Backdating Child Benefit

HMRC is refusing to backdate child benefit

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Hello Team,

I have recently taken over a new client and realsied they have not claimed Child Benefit for the last 4 years and their income is below £50k. They said they were not aware of this and no one told them about this claim. They tried to request this from HMRC and they have backdated it only for 3 months and refusing to backdate it further. Do you have any idea, whose responsibility is to inform the parents about the child benefit? Do they have a ground to fight / appeal against HMRC's decision and get this backdated? Thank you

Replies (12)

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JCACE
By jcace
16th May 2018 12:01

3 months is the maximum backdating period cited in all the GOV guidance. I would imagine that as any claim is the responsibility of the parents, it would be difficult to successfully argue against HMRC's decision.

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paddle steamer
By DJKL
16th May 2018 12:14

Things like information re child benefit used to be in the hospital farewell packs you got as you left the maternity hospital, in addition you got a visit at home post birth from a midwife/ similar when the checked on the baby's progress and likely checked everything sorted re notifying entitlement, of course this was before they introduced the earnings thresholds re claiming.

No idea what they do these days but frankly I cannot believe the responsibility for applying does not rest with the parents who surely needs to put a modicum of effort into the having a child process.

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Replying to DJKL:
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By KevinMcC
16th May 2018 12:24

DJKL wrote:

Things like information re child benefit used to be in the hospital farewell packs you got as you left the maternity hospital, in addition you got a visit at home post birth from a midwife/ similar when the checked on the baby's progress and likely checked everything sorted re notifying entitlement, of course this was before they introduced the earnings thresholds re claiming.

No idea what they do these days but frankly I cannot believe the responsibility for applying does not rest with the parents who surely needs to put a modicum of effort into the having a child process.

You certainly get information in at least one of the packs you are given (not sure if it comes from the midwife during pregnancy or from the hospital when leaving). We've had details given to us for all 3 (2010, 2013 & 2017), so unless they give out different information in England, they will have gotten something.

That being said, I don't think it can be said to be anybodies responsibility other than the parents to claim for the child benefit. Although the NHS provide details, which is helpful, it's certainly not their responsibility to tell parents. The information is easily available on HMRC's website, and it is a pretty well publicised benefit, so the information is out there.

You're told in the information leaflet to claim as soon as possible as 3 months is as far back as they can go, so your client may be onto plums looking for any more than that.

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Replying to KevinMcC:
paddle steamer
By DJKL
16th May 2018 12:36

Ours were a tad further back in time,1991 and 1994.

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By pfconsult
16th May 2018 13:15

Thanks guys.. client is very upset as they say they were not aware of it until I told them about this and lost nearly 4 years claims for one kid and 2.5 years for the other.

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Red Leader
By Red Leader
16th May 2018 13:27

It's possible of course that one of the parents has been receiving the CB without realising / remembering.

The 4-weekly payment may be going into an otherwise dormant bank a/c; or an active one and the recipient simply doesn't review the transactions in their bank a/c with the same meticulousness that we would.

Also make sure both parents check their bank accounts. Often one spouse has an at best hazy idea of their own finances, and an almost non-existent factual knowledge of their spouse's.

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Replying to Red Leader:
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By pfconsult
16th May 2018 13:55

Thank you.. they did check and received nothing.. HMRC has started paying from now but not happy to backdate it for more than 3 months.. They are correct as per the law.. but my client is arguing if they don't know about this it's HMRC fault that they were not notified

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Replying to pfconsult:
By K81
16th May 2018 14:46

this is not any sort of argument, of course it is not HMRC's fault that they didn't know.

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Replying to pfconsult:
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By Peter Cane
16th May 2018 16:00

I must confess that if HMRC are at fault about anything, I'd be near the front of the queue to tell them so, but in this case, I think it's totally unfair to pin the blame on HMRC for this one. Child Benefit has been around for so long now and I would imagine it would have been mentioned in pre-natal groups or by their doctor's surgery. Sorry, can't see any mileage on this one.

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Replying to Peter Cane:
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By Matrix
16th May 2018 16:16

Exactly. Details of how to claim child benefit would have been provided when each birth was registered by the registrar, this family missed the opportunity twice so have to take full responsibility.

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By Matrix
16th May 2018 14:29

I expect it would be in the literature provided when you register the birth. I am quite surprised since you have 9 months to get used to the idea of having a child and it is amazing they didn't realise.

Having said that, a high earning relative is expecting and had no idea about the £50k limit. No excuse with the internet around these days.

You can only go back 3 months.

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By bernard michael
17th May 2018 10:08

Are there actually people in this benefit ridden society that are not aware of Child Benefit for 4 years ?
eg Mums talk to mums and moan about the amount they get.

I agree that it doesn't sound correct and one of the partners is getting it and not telling the other

Cynical - moi??

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