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<p>The Government was grateful to the Office of Tax Simplification (OTS) for their
suggestions for how the individual’s experience of Child Benefit and the High Income
Child Benefit Charge (HICBC) could be improved.</p><p> </p><p>The OTS acknowledged
that HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has made progress following their ‘Simplifying
everyday tax for smaller businesses’ and the ‘Life events review: simplifying tax
for individuals’ reports from 2019. This has included improving the Child Benefit
form to ensure that it is clear that the form should be completed, even where the
parents may wish to opt out of getting Child Benefit payments. HMRC has also undertaken
customer research to explore Child Benefit claimants’ understanding of HICBC, benefits
of claiming and the reasons why some do not make a claim.</p><p> </p><p>HMRC has taken
considerable steps to raise awareness of the HICBC. It currently shares information
via social media, through third parties such as websites aimed at parents or families,
and on GOV.UK. HMRC writes to around 70,000 customers each year to remind them what
they need to do to pay the HICBC.</p><p> </p><p>HMRC are also delivering on the Government’s
commitment, made in July 2023, to enable employed individuals to pay the HICBC through
their tax code, removing the need to register for Self Assessment. This will make
the process of paying the charge simpler for individuals who become liable to the
charge, reaffirming the Government’s commitment to a simpler and fairer tax system.
The Government will provide further detail in due course.</p><p> </p><p>In addition,
the Government recognises concerns that some eligible parents who have not claimed
Child Benefit could miss out on their future entitlement to a full State Pension.
This is why at Tax Administration and Maintenance Day on 28 April 2023, the Government
announced that it will address this issue to enable affected parents to receive a
National Insurance credit retrospectively. Further details of next steps will be set
out in due course.</p><p> </p><p>The OTS’ findings continue to inform HMRC’s ongoing
work</p>
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