Child Benefit is worth £2,337 a year for two children — but once the higher earner in the house passes £60,000, the taxman starts taking it back. See exactly what you keep, what the charge costs, and the pension move that makes it disappear.
Salary plus bonus, taxable benefits like a company car, self-employment profit, rental income and taxable savings interest — before tax is taken off.
Pension contributions reduce the income this charge is tested on. On relief at source, enter what actually leaves your pay — HMRC counts it as 25% more when working out your income.
What you actually gave. Gift Aid reduces the tested income by 25% more than you donated.
The charge falls on whichever partner has the higher income — it is not a household test.
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An illustration based on published rates — not financial advice and not a statement of what you owe. Adjusted net income has more moving parts than any calculator can hold (benefits in kind, trading losses, pension annual allowance charges); HMRC’s own figure is the one that counts. The charge is collected through Self Assessment or, since September 2025, through your PAYE tax code. Nothing you enter is stored or sent anywhere.
The High Income Child Benefit Charge is one of the most resented corners of the UK tax system, and one of the least understood. Child Benefit itself is simple: £27.05 a week for your eldest child and £17.90 for each other child in 2026/27 — £1,406.60 and £930.80 a year respectively. The charge is what happens when the higher earner in the household has adjusted net income over £60,000: HMRC claws back 1% of the household’s Child Benefit for every £200 above the line, until at £80,000 the whole benefit has effectively gone.
Two things about that design catch people out. First, it is a test of individual income, not household income — two parents on £59,000 each keep everything while a single earner on £80,001 loses the lot. Second, inside the £60,000–£80,000 taper the withdrawal acts like extra income tax: with two children, every £1,000 of pay rise costs about £117 of Child Benefit on top of the tax and National Insurance you already pay. With three or four children the effective marginal rate in that band can pass 60%.
“Adjusted net income” is the same figure that drives the £100,000 personal allowance taper and Tax-Free Childcare, and the same lever moves all three: pension contributions. Money you put in a pension comes off the tested income — relief-at-source contributions count for 25% more than leaves your pay — so a contribution that brings you back to £60,000 wipes the charge entirely while collecting 40% tax relief on the way in. The calculator above shows the exact contribution that would do it; our pension tax relief calculator shows what the same contribution does to your pension and your payslip.
If your income is past £80,000, the right move is counter-intuitive: claim Child Benefit anyway, and opt out of being paid. The claim — not the money — is what protects the lower earner’s State Pension credits while caring for a child under 12, and registers the child for a National Insurance number. Opting out of payments means no charge arises and no tax return is needed for it. Cancelling the claim outright is the expensive version of the same decision.
Paying the charge got easier in September 2025: if you have no other reason to file Self Assessment, you can now register to pay it through your PAYE tax code and HMRC collects it from your salary automatically. The deadline to register is 31 January after the tax year ends.
A tax charge that claws Child Benefit back from higher earners. Once the higher partner’s adjusted net income passes £60,000, the charge takes 1% of the household’s Child Benefit for every £200 above that line — so at £70,000 half the benefit goes back, and from £80,000 all of it does. The benefit is still paid in full; the charge collects it back through the tax system from whichever partner earns more.
No — and this is the charge’s most criticised quirk. It tests each partner’s income separately, not the household’s. Two parents on £59,000 each (£118,000 coming in) keep every penny, while a single-earner family on £80,001 loses the lot. If that feels unfair, it is at least worth knowing which side of the line your household falls on.
Broadly, all your taxable income — salary, bonus, taxable benefits like a company car, self-employment profit, rent, taxable interest and dividends — minus the gross value of pension contributions and Gift Aid donations. It is the same figure that decides the £100,000 personal allowance taper and Tax-Free Childcare eligibility, which is why pension contributions are the standard lever for all three.
Yes. Pension contributions reduce adjusted net income pound for pound (and relief-at-source contributions count for 25% more than you actually hand over). Bring the tested income back to £60,000 and the charge disappears entirely — while the same money earns 40% tax relief on the way into your pension. Our pension tax relief calculator shows that side of the deal.
Claim it anyway — but tick the box saying you do not want to be paid. The claim itself is what protects the lower earner’s National Insurance credits towards their State Pension while they are caring for a child under 12, and it registers the child for a National Insurance number at 16. Opting out of payments means there is nothing to charge, so no tax return is needed for it — you keep the protections and lose nothing. Cancelling the claim outright throws those protections away.
Two routes. The traditional one is Self Assessment. Since September 2025 there is a simpler one: if you have no other reason to file a return, you can register on GOV.UK to pay through your PAYE tax code — HMRC adjusts the code and the charge comes out of your salary automatically. Register by 31 January after the end of the tax year, and deregister from Self Assessment first if you were only filing for this.
No — they are different tests that happen to share the same “adjusted net income” definition. Tax-Free Childcare and the free-hours entitlement vanish entirely the moment either parent’s adjusted net income passes £100,000 — a hard cliff. The Child Benefit charge is a gradual taper between £60,000 and £80,000 on the higher earner only. A family can be caught by one, both or neither; our Tax-Free Childcare calculator covers the other one.
No. This is general information and an illustration based on published rates — not advice, and not a statement of what you owe. Adjusted net income can have more moving parts than a calculator can hold; HMRC’s figure is the one that counts. For advice tailored to you, speak to a regulated adviser; for free guidance, MoneyHelper is a good place to start.
A pension contribution that clears the charge earns tax relief at the same time — see both sides of the deal before you decide.
