High Income Child Benefit Charge Calculator 2026/27

Work out how much of your Child Benefit you keep once the HICBC is applied between £60,000 and £80,000.

Last updated: August 2026 · 2026/27 rates

Your details

£

Total income minus pension contributions, gift-aid donations and trading losses, see HMRC's definition.

Eldest at £27.05/week + each additional at £17.90/week.

Net Child Benefit kept after HICBC

£1,169/year

Partial HICBC: 50% of the benefit clawed back.

Weekly benefit
£44.95
Annual benefit
£2,337.40
HICBC charge
£1,168.00
Pension trick: Adjusted net income is reduced £-for-£ by personal pension contributions. A contribution of £10,000 would bring you to the threshold and recover the full Child Benefit, on top of the income tax + NI savings.

Calculation

Annual benefit = (£27.05 + 1 × £17.90) × 52 = £2,337.40

Income over £60,000 = £10,000

Charge % = 1% per £200 = 50% (capped at 100%)

HICBC = £2,337.40 × 50% = £1,168.00

Net benefit kept = £1,169.40

Understanding HICBC

Yes, even if your household income is £80,000+, you should usually still claim Child Benefit and either:

  • Tick the box to receive the payments and pay the HICBC via Self Assessment, or
  • Tick the box not to receive payments, but stay registered.

Why? Because claiming Child Benefit (paid or not) gives the non-working partner National Insurance credits towards the State Pension until each child turns 12. Skipping the claim entirely can cost tens of thousands in lost State Pension over a lifetime.

Adjusted net income is your total taxable income minus certain deductions. HMRC's formula:

  1. Start with total taxable income (employment, self-employment, rental, dividends, savings, etc.).
  2. Subtract gross pension contributions (relief-at-source) and gross gift-aid donations.
  3. Subtract qualifying trading losses.

This is the figure HMRC compares against £60,000 and £80,000. A typical higher earner with £70k salary and £5k of pension contributions has adjusted net income of £65k, so loses 25% of their Child Benefit, not 50%.

Reviewed by

, LLM (UK), CFP®, CIM®, PFP®. Financial planner with 18 years in banking and wealth management, holding a UK master of laws and the Canadian CFP®, CIM® and PFP® designations. Writes and reviews every calculator and article on FinanceToolz.

Last updated: August 2026. How figures are sourced, reviewed and corrected is set out in our editorial policy. This is general information, not regulated financial advice.

Sources

Every rate and threshold used by this calculator is taken from the official pages below. If a figure here disagrees with one of these, the official page is right, please tell us.