Thousands of families across the nation could boost their income by £110 a month starting from tomorrow, says HMRC. The tax authority is urging those eligible for Child Benefit to get in their applications and cash in on payments amounting to £25.60 for an eldest or only child and £16.95 each for any other children.
By getting in on this support, even for just one child, you’d see your income go up by £1331.20 every year, the same as nearly £110.95 each month. The tax team at HMRC are sounding the horn on this opportunity given that September 26 is the busiest day for baby arrivals, with around 2,000 bundles of joy expected to arrive on this date.
Myrtle Lloyd, HMRC’s Director General for Customer Services, said: “With more babies set to be born on 26 September than any other day, we hope that parents of these newborns take full advantage of their Child Benefit entitlement. We’ve made it simpler than ever to claim online and receive a first payment within as little as three days so download the app today or search on GOV.UK.”
New mums and dads get in their claim using either the HMRC app or the Government website, and you can apply 48 hours after registering the birth. Typically, payments will start arriving in your account within three days of filing your claim in meaning new parents could see the cash within a week. You can also can backdate your Child Benefit claim by up to three months.
When filling in the application, you will need to provide these details:
- Child’s birth or adoption certificate
- Bank details
- National Insurance number for yourself and your partner, if you have one
- Child’s original birth or adoption certificate and passport or travel document, for children born outside the UK.
It’s important to note that if one person’s income in a claimant household exceeds £60,000, part of your Child Benefit claim has to be repaid. The amount you repay, through the High Income Child Benefit Charge, gradually increases as your income surpasses the threshold, and the full amount must be repaid once your income reaches £80,000.
You can check your entitlement using the Child Benefit tax calculator tool on the Government website. A major perk of receiving the benefit is that you accumulate National Insurance (NI) credits, which count towards your state pension.
To receive the full new state pension, currently at £221.20 a week, you typically need 35 years of NI contributions, and 10 years of contributions to qualify for any state pension.