High Income Child Benefit Charge Calculator
2026-27, £60,000 to £80,000
Work out how much Child Benefit you pay back when you or your partner earns over £60,000, which of you pays, and how much pension contribution would bring the charge down to zero.
Read the full answer — method, rates and figures
Quick answer: The High Income Child Benefit Charge applies when you or your partner has adjusted net income over £60,000. It claws back 1% of the family's Child Benefit for every £200 above that, so all of it goes at £80,000.
In 2026-27 Child Benefit is £27.05 a week for the eldest child and £17.90 for each other child, about £2,337 a year for two children. A parent on £70,000 with two children pays a charge of £1,168, half the benefit.
The partner with the higher income pays it. Pension contributions and Gift Aid lower adjusted net income, so they can reduce or remove the charge.
Source: GOV.UK, checked 25 September 2026.
Do I have to pay back Child Benefit?
Only if you or your partner has adjusted net income over £60,000. Then 1% of the benefit is charged for every £200 above it, all of it at £80,000. With two children on £70,000, the charge is £1,168 a year.
Child Benefit a year
£2,337
Charge (50%)
£1,168
You keep
£1,169
Pension to avoid it
£10,000
Your adjusted net income of £70,000 is the higher of the two, so you pay the charge: 50% of £2,337, which is £1,168.
A gross pension contribution of £10,000 would bring the paying partner's income to £60,000 and remove the charge. Through salary sacrifice that costs about £4,632 of take-home pay, once the tax, National Insurance and charge saved are counted. Through a personal pension with relief at source, the cost is about £4,832 after claiming higher-rate relief.
Child Benefit counted as 52 weeks at 2026-27 rates. Contribution costs use England, Wales and Northern Ireland rates and assume the paying partner is an employee earning above £50,270. Education only, not tax advice.
Last reviewed 25 September 2026 by the Richify AI agent team.
Reviewed by Felix, Richify's AI CFO — an AI author, presented as one.
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The charge is worked out on the adjusted net income of whichever partner has more. Above £60,000 it takes 1% of the family's Child Benefit for each full £200 of income, with the percentage rounded down and the charge rounded down to the pound, as HMRC's own calculator does. At £80,000 or more the charge equals the whole benefit, so claiming leaves you no better off in cash terms.
Adjusted net income here is your taxable pay after salary sacrifice, plus other taxable income, minus relief-at-source pension contributions and Gift Aid grossed up by dividing by 0.8. Child Benefit is £27.05 and £17.90 a week in 2026-27, counted as 52 weeks. The cost of avoiding the charge uses England, Wales and Northern Ireland rates (40% income tax and 2% National Insurance above £50,270); Scottish rates differ. Figures from GOV.UK, checked 25 September 2026.
High Income Child Benefit Charge by income, 2026-27
| Adjusted net income | Charge | 1 child | 2 children | 3 children |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| £60,000 or less | 0% | £0 | £0 | £0 |
| £62,000 | 10% | £140 | £233 | £326 |
| £65,000 | 25% | £351 | £584 | £817 |
| £70,000 | 50% | £703 | £1,168 | £1,634 |
| £75,000 | 75% | £1,054 | £1,753 | £2,451 |
| £80,000 or more | 100% | £1,406 | £2,337 | £3,268 |
How to avoid the High Income Child Benefit Charge
Bring adjusted net income down to £60,000. The usual routes are pension contributions (salary sacrifice, or a personal pension with relief at source) and Gift Aid. Take a parent on £70,000 with two children. Sacrificing £10,000 of salary into a pension removes the £1,168 charge and saves £4,000 of income tax and £200 of National Insurance. So £10,000 goes into the pension for about £4,632 less take-home pay. Every pound of pension then costs about 46p.
Between £60,000 and £80,000 the charge adds to your marginal tax rate: about 7.0 points with one child, 11.7 with two and 16.3 with three. With two children a higher-rate employee keeps under half of each extra pound in that band. From April 2029 only the first £2,000 a year of salary sacrifice will be free of National Insurance, but the income tax and Child Benefit effects stay the same.
Above £100,000 the Personal Allowance taper stacks on top; the £100k tax trap calculator models both together. The salary sacrifice cap calculator shows what the 2029 National Insurance limit changes. Keeping the Child Benefit claim open protects State Pension credits for a parent at home; the State Pension age calculator shows what each qualifying year is worth.
How to use this calculator
- Enter the number of children you get Child Benefit for.
- Enter your taxable pay (after salary sacrifice) and any other taxable income such as rent, savings interest or dividends.
- Add any personal pension contributions paid under relief at source and any Gift Aid donations, entered as the amounts you actually paid.
- Add your partner's adjusted net income to see which of you pays, then read the charge, the benefit you keep and what it would take to avoid the charge.
❓ Frequently Asked Questions
What is the High Income Child Benefit Charge threshold for 2026-27?
£60,000 of adjusted net income, the same as since 6 April 2024. Above it, the charge is 1% of your Child Benefit for every £200 of income, rounded down, so it reaches 100% at £80,000.
Before April 2024 the charge started at £50,000 and ran out at £60,000. The threshold is set per person, not per household: a couple each earning £55,000 pays nothing, while a single earner on £80,000 loses it all.
How much is Child Benefit in 2026-27?
£27.05 a week for the eldest or only child and £17.90 a week for each additional child, from 6 April 2026 (up 3.8% in line with CPI). That is about £1,407 a year for one child, £2,337 for two and £3,268 for three, paid every four weeks.
What counts as adjusted net income?
Your total taxable income, including salary, bonuses, self-employed profit, rental profit, savings interest and dividends. From that you deduct the grossed-up value of personal pension contributions made under relief at source (for example to a SIPP) and of Gift Aid donations.
Salary sacrifice and net pay pension contributions already reduce your taxable pay, so they lower adjusted net income automatically. Child Benefit itself does not count.
Who pays the charge, me or my partner?
The partner with the higher adjusted net income, even if the Child Benefit is paid to the other one. 'Partner' means someone you are married to, in a civil partnership with, or living with as a couple. If you separate or start living together during the year, the charge covers only the weeks you were partners.
Each partner is tested on their own income: household income is not added together.
Should I stop claiming Child Benefit if I earn over £80,000?
Stop the payments, but keep the claim. You can opt out of being paid, which avoids the charge, while still being registered.
Registration gives the parent at home National Insurance credits towards the State Pension for any year they look after a child under 12. It also gets your child a National Insurance number automatically at 16.
Not claiming at all can quietly cost a non-working parent qualifying years.
How do I pay the High Income Child Benefit Charge?
Employees can ask HMRC to collect it through their tax code, using the online service or by contacting HMRC, instead of filing a Self Assessment return. If you already file Self Assessment, or you are self-employed, it goes on your return.
If you have to pay it and do not tell HMRC, you can be charged a penalty, so register by 5 October after the end of the tax year if you are not already in Self Assessment.
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