UK residence is a condition for entitlement to child benefit

The appeal concerned a taxpayer who emigrated to Spain from the UK with her husband and son. She received child benefit for the son and also a disability living allowance. She informed the Department for Work and Pension that the family was moving to Spain so it could arrange for the payments to be stopped. She did not notify HMRC separately – perhaps because she assumed the DWP administered both benefits or that one department would notify the other. But this was not the case. Indeed the judge in the First-tier Tribunal (Social Entitlement Chamber) noted that regrettably ‘there is no joined up communication between various government departments with the obligation being upon the recipient of benefit to notify the appropriate department of any change’.

The result was that she continue to receive child benefit until HMRC became aware the taxpayer had moved abroad and no longer qualified for the payments....