Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the equity of means-testing for child benefit in relation to couples in which one parent is entitled to child benefit and the other is not.

This question was answered on 18th July 2019

The Government introduced the High Income Child Benefit Charge (HICBC) from January 2013 to ensure that support is targeted at those who need it most. It applies to anyone with an individual income over £50,000, who claims Child Benefit or whose partner claims it. The charge increases gradually for taxpayers with incomes between £50,000 and £60,000.

If total household income was taken into account, information on the incomes of everyone in each of the eight million households receiving Child Benefit would need to be collected and would effectively introduce a new means test. The Government’s approach withdraws Child Benefit from those on higher incomes, whilst having no impact on the majority of claimants.