Thousands of families could face a Child Benefit Tax bill.

Middle-income parents could be caught by the High Income Child Benefit Tax if they do not register for self-assessment tax returns by the deadline on Tuesday October 5.

The tax affects any individual who has an income over £50,000 and claims child benefit, or lives with a partner who claims child benefit.

After being introduced in 2013, HMRC has collected nearly three billion pounds in the tax according to a Freedom of Information request submitted by rural insurer, NFU Mutual.

Even those who normally pay taxes through the PAYE system must submit a tax return to pay the High Income Child Benefit Tax.

Each year, thousands of families are contacted by HMRC for failing to pay the tax because they didn’t register for self-assessment, a figure which has been steadily increasing.

In 2019/20, 61,881 people forgot to register for self-assessment and were subsequently chased for High Income Child Benefit Tax.

In 2013/14, this figure was just 22, a growth of almost 3,000 per cent.

Year

2013/14

2014/15

2015/16

2016/17

2017/18

2018/19

2019/20

No. of compliance checks

22

8,815

1,811

4,090

39,158

41,257

61,881

 

Sean McCann, Chartered Financial Planner at NFU Mutual, said: “Anybody whose income has increased to take them above the £50,000 threshold should check if they’re liable for this tax.

“As well as parents, it may also be payable by individuals who move in with a lower earning partner who claims child benefit.

“Many employees paid through PAYE may not have registered for self-assessment before, so this is an important deadline to be aware of.

“Not only will HMRC chase families who don’t pay the tax, they may also add additional penalties.”

For every £100 earned over £50,000, one per cent of child benefit must be repaid with the entire benefit needing repayment once income reaches £60,000.

Over half a million, 624,000, families have opted out of receiving child benefit.

Sean added: “Those families where one partner has an income over £60,000 that don’t want to go through the hassle of paying this tax can opt out of receiving child benefit payments.

“However, it’s important that any non-working parents still make the initial claim for child benefit before opting out of receiving the payments in order to protect their state pension entitlement.”