Big change to child benefit could help thousands of parents avoid HMRC fines

People earning more than 50,000 a year and their partners will not need to fill in self-assessment tax form

Thousands of parents could be freed up from the chore of having to fill in a self-assessment tax form after the government announced changes to a tax charge that affects higher earners.

Ministers have said that in future, those in work who are affected by the high income child benefit charge" - which affects people earning more than 50,000 a year and their partners - will not have to register for self-assessment in order to pay what they owe.