Martin Lewis’ MoneySavingExpert.com website has urged thousands of families to check if they’re eligible for Child Benefit following a huge change.
The threshold for when higher income families need to start paying back Child Benefit was increased on April 6. You used to have to start paying back Child Benefit when someone in your household earns over £50,000 - but this has now been raised to £60,000.
The point where you need to pay back 100% of your Child Benefit has also risen from £60,000 to £80,000. It means anyone earning between £50,000 to £60,000 is now eligible for the full amount of Child Benefit, while someone earning between £60,000 to £80,000 will be entitled to some support, but not the full amount. Child Benefit is now tapered off at 1% for every £200 of income that exceeds £60,000. If your income exceeds £80,000, you will pay back the entire amount of Child Benefit.
Writing in its weekly newsletter, the MSE team said: “Child Benefit high income thresholds raised - URGENTLY check if your family is one of 100,000s set to benefit. The cut-off point at which you start paying back Child Benefit and the point at which you lose all financial entitlement to it BOTH went up on 6 April, for the first time since 2013. These changes will benefit 485,000 families but many need to MANUALLY opt back in.”
Child Benefit is a monthly payment available to parents or anyone in charge of looking after a child. The amount you can claim has just risen from £24 a week to £25.60 for the eldest child, and to £15.90 a week to £16.95 for any additional child. You have to be responsible for someone under the age of 16 to claim Child Benefit - however, you may be able to keep on claiming until your child turns 20 if they are in approved education or training.
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