If your individual income is more than £50,000 and you, or your partner, choose to carry on getting Child Benefit payments, you will need to declare these payments by registering for Self Assessment and filling in a tax return. Find out more about who should declare, how and when.
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You will be responsible for declaring the Child Benefit if either of the following applies.
If your partner's income is more than £50,000 and your income is less than theirs they will be responsible for declaring the Child Benefit you receive.
You will need to declare the Child Benefit by filling in a Self Assessment tax return. If you haven't completed a tax return before, for example you're employed and pay your tax through a tax code, read the section below to find out how to get started with Self Assessment.
You may have already authorised a tax agent or adviser to deal with HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) on your behalf. If so, they will need to include the relevant details on your tax return.
If you don't already fill in a tax return, you will need to register for Self Assessment.
You can do this by completing the online form SA1 Registering for Self Assessment (see the link below). HMRC will then set up tax records for you.
You need to register as soon as possible and no later than 5 October 2013. If you register late you may have to pay a penalty.
Once your tax records have been set up, you'll be sent a Unique Taxpayer Reference (UTR). You will then be able to sign up for HMRC Online Services and send your tax return online. There are lots of benefits to sending it online. The deadline is 31 January 2014 for the 2012-13 tax return if you send it on online. If you send a paper return the deadline is 31 October 2013 - three months earlier.
You should receive a letter in April 2013 reminding you that you will need to send a 2012-13 tax return. If you don't, you will need to get in touch with HMRC.
Registering for Self Assessment and getting a tax return
Introduction to Self Assessment
If you already fill in a Self Assessment tax return, then you will need to declare the Child Benefit you are entitled to receive when you complete your 2012-13 tax return. This is due by 31 October 2013 for the paper return (form SA100) and 31 January 2014 if you send it online. You won't be able to complete the shorter paper return (SA200) if you are declaring Child Benefit.
Follow the link below to find out more about key dates when you must send in your tax return and make payments. If you miss them you may have to pay interest and penalties.
Tax return deadlines and penalties
You will need to declare the amount of Child Benefit you, or your partner, are entitled to receive for that tax year providing your individual adjusted net income is more than £50,000.
What to declare for the High Income Child Benefit charge
You can find out the amount of Child Benefit to declare in any of the following ways:
If you use the HMRC online calculator, you must enter the correct details to get an accurate figure for use on your Self Assessment tax return.
Get an estimate of your Child Benefit
When you do come to complete your tax return, if you miss the Child Benefit off by mistake or declare the wrong amount, you can usually put it right.
You can find out more about Self Assessment and correcting tax returns by following the link below.
Correcting your tax return and claiming any refund
Remember to report any changes in your circumstances, for example if your income goes below £50,000
High Income Child Benefit charge: changes in your income
How to pay the High Income Child Benefit charge
Authorising an accountant to deal with HM Revenue & Customs for you
