The High Income Child Benefit Charge
The High Income Child Benefit Charge — usually shortened to HICBC — is the tax charge that claws some or all of Child Benefit back from higher earners. It does not change the weekly rate, and it does not stop you claiming. It is a separate tax charge, paid through Self Assessment or, in some cases, through PAYE, and it is the part of Child Benefit that causes the most confusion — mostly because of one trap.
How the charge works (2026/27, unchanged since April 2024)
| Higher earner's adjusted net income | Charge |
|---|---|
| £60,000 or less | No charge — keep the full Child Benefit |
| £60,000 to £80,000 | 1% of the Child Benefit for every £200 of income above £60,000 |
| £80,000 or more | 100% — the charge equals the full Child Benefit received |
Adjusted net income is broadly your total taxable income before personal allowances, less pension contributions and Gift Aid. It is not simply your salary: self-employment profits, rental income, and savings and dividend income all count, and pension contributions and Gift Aid reduce it — which is why two people on identical salaries can sit on opposite sides of the £60,000 line.
The trap: it is an individual test, not a household test
The charge looks at the higher earner alone. It does not add both partners' incomes together. That produces results that feel unfair but are exactly how the rules work:
- Two partners at £59,000 each — household income £118,000 — pay no charge at all, because neither partner individually passes £60,000.
- One earner at £61,000 with a non-earning partner starts paying the charge: £1,000 over the threshold is five steps of £200, so 5% of the Child Benefit is repaid.
- One earner at £70,000 repays 50%: £10,000 over the threshold is fifty steps, so half the Child Benefit goes back.
A move to a household-based system was proposed in 2024 but was subsequently scrapped, so the individual-income basis remains the rule. Any page that tells you the charge is assessed on combined household income for 2026/27 is wrong.
Worked example: two children at £70,000
Two children receive £44.95 a week, which is £2,337.40 a year. At £70,000 adjusted net income, the charge is 50% of that — £1,168.70 — and the family keeps the other £1,168.70. At £80,000 the charge is the whole £2,337.40, so the family keeps nothing in cash terms — but, crucially, keeping the claim (and opting out of payments) still protects the National Insurance credits and the child's National Insurance number, which is why the claim-or-opt-out page matters even at £80,000 and above.
How the charge is paid
The charge is normally paid through Self Assessment. Where the charge is the person's only Self Assessment obligation, it can instead be collected through PAYE, an option available from September 2025. Either way, the charge never exceeds the Child Benefit received: you cannot be charged more than the family was paid. The charge falls on the higher earner even if the other partner is the one who claims the benefit, which is another reason couples should think about who claims and who pays.