Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the impact of the High Income Child Benefit Charge on child poverty.

The threshold for High Income Child Benefit Charge affects taxpayers who are generally on comparatively high incomes. In 2020-21, (the latest year that data is available), 99.7% of those who declared a liability for HICBC paid income tax at the higher rate or above, and 88% of Child Benefit claimants were unaffected by the HICBC.

The Government is committed to supporting families with the pressures they are facing from rising prices. Families who are liable to the HICBC will benefit from the Energy Price Guarantee (EPG), energy bill support scheme and the cancelled planned increase in fuel duty. Moreover, the Government extended the free hours for childcare offers at Spring Budget 2023, so that eligible working parents in England are able to access 30 hours of free childcare per week for 38 weeks per year from when their child is 9 months old, to when they start school.