The High Income Child Benefit Charge: a plain-English guide

The short version

• The charge starts when one person's adjusted net income goes over £60,000.
• You pay back 1% of the Child Benefit for every £200 of income over £60,000.
• At £80,000 or more, the charge equals all of the Child Benefit.
• It's based on each person's own income, not household income. Two parents on £55,000 each pay nothing.
• If both partners are over £60,000, the one with the higher income pays it.

Work out your charge

What counts as adjusted net income

Adjusted net income is your total taxable income before the personal allowance, less certain reliefs. To work it out:

1. Add up your taxable income: salary and taxable job benefits, self-employed profit, rental profit, pensions, savings interest and dividends.
2. Take off pension contributions you paid with no tax relief yet (you claim it on your tax return), and any trading or property losses. Workplace contributions taken from your pay before tax are already left out of your taxable pay.
3. Take off Gift Aid donations, grossed up: every £1 you gave counts as £1.25.
4. Take off personal pension contributions where the provider claims basic rate relief for you (relief at source), also grossed up: every £1 you paid counts as £1.25.

GOV.UK's own example: Clara has £65,000 salary and £5,000 bank interest (£70,000), pays £4,750 into a pension without tax relief and gives £1,000 through Gift Aid. Her adjusted net income is £70,000 − £4,750 − £1,250 = £64,000.

How much Child Benefit is at stake

For 2026-27 Child Benefit is £27.05 a week for the eldest or only child and £17.90 a week for each additional child. Over 52 weeks that's about £1,406.60 for one child, £2,337.40 for two and £3,268.20 for three. The charge is a percentage of the Child Benefit actually paid to your household in the tax year, rounded down to the nearest pound.

Worked examples (two children, full year)

Child Benefit received: £44.95 a week × 52 = £2,337.40.

• Adjusted net income £58,000: under £60,000, so no charge. Keep all £2,337.40.
• Adjusted net income £64,000: £4,000 over, ÷ £200 = 20%. Charge 20% × £2,337.40 = £467.48, rounded down to £467.
• Adjusted net income £70,000: £10,000 over, ÷ £200 = 50%. Charge £1,168, so the family keeps £1,169.40.
• Adjusted net income £85,000: over £80,000, so the charge is 100%: £2,337, almost all of it.

Inside the £60,000 to £80,000 band, every extra £200 of income costs about £23 of Child Benefit with two children. That's roughly an extra 11.7% on top of 40% income tax and 2% National Insurance on that slice of pay.

Cutting the charge legally

Because the charge follows adjusted net income, anything that lowers it also lowers the charge:

• Pension contributions. Using the example above, someone on £70,000 who pays £8,000 into a relief-at-source personal pension has it grossed up to £10,000. Their adjusted net income falls to £60,000 and the £1,168 charge disappears, on top of the pension tax relief itself.
• Gift Aid donations work the same way: each £1 given takes £1.25 off adjusted net income.
• Salary sacrifice, if your employer offers it, lowers your taxable pay directly.

The free Child Benefit tax charge calculator shows how much pension or Gift Aid you'd need to get back under £60,000. Earning over £100,000 too? The pension and adjusted net income calculator also shows the Personal Allowance you lose and the £100,000 childcare limit, and the £100,000 tax trap guide explains it in full.

Paying the charge: PAYE or Self Assessment

There are two ways to pay:

• Through PAYE by changing your tax code, using HMRC's online service. You can do this if you don't need a tax return for any other reason and it's no later than 31 January after the tax year concerned.
• Through Self Assessment. You must use Self Assessment if you already file a return (for example you're self-employed or have untaxed savings or investment income) or if it's after that 31 January deadline.

If you don't normally file a return and need to pay through Self Assessment, register by 5 October after the end of the tax year. You can be penalised if you should pay the charge but don't register or don't declare Child Benefit on your return.

Should you opt out of Child Benefit?

If your income is over £60,000 you can either keep getting payments and pay the charge, or opt out of payments and not pay it. Either way, it's usually worth still making the claim. Opting out of payments keeps you registered, so a parent who isn't working still gets National Insurance credits towards their State Pension, and your child gets their National Insurance number automatically before they turn 16.

Between £60,000 and £80,000 you keep part of the benefit, so taking the payments and paying the charge normally leaves you better off. Above £80,000 the payments and the charge roughly cancel out, so many families opt out to avoid the paperwork. You can restart payments later if your income drops.

Keep on top of your income through the year

Self-employed or a landlord as well as employed? Your adjusted net income includes profits and rent, so it can drift over £60,000 without you noticing. Tidy Sheets' free tax set-aside calculator and rental income tax calculator help you estimate those figures, and our spreadsheet trackers are in the shop.

Visit the shop

Related: how much tax to set aside when self-employed · rental income tax for landlords.

Official sources

High Income Child Benefit Charge (GOV.UK)
Adjusted net income (GOV.UK)
Child Benefit rates (GOV.UK)
Pay the charge through Self Assessment (GOV.UK)
ITEPA 2003 section 681C (legislation.gov.uk)

Checked 16 October 2026. Rules for earlier tax years (before 2024-25 the threshold was £50,000 and the taper was 1% per £100) are outside this page's scope.