A family have plunged into thousands of pounds worth of debt because of changes to child benefit rules. were in shock after receiving an unexpected £7,400 HMRC bill. The couple were hit with the bill because of a rule that was brought in some years ago. In 2013, a little known rule came into effect, and it means individuals who earn more than £50,000 have to pay back a certain amount of their child benefit in income tax- currently one per cent for every £100 they earn over the threshold, Grimsby Live reports. Richard's salary is under the limit, but unbeknown to him, his company car - deemed a benefit in kind - pushed him over it. The family started claiming child tax benefit in 2012, after the birth of their first child, Enya. At that time Rebekha stopped working, while Richard worked as a mechanic and had a much lower salary than he does now. In 2015, Richard got a new job, which vastly increased his salary, although he was still not earning more than £50,000. But as he was given a company car at his new job, this was counted as an in-kind benefit, which was included in his income by HMRC. The couple, from Gimsby, now have three children, having also welcomed Pippa and Ivy into the family, and have continued to claim child benefit - which they are entitled to do. Families to whom the rules apply are paid the full amount, but have to make arrangements to pay the part they are not entitled to back. They can opt out altogether, but many choose not to as it is linked to National Insurance contributions. The couple understand why they have received the bill - but are annoyed it has taken so long to come to light and been allowed to build up to such a huge amount. Richard said: "This all started in October when the tax office said that we should be paying the high income tax benefit charge, and asked us to fill out a self-assessment to figure out how much that we owe them. "Then at the end of January, we received a letter saying that we owed £2,500. "But the following day we got another letter saying that this was wrong and it was in fact £7,400 we owed, and we are still yet to get a final bill figure, so it could be much more. "This is all because I got a higher paying job three years after we started claiming child benefit, and the company car I was given put me over the income threshold because it is counted as an in-kind benefit. "The thing that gets me is that, why are we only finding out about this now? "The HMRC know what my wages are and send me a tax code every year, so why could they not tell us sooner that we had to be paying this charge, because then we wouldn't be in the position that we are in now." The couple say when they contacted HMRC about their bill they were told that "it was not a bank" and that they could not pay off the bill over the course of a number of years, and if it was not paid in 16 months, they would have to go to court. They say that they were told that they should take out a bank l
Family in staggering amount of debt after change to child benefit rules
A family have plunged into thousands of pounds worth of debt because of changes to child benefit rules. were in shock after receiving an unexpected £7,400 HMRC bill. The couple were hit with the bill because of a rule that was brought in some years ago. In 2013, a little known rule came into effect, and it means individuals who earn more than £50,000 have to pay back a certain amount of their child benefit in income tax- currently one per cent for every £100 they earn over the threshold, Grimsby Live reports. Richard's salary is under the limit, but unbeknown to him, his company car - deemed a benefit in kind - pushed him over it. The family started claiming child tax benefit in 2012, after the birth of their first child, Enya. At that time Rebekha stopped working, while Richard worked as a mechanic and had a much lower salary than he does now. In 2015, Richard got a new job, which vastly increased his salary, although he was still not earning more than £50,000. But as he was given a company car at his new job, this was counted as an in-kind benefit, which was included in his income by HMRC. The couple, from Gimsby, now have three children, having also welcomed Pippa and Ivy into the family, and have continued to claim child benefit - which they are entitled to do. Families to whom the rules apply are paid the full amount, but have to make arrangements to pay the part they are not entitled to back. They can opt out altogether, but many choose not to as it is linked to National Insurance contributions. The couple understand why they have received the bill - but are annoyed it has taken so long to come to light and been allowed to build up to such a huge amount. Richard said: "This all started in October when the tax office said that we should be paying the high income tax benefit charge, and asked us to fill out a self-assessment to figure out how much that we owe them. "Then at the end of January, we received a letter saying that we owed £2,500. "But the following day we got another letter saying that this was wrong and it was in fact £7,400 we owed, and we are still yet to get a final bill figure, so it could be much more. "This is all because I got a higher paying job three years after we started claiming child benefit, and the company car I was given put me over the income threshold because it is counted as an in-kind benefit. "The thing that gets me is that, why are we only finding out about this now? "The HMRC know what my wages are and send me a tax code every year, so why could they not tell us sooner that we had to be paying this charge, because then we wouldn't be in the position that we are in now." The couple say when they contacted HMRC about their bill they were told that "it was not a bank" and that they could not pay off the bill over the course of a number of years, and if it was not paid in 16 months, they would have to go to court. They say that they were told that they should take out a bank l
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