Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what criteria his Department uses to determine which parent has main responsibility for child tax credit and child benefit.

For both Child Benefit and Child Tax Credit (CTC), the law provides for one person – the person mainly responsible for the child – to receive the payments. It works on the basis that one person will always have a greater share of responsibility than another.

Where parents separate, it is possible for them to jointly agree who should receive Child Benefit and CTC and for which child. Where parents cannot agree who should receive Child Benefit and CTC and make rival claims, the decision about who is entitled to such support is taken by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC). HMRC considers all the facts in relation to each parent’s responsibility for the child, based on the information provided by both parents.