Clause 8 — High income child benefit charge

Part of Finance Bill (Ways and Means) – in the House of Commons at 10:45 pm on 2 July 2012.

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Photo of Cathy Jamieson Cathy Jamieson Shadow Minister (Treasury) 10:45, 2 July 2012

Yes, my hon. Friend has got the situation exactly right; that is the problem as it has been described. As for people who may elect not to receive the benefit, the Government’s proposals make it difficult for people who do not know what their earnings will be over a particular time to make that judgment.

A number of issues have been raised to do with how one would determine the higher-income person in a relationship. The measure raises a number of complex issues to do with independent taxation and taxpayer confidentiality. I know the subject has been raised with the Minister. My understanding is that HMRC will tell the couple which person had the higher income and is therefore subject to the new charge. As I outlined previously, I can see some difficulties associated with this. Not only does an individual need to know about their partner’s income, but they would need to know whether their partner has claimed child benefit and whether the partner has elected not to receive the benefit.

This will be particularly important where a couple are not on speaking terms. That does happen. It may not seem like it when everything is cosy in the coalition, but there are relationships in which people are not on speaking terms or where they have separated. In those circumstances, we need to be clear about what HMRC intends to do to inform a partner whether the other has made an election not to receive child benefit. Will they be advised, should the partner subsequently revoke that election?

There are potentially Catch-22 situations, particularly in relation to self-assessment and submitting the returns. Far from simplifying the system, which was straightforward and understood by everyone and which made it easy for people to claim, we seem to be making it far more complicated.

I want to raise, briefly, the issue of extended families. There are concerns that there may be contentious cases where different people claim entitlement to child benefit—for example, where parents are unable to look after the children and perhaps grandparents take over that role. We know the valuable role that grandparents can play in those circumstances, often at considerable cost to themselves. There could be situations where a parent continues to receive child benefit, although the child lives with the grandparents. If one or both grandparents have adjusted net income over £50,000, under the relevant provisions of the Bill, the higher-earning one would be liable for the higher child benefit payment, even though the grandparents are not necessarily at that point receiving the child benefit and could even be in dispute with the recipients.

These are some of the practical problems that come into play when we look at how people live their lives. I have mentioned the issue of timing. Perhaps the Minister can answer that. The issue of national insurance credits was raised in the Committee of the whole House. Although the Minister went some way towards explaining the situation and giving reassurance, it would be helpful to hear that stated here this evening.

I shall spend a moment on the problem of electing not to receive child benefit and revoking the election. Where one party to a relationship has an income in excess of £60,000, it seems that HMRC would like to encourage the child benefit claimant to claim the child benefit but to elect not to receive it, because that somehow makes everything neater. HMRC would stop paying out the child benefit, which would reduce the need for the higher earner to join self-assessment and to pay their tax. Those who expect their income to be more than £60,000, apply for child benefit and elect not to receive it, yet subsequently realise that their income for the year is likely to be between £50,000 and £60,000, could lose out unless there are some changes to the legislation.

It is important to place on the record that it is not only the Labour Opposition who oppose what the Government are doing. People who understand the tax system and want to see it improved, such as the Chartered Institute of Taxation, say that ideally the clause and the schedule should be withdrawn and a fresh consultation launched, with a view to coming up with a more workable alternative to the current proposals. We have tabled a couple of amendments to test the Minister’s view on whether that is needed. It has been suggested that these are needed to assist in the situation where people elect whether or not to receive child benefit.

The amendments would put all claimants not subject to 100% high income child benefit charge on the same footing as other claimants able to make a revocation, so this might be easier, it is argued, for HMRC staff to understand and implement. There is a clear distinction between people who elect not to have payments and then find that their income is under £50,000, and those who elect not to have payments and find that their income was between £50,000 and £60,000. The Bill copes with the former, but not with the latter.

I can see people’s eyes beginning to glaze over at these technicalities. Hon. Members in all parts of the House no doubt want me to bring my remarks to a close. [Interruption.] It is good that we all agree on something. These points are very important.

To return to what I said at the outset, if we make the situation more complicated, cause more confusion and make it less likely that people will know whether they qualify for the benefit, that will not be helpful for families, it will certainly not be helpful for children and, I would argue, it will not be helpful for Ministers, because it is they who will have to come back to fix the problem later.