HMRC hands households extra £541 with 20 week rule | Personal Finance | Finance
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has confirmed an extra cash boost of up to £541 for households claiming Child Benefit thanks to a 20-week rule.
The money is available to parents or carers who are responsible for a child aged 16 or 17 who leaves education or training and instead signs up to the armed forces or signs up with their local careers service. Parents of teenagers who choose this path can continue to get Child Benefit payments for up to 20 extra weeks, providing eligible families with a welcome boost of cash. Following a 3.8% uplift at the start of the new tax year on April 6, Child Benefit is now worth £27.05 per week for the first or eldest child.
Families with more than one child can get weekly payments at a rate of £17.90 per child, meaning those with two children following the same path after their GCSEs or National 5s could get an additional £358 from HMRC in 20 weeks.
Confirming the extra cash boost in a post on X on Sunday (July 26), HMRC said: “Leaving full-time education doesn’t always mean losing Child Benefit!
“If your child is 16 or 17 and signs up with their local careers service or the armed forces instead of full time education, you could still get payments for up to 20 more weeks. Apply for a child benefit extension via the HMRC app or online.”
The ‘20 week rule’ is known as an ‘extension’ for Child Benefit and allows claimants to continue getting payments when teenagers leave full-time education or training to follow a different route.
HMRC explains: “You could get Child Benefit for 20 weeks (called an ‘extension’) if your child leaves education or training and registers with either:
the Ministry of Defence, for example to join the armed forces
contact HMRC to apply for the extension.”
To be eligible for this Child Benefit extension, your child must be aged either 16 or 17, work for less than 24 hours per week, and not get certain benefits, such as Universal Credit.
Parents or carers must have already been entitled to Child Benefit immediately before their teenager left the education or training, and apply for it within three months of them leaving to be eligible for the 20 week extension.
