"The UK's tax body is reviewing its decisions to strip child benefit from about 23,500 claimants after it used travel data to conclude they had left the country permanently. Normally the benefit runs out after eight weeks living outside the UK, but many people affected complained that HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) had stopped their money after they went on holiday for just a short time."
"Eve Craven went on a five-day break with her son to New York. She told the BBC's Money Box programme that about 18 months after the trip she received a letter saying the child benefit for her son had been stopped. The letter cited her trip to the US, saying it had no record of her return. "It gave me a month basically to give them all the requested information to prove that I'd come back to the UK," she said."
"HMRC has apologised for any errors and says anyone who thinks their benefits have been stopped incorrectly should contact them. In September, the government began a crackdown on child benefit fraud which it believes could save 350m over five years. The new system allows HMRC records to be compared with Home Office international travel data, and the tax authority had used this data to stop payments to thousands of families."
HMRC used Home Office international travel data to compare with benefit records and stopped child benefit payments when travel records suggested claimants had left the UK permanently. Child benefit normally ends after eight weeks living outside the UK, but many affected families reported payments were halted after short holidays. The change followed a government crackdown on child benefit fraud launched in September aimed at saving £350m over five years. The issue was identified in cases involving travel between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. HMRC has apologised, is reviewing all affected cases, and urges anyone wrongly stopped to contact them.
Read at www.bbc.com
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