Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 30 May 2022 to Question 5669 on Child Benefit, if his Department will carry out an assessment of the impact of (a) inflation and (b) rises in the cost of living on people affected by the High Income Child Benefit Charge.

The government understands the pressures that families across the UK are facing with the cost of living. This is why the government is providing £37bn of funding this year, targeted at those most in need. Following the Chancellor’s announcement in May, millions of the most vulnerable households will get at least £1,200 of one-off support in total this year to help with the cost of living.

The government has published distributional analysis of the impact of the Cost of Living package on households, which is available on gov.uk: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cost-of-living-support. This analysis showed that households on the lowest income deciles would benefit the most from the support announced. As set out in my answer of 30 May to you, the adjusted net income threshold of £50,000 for HICBC only affects a minority of earners with comparatively high incomes. The Government considers that the current threshold for HICBC remains the best option appropriate. As with all tax policy, the threshold is kept under review as part of the Government’s annual Budget process.