Another perversity is that the means test limit is applied per taxpayer, not household. Two parents who earn £49,999 each, with a combined income of £99,998, pocket the full benefit. A family in which the breadwinner makes £60,000 and the other parent earns nothing loses the payout entirely. 

This stings, as a single earner on £60,000 already pays more tax than a dual-income household on £30,000 each.

Child benefit needs three improvements: there should be a smarter way to calculate eligibility based on household finances; the earnings limit must keep pace with inflation; and parents who are not eligible should not receive the cash. 

We have an entire public office dedicated to the single yet seemingly elusive pursuit of simplifying tax and yet hundreds of thousands of people are forced to fill in returns each year for no good reason.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies, a think tank, has called the tax charge a “nonsense” and said reducing benefits by stealth “can do nothing for trust in government”. 

If the Government wants to regain the public’s trust after the “partygate” scandal – and alleviate some of the pain of the cost of living crisis – this would be a good place to start.

lauren.davidson@telegraph.co.uk