Be careful with child benefit

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A client just got one of those chaser letters about child benefit (HICBC), they had given 52 weeks to their previous accountant instead of 53 weeks last tax year.

We always look up the exact amount on government sites rather than using the client’s figures.

It was not a nice letter to receive for only 1 week - £100 or so owing.  

So check the child benefit before entering as they are hot on this and it is a long letter about missing income rather than a statement with £100 owing.

Replies (9)

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By MJShone
18th Sep 2019 08:41

It's so easy to check, I don't know why everyone doesn't do it. Also, when circumstances change and benefits stop, if the client can tell you what date the Child Benefit Office tells them the CHB stopped, the online calculator copes with that as well. https://www.gov.uk/child-benefit-tax-calculator
Only for those between £50k and £60k do you need to put in income details. For someone who's clearly over the £60k, we just put in £100k.

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By ireallyshouldknowthisbut
18th Sep 2019 09:00

Which tax year is that for?

I thought that last 53 week period was 2015/16, and the next one is the current tax year, 2019/20?

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Replying to ireallyshouldknowthisbut:
RLI
By lionofludesch
18th Sep 2019 09:17

They can't be four years apart. Either five or six, depending on how the leap years fall.

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RLI
By lionofludesch
18th Sep 2019 09:20

£100 tax on one week's Child Benefit seems a lot.

How many kids had he got ? Dozens ?

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By Matrix
18th Sep 2019 09:32

Sorry I think there were 13 months and not 12 rather than 53 not 52 weeks. I did not prepare the return and have not looked into where the figure came from, I was just warning others not to use figures provided by clients but look up the official amount.

Bizarrely I often use pensions provided by my lovely pensioner clients rather than the HMRC amounts and never had a problem.

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Replying to Matrix:
RLI
By lionofludesch
18th Sep 2019 09:47

It's paid four-weekly but you still need to work on the amounts due for each calendar year.

Like State Retirement pension. Your April payment usually includes some weeks at the old rate and some at the new rate.

You can't just add up the 13 (or maybe 14) payments you receive in the year.

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Replying to lionofludesch:
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By Matrix
18th Sep 2019 10:56

That makes sense, the client gave 12 payments thinking they were monthly whereas they were 4 weekly.

As I say, it was the previous accountant, I use statutory figures.

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Replying to Matrix:
RLI
By lionofludesch
18th Sep 2019 17:42

Matrix wrote:

That makes sense, the client gave 12 payments thinking they were monthly whereas they were 4 weekly.

As I say, it was the previous accountant, I use statutory figures.

So, actually, he only reported 48 weeks.

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Replying to lionofludesch:
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By Matrix
18th Sep 2019 18:17

Yes because they thought they were monthly.

They have just given me 14 for the last tax year so are being over cautious now.

Does anyone know where HMRC get their figures from so I can ensure they match this year? The amount changed twice during the year.

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