Mon, 27 Oct 2025

Mon, 27 Oct 2025 'Flawed' HMRC system stops hundreds of child benefit payments

Hundreds of families in Northern Ireland had their child benefit payments stopped because they flew through Dublin Airport.

* Hundreds of families had their child benefit payments stopped due to a government anti-fraud system that mistakenly flagged them as emigrants.
* The system, designed to track those who leave the UK without returning after 8 weeks, relies on comparing HMRC records with Home Office travel data.
* However, this approach has led to errors in cases where families returned to Northern Ireland through Dublin Airport, which is not subject to routine passport checks due to the Common Travel Area arrangement between the UK and Ireland.
* The government has apologized for the mistakes and is working to reinstate payments to affected families.
* HMRC plans to introduce an "upfront check" to identify Northern Ireland customers whose exit from the UK was to the Republic of Ireland, before suspending their payments.
* Sinn Féin MP Dáire Hughes criticized the system as "flawed", saying it is being implemented without understanding the realities of life on the island of Ireland.
* Child benefit is paid to over 6.9 million families supporting 11.9 million children in the UK, and HMRC has emphasized the need to protect taxpayers' money by implementing this anti-fraud system.
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