HMRC projections<\/a> show that fiscal drag will still pull tens of thousands more families into the charge over the coming years as earnings rise but tax thresholds remain frozen.<\/p>\nFor the current tax year, the cash boost pays \u00a326.05 per week for your eldest or only child and \u00a317.25 per week for each additional child. <\/p>\n
That works out to \u00a31,354.6 per year for one child and \u00a3897 per year for each additional child at those 2025\/26 rates.<\/p>\n
According to new data by wealth management firm Quilter, obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, the number of families liable for the charge will rise from 324,000 in 2025\/26 to 359,000 in 2028\/29.<\/p>\n
The request also revealed that HMRC doesn\u2019t hold data on how many taxpayers earning about \u00a3100,000 have children.<\/p>\n
Once one member of a household with children earns over \u00a3100,000, they lose access to the tax-free childcare scheme and are no longer eligible for 30 hours of funded childcare per week during term time.<\/p>\n
Shaun Moore, tax and financial planning expert at Quilter, said this is \u201cworrying\u201d because \u201cit means the Government lacks full visibility of who faces these financial cliff edges\u201d.<\/p>\n
He added: \u201cTogether with the rising high-income child benefit charge caseload, this lack of data shows how fiscal drag is reshaping support for parents.<\/p>\n
\u201cA comprehensive review of how family benefits interact with income policy is needed so that support keeps pace with economic reality.\u201d<\/p>\n
This issue is particularly acute for the self-employed, whose incomes can fluctuate sharply from one year to the next.<\/p>\n
Paul says that volatility makes it almost impossible to know where you stand until long after the tax year has ended, at which point the bill can arrive unexpectedly.<\/p>\n
He added: \u201cSelf-employment is particularly challenging because of the irregularity of income.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne is dormant one year, the next surprisingly strong. It\u2019s not always clear where you will land until long after the tax year is over.<\/p>\n
\u201cDepending on how much over the threshold I fly, they might ask me to repay a substantial portion of that benefit \u2013 in a good year when my income is twice as high, say, most or all of it.\u201d<\/p>\n
That uncertainty feeds directly into family finances, he said. <\/p>\n
Unlike childcare fees or mortgage payments, the charge doesn\u2019t arrive as a predictable monthly outgoing, forcing families to set aside money just in case, often without knowing exactly how much they will eventually owe.<\/p>\n
Paul said: \u201cWe haven\u2019t suffered deprivation, but it does mean less of life\u2019s little extras and more money anxieties. It\u2019s unfair.\u201d<\/p>\n
People repay one per cent of their total child benefit for every \u00a3200 their income is over \u00a360,000. Once your income reaches \u00a380,000 or more, the charge is equal to the full amount of child benefit you received for the year \u2013 effectively clawing all of it back.<\/p>\n
Paul expects to repay most or all of the child benefit, which comes to just over \u00a32,000 for the year, via self assessment. <\/p>\n
Child benefit is paid to millions across the country, but the number of parents facing partial or full repayment through the tax system continues to rise, figures show, often without clear warning.<\/p>\n
Paul said greater flexibility and clearer communication would make a significant difference.<\/p>\n
The experience has already changed how he approached his own finances. <\/p>\n
He said: \u201cIt has definitely made me more vigilant. I\u2019m more conscious now about timing income and pension contributions, and how much I do or don\u2019t reinvest rather than take personally.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s also made me think more about how policy decisions can do this, often amid the silence that accompanies them.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Frozen tax thresholds and uneven incomes are pushing parents, like 38-year-old Paul Gillooly, into unexpected charges Child benefit…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":360156,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[4029,84,4180,4176,4174,4175,474,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-360155","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-personal-finance","8":"tag-benefits","9":"tag-business","10":"tag-child-benefit","11":"tag-finance","12":"tag-personal-finance","13":"tag-personalfinance","14":"tag-tax","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-united-kingdom","17":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/360155","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=360155"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/360155\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/360156"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=360155"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=360155"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=360155"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}