Parents have a few days left to tell HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) their 16–19-year-old is continuing education or training, or their Child Benefit payments will stop.
Hundreds of thousands of teenagers will decide on their future after receiving their GCSE results on Thursday.
For parents of 16-19-year-olds who haven’t yet extended their claim, Child Benefit payments will stop after 31 August. If their child is going to continue in approved education or training, parents can continue receiving Child Benefit and HMRC is urging them to extend their claim now.
To make sure they do not miss out, parents can quickly and easily extend their Child Benefit claim online or via the HMRC app. More than 270,000 parents have extended their claim digitally so far, with the changes applied to their record without the need to wait on the phone.
“Child Benefit is an important financial support for many households and we don’t want to see any eligible family miss out,” said Myrtle Lloyd, HMRC’s Director General for Customer Services. “You can extend your claim quickly and easily online or via the HMRC app, just search ‘Child Benefit when your child turns 16’ on GOV.UK.”
Parents have been advised to keep their claim details up to date, even if they’ve opted not to receive Child Benefit payments due to the High Income Child Benefit Charge. Parents who want to opt back into receiving Child Benefit payments, can do this quickly and easily online or in the HMRC app. Child Benefit is worth up to £1,331 a year for the first or only child, and up to £881 a year for every additional child.
“Child Benefit is valuable to families and particularly single parent families, who are forced to make ends meet on a single income,” said Victoria Benson, CEO of Gingerbread, the charity for single parent families. “It’s really important, with the 31 August deadline fast approaching, that parents whose children are going into further education and training extend their claim as soon as possible to avoid missing out on this crucial financial help.”
If a child changes their mind about further education or training, parents can simply inform HMRC online or via the HMRC app and payments will be adjusted accordingly. Parents can check the status of their claims at any time by viewing their proof of entitlement in the app or online.
Parents will need a Government Gateway user ID and password to use HMRC’s online services. If they do not have one already, they can register on GOV.UK and will just need their National Insurance number or postcode, and 2 forms of ID.
