Martin Lewis issues 'bad news' to families over HMRC Child Benefit shake-up

Martin Lewis has issued "bad news" for families after a Child Benefit and HMRC shake-up announced in the Labour Party Budget today. The BBC Sounds and ITV star provided his expert commentary over the Autumn Statement and Budget on Twitter/X.

He warned: "(Bad) NEWS: Withing govt docs it says it will NOT shift child benefit to household income from individual income as previous govt had announced (and I and others had campaigned for). This is a shame and leaves inequity rife, bad news for single parent and single earner families.

"From 2025 employees will be able to pay the higher income child benefit charge through your tax code, and self assessment forms will be pre-populated with child benefit data." In reply, a Twitter user said: "That’s incredibly disappointing. Instead of making the system fairer for single parents and single-earner families, they’re sidestepping a chance for real change.

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"This just adds more burden to those who already face enough challenges." A second said: "Again - disappointing that with such a big majority they haven't made use of the opportunity to make proper reforms to the unhelpful cliff edge bits of the tax system. The marginal rate spikes around this and the personal allowance withdrawal are anti growth."

"100% the right decision we should be encouraging family’s of two parents rather than single parent households. Evidence shows this to be much better for children overall," another wrote. Another said: "In some circumstances, it encourages both working parents to reduce their hours instead of choosing to have a single worker. I'd argue this is a less-bad effect rather than a good one."

Another posted: "This is so very unfair on hard working people who have one person in the household earning the higher salary. The allowance should be per family as you put forward. This is very disappointing." Another said: "I like the idea of having child benefit populated, but if it not on the agent view of a persons tax account, we still have to ask the client who does not understand the implications. The agent view does not even show the pre-populated PAYE income that is on the client view."