HMRC issues 10-day alert to claim £1,354 a year | Personal Finance | Finance
Parents have just 10 days left to secure more than £1,300 a year in Child Benefit – or risk losing the payments altogether. With GCSE results reeleased earlier today (Thursday), HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is urging families to act fast if their teenager is staying in education or training this September.
Parents must extend their claim by August 31 or the money will automatically stop. So far, more than 509,000 parents have updated their claim, with a record-breaking 67% doing it online to guarantee their payments continue into the new school year. But with 1.5 million families eligible, hundreds of thousands have yet to act.
The benefit is far from small change. Parents receive £26.05 per week – or £1,354.60 a year – for their eldest or only child, and an additional £17.25 per week (£897 a year) for each younger sibling.
Myrtle Lloyd, HMRC’s Chief Customer Officer, stressed just how vital the cash can be at a time when costs are climbing.
She said: “Teenagers can be expensive and Child Benefit is an important source of income for your household. As soon as you know what your teen is doing in September, don’t miss out. You can extend your claim in minutes through the HMRC app or online to ensure your payments continue.”
Child Benefit doesn’t end the moment GCSEs are over. Payments can continue if a teenager is in full-time non-advanced education (such as A-levels, T-levels or certain college courses), or taking part in an approved training scheme. A full list of qualifying courses is available at GOV.UK.
From September 1, the rules will also extend to cover home-educated teenagers and those who cannot attend college due to illness or disability. Parents are reminded, however, that courses linked to job contracts are excluded.
Updating a claim is designed to be quick. Parents can do it through the HMRC app, online via GOV.UK, or by scanning the QR code in the reminder letters sent out over the summer.
Those unable to use online services can still call or write to HMRC using the details in their renewal letter.
Families where one parent earns between £60,000 and £80,000 will continue to face the High Income Child Benefit Charge, reducing the value of the payments. A tax calculator on GOV.UK can show how much families will keep after the charge.
However, in a bid to simplify the process, the government says it will soon let parents pay the charge directly through their PAYE tax code, rather than having to file a Self Assessment return each year.
HMRC says the change is part of its wider “Plan for Change” to cut red tape.
Even parents who previously opted out of Child Benefit because of the charge can now opt back in quickly online or through the HMRC app.
With thousands of families still to respond, HMRC’s message is blunt: act now, or risk losing a four-figure sum that could make all the difference in the year ahead.
