Quick HICBC estimate
Uses complete £200 steps above £60,000 and weekly Child Benefit rates multiplied by 52.
Who the charge can affect
The High Income Child Benefit Charge can apply when Child Benefit is received and at least one partner has adjusted net income over the threshold. It can also apply in some circumstances where another person receives Child Benefit for a child living with the higher-income person. The test is based on individual adjusted net income, not the couple’s combined household income.
When both partners are over the threshold, GOV.UK says the partner with the higher adjusted net income is responsible for the charge. ‘Partner’ has a specific meaning in the official guidance and generally covers spouses, civil partners and people living together as if married or in a civil partnership who are not permanently separated. If estimated incomes are equal, this website does not invent a payer and instead advises checking with HMRC.
The £60,000 and £80,000 boundaries
For tax years from 2024/25 onwards, HICBC starts when adjusted net income is over £60,000. Full HICBC applies at £80,000 or more. At exactly £60,000, the estimate is zero. At exactly £80,000, it is 100%. These precise boundaries are different from the older £50,000-to-£60,000 regime that applied up to and including 2023/24.
The percentage increases by one point for every complete £200 above £60,000. The estimator calculates the excess, divides by £200, discards an incomplete step and caps the result at 100. This means £60,001 remains 0%, £60,200 is 1%, £67,600 is 38%, £79,999 is 99% and £80,000 is 100%. The result is labelled an estimate and links to GOV.UK.
Child Benefit rates used by the estimate
For 2026/27, the official weekly rate is £27.05 for the eldest or only child and £17.90 for each additional child. Multiplying by 52 gives an annual estimate of £1,406.60 for one child and £2,337.40 for two children. For 2025/26, the rates are £26.05 and £17.25, producing estimates of £1,354.60 and £2,251.60 respectively.
The estimate deliberately uses weekly rate multiplied by 52, as stated beside the result. Exact charge calculations can depend on the amount of Child Benefit actually received or entitled to during the relevant period. Birth dates, a claim starting or stopping during the year, a young person leaving approved education and changes in household circumstances can therefore make HMRC’s exact figure differ from this simple annual estimate.
How the percentage becomes a charge
Suppose adjusted net income is £67,600. The excess over £60,000 is £7,600. Dividing £7,600 by £200 gives 38 complete steps, so the estimated percentage is 38%. If estimated annual Child Benefit for two children in 2026/27 is £2,337.40, the estimated charge is £888.21 and the amount notionally retained after the charge is £1,449.19.
At £79,999, the excess is £19,999. There are 99 complete £200 steps, so the estimator returns 99%, not 100%. At £80,000, the excess is exactly £20,000 and the calculation reaches 100 steps. The charge cannot exceed the relevant Child Benefit amount. Rounding and exact entitlement periods remain reasons to confirm the final amount through HMRC’s calculator or tax process.
Why adjusted net income is the important figure
HICBC is not tested against headline salary alone. Adjusted net income includes taxable income such as savings interest and dividends before Personal Allowance, reduced by specified reliefs. A relief-at-source pension is deducted at its grossed-up value, and qualifying Gift Aid is also grossed up. Gross pension payments without tax relief can be deducted at the gross amount.
Salary sacrifice and net-pay pensions require care. If the income figure is P60 taxable pay, the payroll reduction may already be reflected. Deducting the same contribution again would produce an artificially low HICBC estimate. The main calculator asks whether the starting figure is taxable pay after payroll pension deductions, gross salary before sacrifice or uncertain, and treats the pension accordingly.
Payments, opting out and National Insurance credits
A claimant can continue receiving Child Benefit and pay any resulting charge, or opt out of receiving payments. GOV.UK explains that opting out of payments does not cancel the Child Benefit registration. The claimant may still preserve National Insurance credits towards the State Pension and the child can still receive a National Insurance number automatically, subject to the official rules.
Paying the charge and managing the claim are administrative decisions outside this calculator. GOV.UK now describes routes through PAYE and Self Assessment, with conditions and deadlines. The website does not file a return, change a claim or decide whether PAYE is available. It provides the estimated percentage and amount so the user can understand the scale before using HMRC’s services.
Check the numbers with the full calculator
Compare both partners, pension methods, Gift Aid, Child Benefit, childcare income limits and the Personal Allowance taper in one place.
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