Most people are claiming child benefit but you may fall into one of the below areas where you have not done so:
- Spouse/partner earns over £50,000 and that person does not want to claim child benefit because of the claw back form the High Income Child Benefit charge
- Both parents work but have not claimed the child benefit
- Both parents work but use the child’s grandparent to look after that child and that grandparent is under state pension age
In the first scenario the spouse/partner not earning is losing out on national insurance pension credits which are needed to get a full state pension. We suggest that a claim is made and either state you do not want to receive the money or save it up and pay it back at the end of a tax year through self-assessment of the higher earner.
In the second scenario, a claim should still be made as one partner may lose their job. Having then registered for the child benefit they would be able to back-date a claim by three months. Depending on earnings point 1 may then apply.
Finally, in the third scenario a claim should be made to make the grandparent the primary carer. This will allow the grandparent not to lose out on the national insurance pension credits.
More details can be found using this link https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-insurance-credits-for-parents-and-carers-cf411a
To find out more on this, or if there is anything else we can help you with, please give us a call today on 01245 326280
