One of the many criticisms aimed at the High Income Child Benefit Charge (HICBC) is that anyone caught by the charge needs to submit a self-assessment tax return even if all of their tax is…
Childcare support extended to children over nine months
The government is extending the provision of 30 hours of free childcare for 38 weeks to now include all pre-school children over the age of nine months. Phased introduction The extended childcare provision will be…
High Income Child Benefit Charge: penalties and defaults
New data reveals that penalties issued by HMRC for not paying the High-Income Child Benefit Charge (HICBC), or paying the incorrect amount, have fallen significantly. However, the number of individuals still in default is estimated…
The effects of fiscal drag on your tax position
Fiscal drag is the stealthy way in which governments pull more and more taxpayers into higher tax brackets without the backlash that comes with increased tax rates. This is something taxpayers can probably live with…
Setting new taxpayer records
New data from HMRC reveals there are now over six million people paying higher or additional rate tax in the UK. In recent years, the end of June has been the time for HMRC to…
Has a 60% income tax rate reappeared?
The high marginal tax rates created by phasing out the personal allowance are back in the news. ‘A million to pay 60% income tax within years,’ ran a recent headline in The Sunday Telegraph. The…
Can the child benefit charge be fixed?
A critical review of how the government taxes child benefits has raised a major question mark over HMRC’s approach to collecting payments. Child benefit tax, or the High-Income Child Benefit Charge (HICBC) to use its…
HMRC: Upper Tribunal deems child benefit discovery assessments invalid
A discovery assessment can be made by HMRC where income, which should have been assessed, has not been assessed for tax purposes. A recent decision in an Upper Tribunal case, however, found that neither child…