High Income Child Benefit Charge
Work out the High Income Child Benefit Charge on income over £60,000, the annual Child Benefit at stake, and how much of it you keep.
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How this is calculated
Child Benefit is paid at £27.05 a week for the eldest or only child and £17.90 a week for each additional child. The calculator multiplies those weekly rates by 52 to get the annual amount at stake.
The High Income Child Benefit Charge is set out in Part 10 of the Income Tax Act 2007. It applies to whichever partner in the household has the higher adjusted net income — not to the person who receives the benefit, and not to the couple's combined income. Adjusted net income is total taxable income from all sources, reduced by pension contributions made through a net-pay or relief-at-source scheme and by Gift Aid donations, which is why a salary above £60,000 does not always produce a charge.
- If adjusted net income is £60,000 or less, no charge arises.
- Between the two thresholds, the charge is 1% of the Child Benefit for every £200 of income above the lower one. The number of complete £200 steps is rounded down, so income of £60,199 still produces a nil charge and £60,200 produces 1%.
- At £80,000 or more the charge is capped at 100% — it exactly cancels the benefit.
Money amounts are rounded down to the nearest penny so the charge is never overstated.
What this does not model: it does not calculate adjusted net income for you, split a part-year claim where a child is born or leaves the household mid-year, or handle a change of partner during the tax year, all of which HMRC apportions week by week. Even where the charge cancels the benefit in full it is usually worth claiming and electing not to be paid, because a claim protects National Insurance credits toward the State Pension until the child turns 12.