UK Child Benefit & High Income Child Benefit Charge Calculator
Child Benefit for the year, the charge above £60,000, and what a pension saves.
Pay into a pension or give to charity
Extra gross pension contributions (or Gift Aid donations × 1.25) lower your adjusted net income. With relief at source you pay 80% and the provider adds the rest; if you pay 40% tax you can also claim back up to 20% more.
Child Benefit for the year
Adjusted net income
Rules used and official sources
Tax rules and rates change. This calculator follows the rules described on this page and may not cover every situation. Check the official source or a qualified tax professional before filing or invoicing.
About the UK Child Benefit & High Income Child Benefit Charge Calculator
Child Benefit is £27.05 a week for the eldest or only child and £17.90 a week for each other child. If the higher earner in your household has an adjusted net income over £60,000, they pay some of it back through the High Income Child Benefit Charge: 1% for every £200 above £60,000, and all of it from £80,000.
This calculator works out the Child Benefit for the tax year (every week whose Monday falls in the year, with start and stop dates for a new baby or a child who leaves education), the adjusted net income, the charge and what you keep. It follows GOV.UK’s own Child Benefit tax calculator, including its rounding, and shows how much a pension contribution or Gift Aid would cut the charge. Nothing you enter leaves your browser.
How to use it
- Choose the tax year and how many children you get Child Benefit for. If a claim started or stopped during the year, tick the box and enter the dates.
- Enter the taxable income of the partner with the higher income: pay, taxable benefits, profits, pensions, interest, dividends and rent, before tax.
- Add any personal pension payments, Gift Aid and other reliefs: they lower adjusted net income.
- Read the charge, what you keep and the effect of paying more into a pension. Copy the summary or download the tables as CSV.
Examples
Child Benefit 53 × £27.05 = £1,433.65 · charge 50% = £716 · you keep £717.65
The same as GOV.UK’s calculator gives. Most tax years have 52 Child Benefit weeks; one with 53 Mondays has 53.
Child Benefit 53 × (£27.05 + £17.90) = £2,382.35 · charge 50% = £1,191
£10,199 over £60,000 is 50 full steps of £200: the last £199 does not add another 1%.
First child 53 × £27.05 = £1,433.65 · second child 22 × £17.90 = £393.80 · total £1,827.45 · charge £913
Gross contribution £10,000 → adjusted net income £60,000 → charge £0 (saves £1,191)
A higher rate taxpayer can also claim up to £2,000 of extra tax relief on that contribution through Self Assessment.
How much Child Benefit you get
- Eldest or only child: £27.05 a week. Each other child: £17.90 a week (GOV.UK).
- A week counts for the tax year when its Monday falls in the year, so most tax years have 52 Child Benefit weeks and some have 53 (HMRC’s tax return notes describe the same count).
- For a claim that starts or stops during the year the calculator counts the Mondays from the start date to the stop date. If any child is claimed for the whole year, that child gets the eldest-child rate and the others the lower rate, as GOV.UK’s calculator does.
How the charge works
The charge is 1% of the Child Benefit for every £200 of adjusted net income above £60,000, and the whole amount once it reaches £80,000 (GOV.UK). Only full £200 steps count, and the charge is rounded down to whole pounds, as in GOV.UK’s Child Benefit tax calculator.
It applies when you or your partner get Child Benefit (or someone else claims for a child who lives with you and contributes at least as much to their upkeep) and at least one of you has adjusted net income above £60,000. If both of you do, the one with the higher adjusted net income pays. A partner is a spouse, civil partner or someone you live with as a couple. The charge is paid through Self Assessment or collected through your tax code.
Between £60,000 and £80,000 every extra £200 of income costs 1% of your Child Benefit on top of your Income Tax: with two children that is about 11.9% more on each pound.
What counts as adjusted net income
Start with your total taxable income before the Personal Allowance, then take off (GOV.UK):
- pension contributions paid gross without tax relief, and trading or property losses;
- Gift Aid donations × 1.25;
- personal pension contributions where the provider added basic-rate relief × 1.25.
Pension contributions taken from your pay before tax (a net pay arrangement or salary sacrifice) are already out of your taxable pay. GOV.UK’s example: £70,000 of income, £4,750 of pension paid without relief and £1,000 of Gift Aid give £70,000 − £4,750 − £1,250 = £64,000.
Reducing the charge
Anything that lowers adjusted net income lowers the charge: an extra pension contribution, Gift Aid, or salary sacrifice. To clear the charge, adjusted net income must come down to £60,000. With relief at source you pay 80% of the gross contribution and the pension provider adds 20%; if you pay 40% tax you can claim up to 20% more through Self Assessment (the UK Pension Contribution & Tax Relief Calculator works out your relief). Tax relief on pension contributions is limited to 100% of your earnings (GOV.UK), and your annual allowance applies too.
If your income is £80,000 or more, the charge equals the Child Benefit. You can then ask HMRC to stop the payments, but keep the claim: it still gives National Insurance credits towards the State Pension and gets your child a National Insurance number automatically before they turn 16.
Limitations
- The rates and thresholds are those of the tax years in the calculator. Earlier tax years charged 1% for every £100 above £50,000.
- It assumes one higher earner for the whole year. If you moved in together or separated during the year, the charge is split by period: the Child Benefit for each period goes on the return of whoever was the higher earner then.
- Guardian’s Allowance and Child Benefit arrears for earlier years are not included.
- It does not work out your Income Tax or the extra pension tax relief exactly: use the official figures on your tax return.
- An estimate for information, not tax advice. HMRC’s own calculation is final.
Privacy
Everything happens in your browser. What you enter or open here is not uploaded or stored by MySmartCoPilot.
Frequently asked questions
How much Child Benefit do I get a year?
£27.05 a week for the eldest or only child and £17.90 for each other child. Over a full tax year of 52 weeks that is £1,406.60 and £930.80; in a tax year with 53 Child Benefit weeks, £1,433.65 and £948.70.
At what income do I pay back Child Benefit?
When the higher earner’s adjusted net income is over £60,000: 1% of the Child Benefit for every £200 above it. At £70,000 that is 50%; from £80,000 it is 100%.
Who pays the charge, me or my partner?
Whoever has the higher adjusted net income, as long as it is above £60,000 — even if the other partner is the one who gets the Child Benefit.
How can I avoid the High Income Child Benefit Charge?
Lower your adjusted net income to £60,000 or less, for example with personal pension contributions (each £80 you pay counts as £100), salary sacrifice or Gift Aid. Or stop the Child Benefit payments while keeping the claim.
Should I stop claiming Child Benefit if I earn over £80,000?
Stop the payments if you want to avoid the charge, but do not cancel the claim: it still gives the claimant National Insurance credits towards the State Pension and gets your child a National Insurance number before 16. You must still pay the charge for the time payments were made.
Is the charge worked out on every pound over £60,000?
No, on every full £200. £60,199 gives no charge yet, £60,200 gives 1%. The result is rounded down to whole pounds, as GOV.UK’s calculator does.