What is the high-income child benefit charge?
If your income is between £50,000 and £60,000 the charge is 1% of your child benefit for every £100 between those two figures.
If your income goes over £60,000 all your child benefit is taken away and you have to pay the full amount.
This means that couples can have a joint income of up to £100,000 before any child benefit is deducted.
If your income is over the threshold you can choose to still get payments and pay any tax charged to HMRC at the end of each tax year.
Or you can opt out of getting payments and this means you will not be liable to pay the tax charge.
Charity Turn2Us suggests using the government’s child benefit tax calculator to see how you could be affected by the high-income tax charge.
Jeremy Hunt on ‘grossly unfair’ child benefits system
Jeremy Hunt admits that there is “unfairness” in the child benefits system.
During an interview with Money Saving Expert Martin Lewis earlier this week, the Chancellor was quizzed about the controversial high income child benefit tax charge (HICBC), which disproportionately affects dual-income families.
Lewis said the issue was “the biggest question asked” by his viewers.
Reading out a message from a member of the public, Lewis added: “It seems grossly unfair that a couple can bring in nearly £100,000 – because it’s about the individual income – but a single breadwinner loses out once they’ve earned more than half of this.”
Hunt accepted that there was an issue with the HICBC, but couldn’t confirm any changes ahead of his spring Budget in March.
“I fully accept there is an unfairness with what happens with dual-income families,” Hunt said. “All I will say is this is one of many distortions in our overcomplicated tax system that I look at when it comes to every budget. There are lots of things I’d like to change. If it’s affordable to do so, then I will do so, but it’s too early for me to know at this stage.”
Insulate your home to save cash
While insulating your home isn’t cheap, it will almost certainly save you money in the long run.
Energy Saving Trust has said, “Insulating cavity walls and your loft will cost a typical three-bed semi-detached home around £2,700, with an expected annual saving on energy bills of around £280.”
You can pick up insulation at stores such as B&Q and Wickes.
How to calculate your Council Tax band
Council Tax is determined by how much your property was worth on the following dates:
- 1 April 1991, for England and Scotland
- 1 April 2003, for Wales
A house in Band A represents the lowest possible value, with H representing the highest.
You can check your council tax band here by entering your postcode.
Easy hack to save £55 on bills
It might sound simple, but leaving electronic devices on while not using them can be a huge drain on your wallet.
Keeping televisions, computers and games consoles on standby can add up to £55 a year to bills.
So, remember to turn off your devices at the plug to save cash.
Do you need to live in the UK to receive the Winter Fuel Payment?
The short answer is yes, you do need to currently reside in the United Kingdom to get the Winter Fuel Payment.
However, you might also qualify if you moved to a specific country before January 1, 2021, and have a link to the UK.
The list of eligible countries is:
- Austria
- Belgium
- Bulgaria
- Croatia
- Czech Republic
- Denmark
- Estonia
- Finland
- Germany
- Hungary
- Iceland
- Ireland
- Italy
- Latvia
- Liechtenstein
- Lithuania
- Luxembourg
- Netherlands
- Norway
- Poland
- Romania
- Slovakia
- Slovenia
- Sweden
- Switzerland
