16
London-News
October 2013
Child Benefit Penalties
Faced By Thousands
Tens of thousands of parents face being fined for failing to
register the child benefit they received this year with the
taxman.
An estimated 165,000 people missed Saturday's deadline,
meaning they could face penalties as well as losing the
handout.
HM Revenue and Customs has urged those who have not
registered to do so now to avoid further costs.
A spokesman for HMRC said: "More than 29,000 people
registered for self-assessment over the weekend, taking the
total registrations to 160,000.
"This means that 165,000 people still need to take action and
on past experience we expect more people to register in the
coming days.
"Although we are past the deadline, people should still
register for self-assessment to minimise any penalties they
may face."
Fines for failing to register will be decided on a case-by-case
basis, HMRC said.
Under Government reforms, households where one parent
earns more than £60,000 a year have to return the entire
amount through the self-assessment system unless they have
opted out of receiving it in the first place.
It will be taken away on a sliding scale where mothers or
fathers earn between £50,000 and £60,000.
The system for recovering the money has proved highly
controversial as families where both parents earn just under
£50,000 each will keep their payments. Photo : netro.co.uk
Press reform proposals rejected
Newspaper industry
proposals for a royal
charter to establish a new
system of self-regulation
have been rejected,
Culture Secretary Maria
Miller told t