High income child benefit charge successes

The high income child benefit charge (HICBC) has been the subject of many appeals before the First-tier Tribunal. The outcome seems to depend largely on the judge who hears the appeal as the following cases show – all of which were successful at least to a degree.

Success

The taxpayer was a lorry driver. His adjusted net income exceeded £50 000 and his partner had received child benefit since the birth of their first child in 2003 and then their second child from 2007. In November 2018 HMRC assessed the taxpayer to the HICBC for the years 2012-13 to 2015-16 and imposed penalties for failure to notify.

The taxpayer appealed against the penalties but accepted the assessments. He said he was unaware of the HICBC until HMRC contacted him in 2018. He was a PAYE taxpayer and would have expected HMRC to contact him earlier than it did to tell...