How does the High Income Child Benefit Charge taper work for 2026/27?

Full answer

The High Income Child Benefit Charge (HICBC) means many families continue receiving Child Benefit but must pay some or all of it back through the tax system once one partner earns above a certain level, and the mechanics catch many families by surprise. **How the taper works** Once the higher-earning partner in a household has adjusted net income above £60,000, the charge starts at 1% of the Child Benefit received for every £200 of income above £60,000, reaching a full 100% clawback (in effect, cancelling out the Child Benefit entirely through the tax charge) once income reaches £80,000. **It is based on the HIGHER earner, not combined household income** The charge is assessed on whichever partner in the household has the higher individual adjusted net income, not the couple's combined income -- a household where one partner earns £90,000 and the other earns nothing faces the full HICBC clawback, while a household where both partners earn £55,000 each (a higher combined household income of £110,000) faces no charge at all, since neither individual exceeds the £60,000 threshold. **Worked example** A family has two children and receives Child Benefit of £27.05 + £17.90 = £44.95 a week, or about £2,338 a year. The higher-earning partner has adjusted net income of £68,000, which is £8,000 above the £60,000 threshold. £8,000 divided by £200 gives 40, so the charge claws back 40% of the Child Benefit received, roughly £935 for the year, which the higher earner must declare and pay through Self Assessment. **Why some families opt out of receiving the payments** Families where the higher earner is well above £80,000 (facing a full 100% clawback) sometimes choose to stop receiving the Child Benefit payments altogether, rather than receiving it and then paying it all back through the tax charge -- this avoids the administrative burden of registering for Self Assessment purely to repay Child Benefit in full, though it is still worth formally claiming Child Benefit (even if opting not to receive the payments) to protect National Insurance credits for the claiming parent, which count towards State Pension entitlement. **Why claiming still matters even above £80,000** Even if a family decides not to actually receive the Child Benefit payments because the charge would claw it all back, submitting the claim form itself is still valuable, since it is the claim that generates National Insurance credits for the parent who is not working or earning enough to build their own National Insurance record -- these credits protect that parent's State Pension entitlement even though no money changes hands if the payment itself is declined. **Effect on the £100,000 Personal Allowance taper too** A higher earner near these thresholds can face several overlapping effects at once -- HICBC clawback between £60,000 and £80,000, and separately the Personal Allowance taper between £100,000 and £125,140 -- meaning a relatively narrow band of extra income can trigger multiple different reductions in net benefit simultaneously, an effect sometimes highlighted as creating unusually high effective marginal tax rates for parents in this income range. **Reducing adjusted net income to avoid the charge** Pension contributions via salary sacrifice or relief-at-source reduce adjusted net income for HICBC purposes, so increasing pension contributions can reduce or eliminate the charge for someone just above the £60,000 threshold, potentially making pension saving particularly tax-efficient for parents in this specific income range. **Practical tip** If the higher earner in your household expects adjusted net income between £60,000 and £80,000, calculate the exact HICBC due using the £200 increments described above, and consider whether increased pension contributions could reduce or remove the charge while simultaneously boosting retirement savings -- always still submit the Child Benefit claim form even if you expect to repay all of it, to protect National Insurance credits for the non-earning or lower-earning parent.

Try the calculator