People claiming Child Benefit have until next week to confirm their details are correct or risk having their payments stopped.
Child benefit is cash paid to parents or other people who are responsible for bringing up a child - they continue to get money up until the child is 20 years old if they stay in full-time education or training.
Once a child reaches the age of 16 and does not stay in approved education or training, Child Benefit payments will continue until the first of four specific dates throughout the year.
The next date is next week on Wednesday, May 31.
This means if your child is over the age of 16 and is not on an approved education or training course then you could have your payments stopped.
If your child is to going to remain on an education or training course then you must tell HMRC and update your Child Benefit details before the deadline.
If you miss this deadline, then you may still be able to claim Child Benefit, but your payments might be late.
If your child is taking a break from education or training, for example if they changer college, you might be able to continue claiming Child Benefit during the break.
However, you must inform HMRC of the break.
What is approved education or training for Child Benefit?
Approved education in the eyes of HMRC for Child Benefit includes:
- A levels or similar, for example Pre-U, International Baccalaureate
- T levels
- Scottish Highers
- NVQs and other vocational qualifications up to level 3
- home education - if it started before your child turned 16 or after 16 if they have special needs
- traineeships in England
According to the rules, the education must be "full time" which means it has to be an average of 12 hours a week of supervised study or course-related work experience.
However, "advanced" course are not approved, for example a university degree or BTEC Higher National Certificate.
In addition, education is not approved if the course is being paid for by an employer.
For approved training, it must be unpaid and it can include:
- Foundation Apprenticeships or Traineeships in Wales
- Employability Fund programmes in Scotland
- United Youth Pilot (if started before June 1, 2017), PEACE IV Children and Young People 2.1 or Training for Success in Northern Ireland.
It is worth noting courses that are part of a job contract are not approved.
