Child Benefit payments may stop for parents if they don't take action

Child Benefit is a weekly payment to individuals or families who are responsible for a child

HM Revenue & Customs is urging parents of teenagers to extend their Child Benefit claims to continue receiving payments. If a child is staying in education or training parents may still be eligible for the benefit.

Parents of 16-19 year olds will receive reminders from HMRC to extend their Child Benefit claim by August 31. The benefit will automatically stop after August if it is not extended.

Between May and July, letters will be sent to parents reminding them to go online to confirm if their teenager is staying in full time education or approved training after they finish their GCSEs.

Child Benefit is currently worth £26.05 per week or £1,354.60 a year for the eldest or only child and £17.25 per week or £897 a year for each additional child. More than 870,000 parents extended their Child Benefit claim for their teenage children last year.

The benefit is usually paid every four weeks on a Monday or Tuesday. You can get Child Benefit paid weekly if you’re a single parent or if you or your partner are getting certain benefits, such as Income Support.

‌Education must be full-time (more than an average of 12 hours a week of supervised study or course-related work experience). This can include:

• A levels or similar, for example, International Baccalaureate
• T levels
• Scottish Highers
• NVQs and most vocational qualifications up to level 3
• Home education - if it started either before your child turned 16 or after 16 if they have a statement of special educational needs
• Study programmes in England
• A pre-apprenticeship

Your child must be accepted onto the course before they turn 19. You cannot get Child Benefit if your child is:

• Studying for a university degree or BTEC Higher National Certificate (an ‘advanced course’)
• On an apprenticeship (unless it’s a Foundation Apprenticeship in Wales)
• Doing a course with an employer’s agreement – for example in order to get a job with that employer, or to get skills for a job they’re already in

Courses that are part of a job contract are not approved. If a child changes their mind about further education or training, parents can inform HMRC online or in the app and payments will be adjusted.

According to HMRC: "If either the claimant or their partner has an individual income of between £60,000 and £80,000, the higher earner will be subject to the High Income Child Benefit Charge

"For families who fall into this category, the online Child Benefit tax calculator provides an estimate of how much benefit they will receive, and what the charge may be."

Parents can view and manage their claim quickly and easily online or on the HMRC app. This includes viewing payment information and proof of their claim, adding additional children and updating their details.

From this summer, as part of the government’s Plan for Change, families will have the option to use a new digital service to pay the charge directly through their PAYE tax code instead of filing a Self Assessment tax return.

Teenagers turning 16 can also take control of their Child Trust Fund savings account, which could be worth thousands of pounds, and can withdraw the money once they turn 18. Child Trust Funds were set up for every child born between September 1, 2002 and January 2, 2011.