Claim, and pay the charge
Best£54,770Money in hand
- Child Benefit received
- £2,337
- Income tax
- -£14,632
- Child Benefit charge
- -£935
You keep the difference, and the charge is collected through Self Assessment.
Should I keep claiming Child Benefit?
Works out the High Income Child Benefit Charge on your income, what a pension contribution would save, and why opting out of the payment is almost never the right answer.
On the figures so far
The charge takes £935 of the £2,337, leaving you £1,402.
The gap is £1,402 — wide enough to be real, and one figure was assumed. To be surer: that you are the higher earner of the couple — the charge falls on whoever earns more, not on whoever claims.
Refine it in 4 questions below.
The decision
The charge takes £935 of the £2,337, leaving you £1,402.
£1,402 better than claim but take no payment, on the same figures.
- £2,337Benefit
- £935Charge
- 51.7%Effective rate
Why
- Child Benefit for 2 children is £2,337 a year.
- The charge claws back 1% for every £200 of income above £60,000, so at £68,000 it takes £935.
- That pushes your effective rate on this slice of income to about 51.7% — the charge behaves like extra income tax.
- Never simply stop claiming. Registering and opting out of the payment keeps the National Insurance credits that protect the State Pension of whoever is at home, and gets the child a National Insurance number automatically.
Does this apply to you?
Each of these has to be true. Where your answers settle it we have said so; where they cannot, the test is yours to check.
You are responsible for a child under 16, or under 20 in approved education or training. — met, on your answers
SSCBA 1992 s. 141
Your adjusted net income is above the charge threshold. — met, on your answers
ITEPA 2003 s. 681B
You are the higher earner of the couple. — we cannot tell from your answers
ITEPA 2003 s. 681C
You are registered for Self Assessment, or willing to be. — we cannot tell from your answers
TMA 1970 s. 7
What this does not model
- It assumes you are the higher earner. If your partner earns more, the charge is theirs and this is their decision.
- Adjusted net income is not your salary: pension contributions, Gift Aid and trading losses all reduce it, and benefits in kind increase it.
- The charge is collected through Self Assessment, so claiming may mean registering for a return.
- It does not model the Child Benefit rates changing part way through a year, or a child leaving education mid-year.
This is information, not tax or financial advice. It shows how the rules apply to the figures you entered — it does not know the rest of your circumstances. Worth checking with an accountant before you act.
Rates as at 6 April 2026 — the 2026/27 tax year.
What to keep
The figures above are only as good as what sits behind them. These are the records HMRC would ask for.
- Your Child Benefit award notice, showing the rate and the children covered.
- Both partners' income figures — the charge depends on whose is higher.
- Pension contributions and Gift Aid for the year, which reduce adjusted net income.
- P11D benefits, which increase it and are the most common reason people cross the threshold without a pay rise.
- Dates any child left education, which change the entitlement mid-year.
The dates that matter
| When | What | If you miss it |
|---|---|---|
| Within 3 months of the birth | Claim Child Benefit, to get the full backdating. | Backdating is limited to three months, and the National Insurance credits before that are lost. |
| 5 October after the tax year | Register for Self Assessment if the charge applies and you are not already registered. | A failure-to-notify penalty on top of the charge itself. |
| 31 January after the tax year | File the return and pay the charge. | Interest, and penalties from £100 rising after three months. |
| 5 April | Make any pension contribution intended to reduce this year's adjusted net income. | It reduces next year's charge instead. |
How to actually do it
Claim, even if you will not keep the money
Registering protects the National Insurance credits of whoever is at home — worth about £300 a year of State Pension for each year credited — and gets the child a National Insurance number automatically at 16.
Decide whether to take the payment
If the charge would take all of it, tick the box to claim without payment. You keep the credits and avoid a tax return purely for the charge.
Work out your adjusted net income properly
Total income, less gross pension contributions and gross Gift Aid, plus taxable benefits in kind. It is not your salary, and the difference is often several thousand pounds.
Consider a pension contribution
It reduces adjusted net income pound for pound, so it removes charge and income tax together. In the charge window the combined effective relief is well above the headline rate.
Report and pay
Through Self Assessment, or from 2025 through your PAYE code if you prefer not to file.
Worked examples
Three situations, worked through. They use the same rules as the tool above, so you can check the arithmetic against a case near your own.
Two children, £58,000 income
- Child Benefit
- About £2,350
- Charge
- Nil
- Kept
- All of it
Below the threshold. Claim and keep it — there is nothing to decide.
Two children, £70,000 income
- Child Benefit
- About £2,350
- Charge
- About £1,175 — half
- Kept
- About £1,175
- Effective rate on this slice
- About 52%
Halfway through the window. Still worth claiming and taking the payment — you keep half — but the charge behaves like extra income tax on this band.
Two children, £70,000 income, £10,000 into a pension
- Adjusted net income
- £60,000
- Charge
- Nil
- Income tax saved
- £4,000
- Child Benefit kept
- All of it
The contribution removes the whole charge as well as the higher-rate tax. This is the case where a pension contribution is worth far more than its headline relief.
The rules behind this
Every figure above comes from one of these. Where we have interpreted rather than calculated, the tool says so.
The High Income Child Benefit Charge applies where adjusted net income exceeds £60,000, clawing back 1% of the benefit for every £200 above it.
The charge falls on the partner with the higher adjusted net income, whether or not they claim.
Adjusted net income is total income less gross pension contributions and Gift Aid.
A claimant may elect not to receive payment while remaining entitled, preserving National Insurance credits.
Claims can be backdated three months only.
Questions people ask
Should I just stop claiming?
Almost never. Claim and elect not to receive the payment instead. That keeps the National Insurance credits for whoever is at home — a qualifying year each year, worth roughly £300 a year of State Pension for life — and gets the child a National Insurance number automatically. Simply not claiming throws both away.
Why is the effective rate so high?
The charge claws back the benefit across a £20,000 window while income tax is also being charged. For a family with two children that adds roughly 12 points to the marginal rate; with three or more it can push the effective rate past 60%.
What counts as adjusted net income?
Total taxable income from all sources, less gross pension contributions and gross Gift Aid, plus benefits in kind. A company car can push someone over the threshold without any change in salary.
What if we are not married?
The charge applies to partners living together, married or not. It is based on the household, unlike almost everything else in income tax.
Can the charge be collected without a tax return?
Yes — since 2025 it can be collected through your PAYE code, which removes the main practical objection to claiming. You have to opt into that; it does not happen automatically.
Software that files it for you
Partner linksIf you keep your own books, these are the packages that handle Self Assessment and Making Tax Digital.
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