HMRC to review suspending 23,500 child benefit payments

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.

The move came after MPs on the Treasury Select Committee demanded answers from the tax authority.

HMRC has apologised for any errors and says anyone who thinks their benefits have been stopped incorrectly should contact them.

The issue was first identified in Northern Ireland, where some families had flown out of the UK from Belfast, but then returned to Dublin – which is in the EU - before driving home over the border.

UK and Irish citizens can travel freely into each other's countries under the Common Travel Area arrangement.

There are no routine passport checks when travelling through the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, meaning the UK government has no data to show that someone may have returned to Northern Ireland.

It is not clear how many errors have been made in total, or how.

HMRC told Money Box it would be reviewing all past cases "using PAYE data and where continued UK employment is found, will be reinstating payments and making any back payments necessary".

It is aiming to complete its review by the end of next week.

MPs on the Treasury Select Committee are also now investigating.

Additional reporting by Nick Edser