weeks

You can continue to receive Child Benefit for the first 8 weeks that you’re out of the UK, if you still live in the UK and your time away doesn’t go over a year. 

If you’re away to get medical treatment for yourself or someone in your family, or if a family member has passed away while abroad, you can receive Child Benefit for the first 12 weeks you’re away. 

If you stay abroad for more than a year, your Child Benefit will stop from the day you left the UK and you’ll have to pay some of it back.

You need to update HMRC immediately if you leave for more than 8 weeks, and if you’re abroad for medical reasons you should alert the taxman so your benefits don’t stop abruptly.

If your child no longer lives with you

You must update HMRC if your child:

• lives away from you for more than 8 weeks straight
• goes to another country for more than 12 weeks (unless it’s for school or medical treatment)
• moves in with their partner
• goes to prison for more than 8 weeks

In all these circumstances, you will no longer receive Child Benefit.

However, if your child is in the hospital or a care home for more than 12 weeks, you may still be able to receive Child Benefit if you are paying for their needs, like medicine, clothes, or food. 

You need to spend more than your child benefit payments are worth to keep getting them.

If your child moves in with your ex-partner, you need to call HMRC to explain the situation and find out if you can still receive Child Benefit.

If your ex-partner doesn’t make a claim for Child Benefit, you may keep getting it for up to 8 weeks.

You may be able to claim beyond that point, if you provide money to your ex-partner for your child and spend at least the amount of Child Benefit on your child’s needs each month. HMRC will provide guidance when you call them.