Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Office for Tax Simplification's (OTS) evaluation paper on the High Income Child Benefit Charge, whether steps have been taken to progress recommendations relating to the high income child benefit charge made in the OTS's 2019 Life Events review.

The Government was grateful to the Office of Tax Simplification (OTS) for their suggestions for how the individual’s experience of Child Benefit and the High Income Child Benefit Charge (HICBC) could be improved.

The OTS acknowledged that HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has made progress following their ‘Simplifying everyday tax for smaller businesses’ and the ‘Life events review: simplifying tax for individuals’ reports from 2019. This has included improving the Child Benefit form to ensure that it is clear that the form should be completed, even where the parents may wish to opt out of getting Child Benefit payments. HMRC has also undertaken customer research to explore Child Benefit claimants’ understanding of HICBC, benefits of claiming and the reasons why some do not make a claim.

HMRC has taken considerable steps to raise awareness of the HICBC. It currently shares information via social media, through third parties such as websites aimed at parents or families, and on GOV.UK. HMRC writes to around 70,000 customers each year to remind them what they need to do to pay the HICBC.

HMRC are also delivering on the Government’s commitment, made in July 2023, to enable employed individuals to pay the HICBC through their tax code, removing the need to register for Self Assessment. This will make the process of paying the charge simpler for individuals who become liable to the charge, reaffirming the Government’s commitment to a simpler and fairer tax system. The Government will provide further detail in due course.

In addition, the Government recognises concerns that some eligible parents who have not claimed Child Benefit could miss out on their future entitlement to a full State Pension. This is why at Tax Administration and Maintenance Day on 28 April 2023, the Government announced that it will address this issue to enable affected parents to receive a National Insurance credit retrospectively. Further details of next steps will be set out in due course.

The OTS’ findings continue to inform HMRC’s ongoing work