New partners of divorced parents will lose part of their salary if they earn more than £50,000 under changes to child benefits, according to accountants.
The anomaly will affect people even if the children who live in their house are not actually theirs.
HM Revenue and Customs is set to write to taxpayers who could be affected by the reforms, which come into effect in January, next week.
The changes will see gradual cuts in the handouts to families where one partner earns more than £50,000. Anyone earning more than £60,000 will lose the payout entirely
If you have a standard family with 2.4 children and two married parents all living together then the system is reasonably straightforward.
“But it can get really bizarre. Take that straightforward family. If the parents get divorced and the children live with the mother who has a new partner, and that partner is the higher earner, then he gets (to pay) the clawback even though they are not his children.
“Part of me thinks we are just making up really complicated scenarios for amusement’s sake but it will happen.”
The same will happen where a father claims the benefit for children who live with their mother but has a new partner who earns above the threshold.
Shock, horror springs to mind. Penalising partners for being in love and taking care of someone else’s children is political suicide and makes no sense at all