Comments | guybles: They are...inevitable

guybles

They are...inevitable

Nov 04, 2019 13:40

Due to the interaction of time, money and children, I have ended up slipping into the category of employment where my tax affairs become slightly more complex. Not terribly so, but enough that I got a letter from HM Revenue & Customs asking me to check the child benefit payments that myself and cori_gated receive for mini-guybles.

Now, I'd be vaguely aware ( Read more... )

Comments 5

andrewducker November 4 2019, 15:58:02 UTC

Yeah, I'm going to have to start doing that.

Not sure I can claim anything back though!

guybles November 4 2019, 23:46:35 UTC

On reflection, it felt like a bit of a humble-brag (oh, woe is me, I'm paid so much that I can't get free government handouts), but the longer term implications are infuriating.

Claiming stuff back is a bit of an art, but the most common examples are professional memberships and Gift Aid. There's other stuff you could notionally play with, around business travel or home working expenses, but it gets a bit more awkward to prove what you've incurred.

Same thing happened to me jinty November 4 2019, 18:17:21 UTC

I owe them more than that, but that’s because of a one-off payment last tax year which skewed things. Ah well! The tax guy did suggest that if the child benefit isn’t worth it to me, I could stop claiming it and probably move back onto PAYE in future years, but he wasn’t sure.

Are you claiming childcare vouchers? They can be used to pay for out of school child care up till age 16 and help to reduce you to below the threshold.

Re: Same thing happened to me guybles November 4 2019, 23:32:26 UTC

Ooh, now there's a hot tip! I have been claiming the childcare vouchers and the online calculator was curiously absent of any place to put this down. One to discuss with them when it comes around to discussing the final balance.

RE: Re: Same thing happened to me jinty November 5 2019, 06:51:36 UTC

The child benefit charge ‘how much do you owe us you lying bugger’ calculator is very sparse, I agree. The childcare vouchers just reduce the total salary figure you put in at the top. The more vouchers you get as salary sacrifice, the smaller that starting figure. Same for any other salary sacrifice.