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Free tool · Child Benefit

Child Benefitcharge.

Find out how much of your Child Benefit HMRC will take back, and how much you'd need to put in a pension to keep it.

£

Total taxable income minus gross pension contributions and Gift Aid. Only the higher earner in the household pays the charge.

Children you get Child Benefit for

2

2025/26 rates: £26.05 a week for the eldest, £17.25 for each other child.

High Income Child Benefit Charge

Illustrative estimate

£0.00

50% of your Child Benefit is clawed back.
Child Benefit for the year£0.00
Charge (50%)−£0.00
Child Benefit you keep£0.00

You're £10,000 over £60,000. Paying that much more into a pension (gross) would bring your adjusted net income back to £60,000 and remove the charge.

Illustrative estimate. If the charge applies, you pay it through Self Assessment, or through your tax code if you're employed and opt in with HMRC.

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How the charge is worked out

For 2025/26, Child Benefit is £26.05 a week for the eldest child and £17.25 a week for each other child. The charge is 1% of the year's Child Benefit for every £200 of adjusted net income over £60,000, up to 100% at £80,000.

Worked example

Tom earns £70,000 and his partner claims Child Benefit for their two children: £2,251.60 for the year. Tom is £10,000 over the threshold, so the charge is 50%: £1,125.80. If Tom paid an extra £10,000 gross into his pension, his adjusted net income would drop to £60,000 and there would be no charge, plus he'd get higher rate tax relief on the contribution.

What counts as adjusted net income

  • Add up salary, self-employed profit, rental profit, pensions, savings interest and dividends.
  • Take off gross pension contributions paid through relief at source (your payment plus the basic rate top-up) and gross Gift Aid.
  • Salary sacrifice and workplace pension deductions taken before tax are already left out of your salary figure.

Reporting it

If the charge applies and you don't pay it through your tax code, you need to register for Self Assessment by 5 October after the tax year and file a return. Here's how to register. TaxGo works out the charge for you as part of your return.

Questions

Asked and answered.

01

What is the High Income Child Benefit Charge?

A tax charge that claws back Child Benefit when the higher earner in a household has adjusted net income over £60,000. It's 1% of the year's Child Benefit for every £200 over £60,000, so at £80,000 the whole amount is repaid.

02

Who pays the charge, me or my partner?

The partner with the higher adjusted net income pays it, even if the other partner is the one who claims the Child Benefit. Only individual incomes count, not combined household income.

03

Should I stop claiming Child Benefit?

You can opt out of the payments if the charge would wipe them out, but it's usually worth still making the claim. It protects National Insurance credits for a parent who isn't working, which count towards the State Pension, and gets your child an NI number automatically.

04

How can I reduce the charge?

Lowering your adjusted net income reduces it. The most common way is paying more into a pension, since gross contributions come off adjusted net income. Gift Aid donations work the same way.

05

Do I need a tax return to pay it?

Traditionally yes, through Self Assessment. Employees can now ask HMRC to collect it through their tax code instead, but if you already file a return for other reasons it goes on there.

Your tax return isn't going to do itself.

Actually, TaxGo gets pretty close.

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