Gary

Good afternoon I have recently received a letter from HMRC suggesting I check to see if I am liable for the HICBC. This is the first time I have ever heard of or received correspondence from HMRC regarding this topic. I also wasn't aware that we were still receiving child benefit as my wife applied for it before we were married, our boys are now 15 & 13, and it gets paid into her account. When I check the child benefit section of my HMRC account there is no record. I was always under the impression that child benefit payments automatically stopped when a household income exceeded £50k. Anyway, I have completed a self-assessment as suggested (first time I have ever done this as have always been PAYE) and it turns out I have to pay back over £2k for this HICB charge. And alongside this I have also asked my wife to cease receiving the CB payments as I don't want to be in this position again. But the main reason for my post (other than to release my frustrations) is to ask if there is any way to challenge this charge? I cannot afford to pay back this charge AND my wife lose the monthly CB payments. I also can't understand why HMRC are not proactive with people, helping them to realise they may be liable for this payback by notifying them the moment they notice their salary is looking to exceed the salary limit, instead of letting them get into arrears without any knowledge of what's waiting for them down the line.