High Income Child Benefit Charge Explained

The High Income Child Benefit Charge is a tax charge that takes back some or all of your family's Child Benefit once you or your partner has adjusted net income over £60,000. It is 1% of the Child Benefit for every £200 of income above £60,000, so the whole amount is repaid at £80,000 or more. These limits apply from the 2024/25 tax year onward. This guide explains who pays, how the income figure is worked out, how to pay, and why you should usually keep the claim open even if you receive nothing.

Key takeaways

• The charge starts when one partner's adjusted net income goes over £60,000.
• The partner with the higher adjusted net income pays it.
• Personal pension contributions and Gift Aid donations reduce adjusted net income, and so can reduce the charge.
• You pay through Self Assessment, or through your tax code if you are an employee.
• You can opt out of payments, but keep the claim to protect National Insurance credits.

What is the High Income Child Benefit Charge?

Child Benefit is paid to whoever is responsible for a child, whatever the household earns. The High Income Child Benefit Charge is how the tax system recovers it from higher earners. It is not a deduction from the benefit itself. The benefit is paid as normal and the higher earner then pays a separate tax charge. HMRC's guidance is on GOV.UK under the High Income Child Benefit Charge.

The charge applies if you or your partner has adjusted net income over £60,000 and either of you gets Child Benefit. For this purpose a partner is someone you are married to, in a civil partnership with or living with as if you were, and not permanently separated from. Incomes are looked at individually and never added together.

How much is the charge?

The charge is 1% of the Child Benefit received in the tax year for every £200 of adjusted net income over £60,000. That is the same as 5% for every £1,000.

We have not quoted weekly amounts because they change each April. Check the current Child Benefit rates on GOV.UK, or use HMRC's Child Benefit tax calculator to estimate your own charge.

What counts as adjusted net income?

Adjusted net income is your total taxable income for the tax year, less certain reliefs. Taxable income includes wages, self-employed profit, rental profit, pensions, taxable savings interest and dividends. From that total you take off things like gross pension contributions you made personally and Gift Aid donations. HMRC sets out the full calculation in its guidance on adjusted net income.

If you are self-employed, the figure that goes in is your taxable profit, not your turnover. A private hire driver who takes £75,000 in fares but has £20,000 of allowable costs has a profit of £55,000 and, with no other income, is under the threshold. Because profit is only final once the year's accounts are done, self-employed people often do not know whether the charge applies until after 5 April. Our guide to sole trader allowable expenses covers what can properly be deducted.

How pension contributions and Gift Aid affect the charge

Because adjusted net income is measured after gross personal pension contributions and Gift Aid donations, either can bring the figure down and reduce the charge. This is simply how the calculation works. It is not a reason to pay into a pension you cannot afford or would not otherwise choose, and pension decisions have their own limits and consequences. If you are near £60,000 or £80,000, it is worth knowing the numbers before the tax year ends on 5 April, because contributions made after that date count in the following year. Company directors may find pension contributions for company directors useful background.

How to pay the charge

There are two routes. The first is Self Assessment: you declare the Child Benefit received on your tax return and the charge is added to your bill, due by 31 January after the tax year. The second, for employees, is a service HMRC now offers to collect the charge through your PAYE tax code, which avoids filing a return if you have no other reason to.

If you are self-employed you file a return anyway, so the charge is one more box to complete. Remember that it increases your tax bill and can therefore increase your payments on account.

Step by step: what to do if the charge applies

1. Work out each partner's adjusted net income for the tax year, separately.
2. Identify the higher earner. That person is responsible for the charge.
3. Find the Child Benefit received in the tax year from your award letters or bank statements.
4. Estimate the charge using HMRC's calculator.
5. Choose how to pay. If you need Self Assessment and are not already registered, register by 5 October after the tax year. See the Self Assessment registration deadline.
6. File and pay on time. For 2025/26 the online return and payment are due by 31 January 2027.
7. Decide about future payments. If your income will stay at £80,000 or more, consider opting out of payments while keeping the claim.
8. Review every year. A pay rise, a good trading year or a new partner moving in can all bring the charge into play.

Opting out, and why you should still claim

If the charge would wipe out the whole benefit, you can opt out of receiving payments so there is nothing to repay. That is different from not claiming. You should still fill in the claim form when a child is born, because a parent who is not working, or who earns little, gets National Insurance credits towards the State Pension through the claim. You can restart payments later if your income falls.

Worked example (illustrative)

"Farah", an illustrative example, is a self-employed consultant. Her partner earns £28,000 and receives the family's Child Benefit. To keep the sums simple, assume the Child Benefit for the year is a round £2,000. This is not an actual rate. Farah's turnover is £82,000 and her allowable expenses are £14,000, so her taxable profit is £68,000. She has no other income.

Her adjusted net income is £68,000, which is £8,000 over the threshold. £8,000 divided by £200 is 40, so the charge is 40% of £2,000, which is £800. Farah pays it, not her partner, because hers is the higher income.

If Farah had made gross personal pension contributions of £4,000 in the year, her adjusted net income would be £64,000. That is £4,000 over, or 20 lots of £200, giving a charge of 20% of £2,000, which is £400. The person and figures are invented for illustration and are not a real client.

Common mistakes

• Adding both incomes together. Only the higher individual income matters.
• Assuming the claimant pays. The higher earner pays, whoever receives the benefit.
• Using turnover instead of profit. Self-employed readers should use taxable profit.
• Forgetting other income. Rent, dividends and taxable interest all count.
• Not telling HMRC. If the charge applies, it is your job to register and declare it, and doing so late causes problems. See Self Assessment late filing penalties.
• Not claiming at all. This can cost National Insurance credits.
• Missing a new partner. The charge can apply to someone who moves in with a claimant, even though the child is not theirs.

How we can help

We work out adjusted net income, calculate the charge and include it on your Self Assessment return, so you know what is due well before 31 January. Personal tax returns start from £180 per year on a fixed fee. See our personal tax service, view our pricing, or contact us if you think the charge applies to you for 2025/26.