I am not at all surprised that this policy is viewed as unenforceable. How could HMRC find out who such couples were without having to ask all taxpayers to fill in more forms, a move which the Govt would define as intrusion. When one considers how many staff HMRC has lost and will lose it is surprising that they can function at all. As a part qualified chartered accountant I remember that at one time it was possible to sort out people's tax affairs by telephoning or visiting the local tax office, now everything is handled by call centres and computers it is a complete shambles, so much for efficiency savings. I repeat a previous comment, that members of this government have never managed anything and therefore are completely unaware of the managerial/ admin consequences of their policy decisions.

So, if bright eldest son, of the same surname as mother who is receiving Child Benefit for the siblings, earns over £40k and there is another man living at the the same address (lodger)and earns more than £40k, and the father of the younger children is separated from the mother and has a different name and address anyway but earns more than £40, and they are not married, so therefore has yet a different surname, it would seem to be a nightmare to sort out. The light at the end of the tunnel is that public servants threatened with loosing their jobs, could find a new career employed on sorting out this mess.

How could this have got this far without checking this out. I am afraid that it smacks of sofa government by press release...so much for new politics.

When the coalition's "plan" to abolish the benefit for all higher-rate taxpayers was announced, it reeked of being merely a propaganda ploy to portray the subsequent attack on the poor as balanced and fair, and intended to be quietly abandoned when it had served its purpose, never to be implemented. I'll be astonished if it ever happens.

It feels like the country has been handed over to a bunch of sixth formers who have lots of ideas to change things radically but don't actually work in practice. It's a similar thing with Gove and education policy.

'Bungling' and 'incompetent' are the words that spring to mind. I just hope this shambles of a government collapses before it does any lasting damage, although that might be too late already.

If I claim child tax credit, I have to put my partner's salary on the form and if I did not, I'd be prosecuted for benefit fraud, so how is this any different?

Anomaly of the two earner household still getting it apart, the obvious initial glaring fault was the fact that Osborrne thought that all higher rate tax payers filled in a tax return. All those over £100,000 do I believe. Is this any clue to the sort of people who surround him?

Let's face it folks! They couldn't organise a piss-up in a brewery.

It's the cross-checking I don't get. Sounds so simple out like that.

'Lies' will be uncovered but knowing past debacles presumably false 'lies' too!

Apologies, it's this one.....
http://www.facebook.com/?sk=2361831622#!/group.php?gid=159664614058240

I've said elsewhere why this crazy plan would never take off. Before this lot talk of changing things, they should look at the practicality of what it is they are changing.

There was always the danger that claimants wouldn't declare their partner's earnings. This lot will be quite happy to play big brother over lower level claimant groups with intrusive databases, but never in a month of Sundays will they do it to the middle classes. (A) It would be a certain vote loser (B) It would start to create a snooper society which creeps a little closer to the real cheats; the top earners!

This lot should face up to it, the only way with Child Benefit is to means test it

Looks like we'll have to trust one another for a change. Surely it'd save a lot of time and energy and it'd be quite big too for the more well off citizens to kindly ring up the child benefit people in order to opt out of this provision. One wonders if such a simple opt out could be acheived without further explanation other than perhaps keying in one's relevant details eg NI number into a telephone keypad and perhaps the date of birth of any children who might otherwise automatically benefit.

Easy isn't it? And just imagine, our privacy, dignity and autonomy could all be preserved for posterity by a sensible and sensitive use of available communications technology..with no need for anyone to treat anyone else less favourably by asking lots of nosey and intrusive questions about one's private and domestic affairs.