Your situation
High Income Child Benefit Charge in your tax code
Independent site, not HMRC. Only HMRC can change your code: use your HMRC online account or app.
Instead of a tax return, the charge can be taken from your salary or pension by lowering your code.
High Income Child Benefit Charge
Charge for the year
£1,000
| Share paid back | 50% |
| Through PAYE, each month | £83 |
| Allowance cut at 40% | £2,500 |
1% for every £200 above £60,000; all of it from £80,000.
The High Income Child Benefit Charge claws back Child Benefit when either partner's adjusted net income goes over £60,000. The charge is 1% of the Child Benefit for every £200 above that level, so it reaches the whole benefit at £80,000 (GOV.UK, High Income Child Benefit Charge). If both partners are above the threshold, the one with the higher income pays. If you do not need a tax return for another reason, you can pay it through PAYE instead: you register online, and HMRC sends a new code to your employer or pension provider that collects the charge across the year. Take an income of £70,000 and £2,000 of Child Benefit received in the year, an example amount: the charge is half the benefit, £1,000, roughly £83 a month through your pay. Because the extra tax comes from your top rate of 40%, this estimate takes about £2,500 off your allowance, turning 1257L into roughly 1007L.
Personal Allowance above £100,000
Personal Allowance left
£10,070
| Code if this is all from one job | 1007L |
| Allowance lost | £2,500 |
| Extra tax from the lost allowance (40%) | £1,000 |
£1 of allowance goes for every £2 above £100,000; none is left at £125,140.
Rules read on HMRC’s texts by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · Method
How the charge is measured
The test is your own adjusted net income, not the household's. It starts from total taxable income, savings interest and dividends included, and deducts certain reliefs such as pension contributions and grossed-up Gift Aid (HMRC, adjusted net income). HMRC's own example shows a total income of £70,000 brought down by pension payments and Gift Aid to an adjusted figure well below it, with a smaller charge as a result. The charge can also apply when someone else is paid Child Benefit for a child who lives with you, and that person contributes at least as much as you to the child's upkeep.
The table uses £2,000 of Child Benefit received in the year as an example amount and an employee whose top rate is 40%.
| Adjusted net income | Share repaid | Charge | Approximate code |
|---|---|---|---|
| £60,000 | 0% | £0 | 1257L |
| £64,000 | 20% | £400 | 1157L |
| £70,000 | 50% | £1,000 | 1007L |
| £76,000 | 80% | £1,600 | 857L |
| £80,000 | 100% | £2,000 | 757L |
Paying through PAYE instead of a tax return
GOV.UK offers two routes: Self Assessment or your regular PAYE deductions. PAYE is open if you do not need a return for any other reason and you register on or before 31 January following the tax year you are paying for. You sign in to the HMRC service for the charge with your adjusted net income, and your partner's if you have one, and the National Insurance number and relationship dates of any partner who received Child Benefit. After that, HMRC sends details of your new code to you and to your employer, or to your pension provider if you draw a pension.
In the code, the charge is a deduction like a company benefit. GOV.UK lists it among the items HMRC takes off your allowance before turning the rest into the number. The bigger the charge, the lower the number, and if other deductions already use most of your allowance, the result can be a K code.
Two codes on the same pay
1100L against 1257L, over the year
+£628.00
| Tax with 1257L | £15,428.00 |
| Tax with 1100L | £16,056.00 |
| Each month | £52.33 |
When it is better to opt out, and when things change
If the charge would take the full benefit, you can opt out of the payments and keep your claim. You then keep National Insurance credits that count towards the State Pension, and your child still receives a National Insurance number without applying. Opting out is done online, by an online form or through the Child Benefit Office. You remain liable for any charge up to the date payments stopped.
A new partner moving in, a separation, or a change of income all alter who pays and how much. If you pay through PAYE and you split up, tell HMRC so that your code stops collecting the charge. For any other figure behind the code, such as your estimated pay, check and correct it in your HMRC online account (updating your code). Adjusted net income above £100,000 also cuts the Personal Allowance; see codes above £100,000.