How to Pay the High Income Child Benefit Charge Through Your Tax Code (2026/27)

This guide is general information, not advice.

If you or your partner get Child Benefit and the higher earner’s adjusted net income is over the threshold, someone owes the High Income Child Benefit Charge. For years the only way to pay it was a Self Assessment tax return. HMRC now also collects it through PAYE: you register once online and the charge comes off through your tax code.

This guide is the procedure for employees and pensioners who have no other reason to file a return. By the end you will know whether you can use the PAYE route, what to have ready, how to register or switch out of Self Assessment, and what arrives afterwards. How the charge itself is worked out is covered in HICBC explained.

Before you start

HMRC’s PAYE service page says you cannot save your progress, so collect everything first:

• your adjusted net income — GOV.UK’s adjusted net income guidance explains the sum; it is taxable income less things like pension contributions and Gift Aid
• your partner’s adjusted net income, if you have a partner
• the National Insurance number of any partner who received Child Benefit in the last tax year
• the dates of relationships with any partners receiving Child Benefit
• a Government Gateway or HMRC sign-in (you can create one when you start); GOV.UK warns you may have to prove your identity, normally with photo ID such as a passport or driving licence

For 2026/27 the charge starts once adjusted net income is over £60,000 and equals the whole of the Child Benefit at £80,000 or more (GOV.UK overview). Our HICBC calculator or HMRC’s own Child Benefit tax calculator will estimate the figure.

Step-by-step

1. Check you can use PAYE. GOV.UK says all three of these must apply: you do not need to send a tax return for another reason (for example because you become self-employed); you are paying the charge for the current or previous tax year onwards; and it is on or before 31 January after the tax year you need to pay for. If any one fails, go to step 6.

2. Confirm you are the one who pays. Where both partners are over the threshold, the one with the higher adjusted net income is responsible (GOV.UK overview). Only that person registers.

3. If you cannot get your partner’s figures, write to HMRC. The PAYE page lets you ask whether your partner or ex-partner gets Child Benefit or has a higher income than you. Give the tax year, your name, address, date of birth, National Insurance number, Unique Taxpayer Reference if you have one, your adjusted net income and your partner’s name, plus their address, date of birth, National Insurance number and UTR if you can. Send it to Pay As You Earn and Self Assessment, HM Revenue and Customs, BX9 1AS. HMRC replies “yes” or “no” only, and you can ask only if you live together or separated within that tax year.

4. Register online. Use the Pay the High Income Child Benefit Charge service (the “Start now” button on the GOV.UK page). Sign in, prove your identity if asked, and enter the income and partner details from your list.

5. If you already file a return only for the charge, phone instead. GOV.UK says you must contact HMRC by phone through the Self Assessment general enquiries line to leave Self Assessment and register for PAYE collection. Have your adjusted net income, the partner National Insurance number and the relationship dates ready. HMRC’s 18 May 2026 release repeats it: people who switch “need to call HMRC to deregister from Self Assessment”. The general “no longer need to send a return” online service is not the route here; its GOV.UK page points HICBC switchers back to the PAYE page.

6. If PAYE is closed to you, use Self Assessment. If you do not usually send a return, register for Self Assessment by 5 October following the tax year, then declare the Child Benefit on your return each year. GOV.UK warns you may get a penalty if you need to pay this way and do not register, or do not declare the Child Benefit. Our register for Self Assessment guide walks through that.

7. Check the coding notice. After you register, HMRC sends your new tax code to you and your employer, or to your pension provider if you have pension income. Read it against our coding notice guide.

Deadlines and what happens next

• PAYE cut-off: 31 January after the tax year. GOV.UK’s own example is the 2025/26 charge, which can go through PAYE on or before 31 January 2027. The same rule puts the 2026/27 cut-off at 31 January 2028. After that date the charge for that year has to be paid through Self Assessment.
• Self Assessment registration: 5 October after the tax year — for 2026/27, 5 October 2027 — if you do not usually send a return.
• After registering: GOV.UK says your payments are set up and you do not have to do anything else unless your circumstances change. It gives no processing time for the new code, so we do not estimate one.
• If you separate from your partner while paying through PAYE, tell HMRC through the same online service or the Income Tax enquiries line, and HMRC will adjust your code so you no longer pay the charge.
• If your income drops below the threshold for the whole year, there is no charge. If you were in Self Assessment only for this, tell HMRC as soon as possible; it needs time to review before the 31 January deadline.

HMRC announced the PAYE option in its 1 April 2025 release after the Spring Statement, describing it as optional: you may stay in Self Assessment if you prefer.

Common mistakes

• Registering when you must file anyway. Self-employment, or savings or investment income you have to report, means a return is required and the charge goes on it.
• The lower earner registering. The higher adjusted net income pays, even if the other partner is the Child Benefit claimant.
• Using gross salary instead of adjusted net income. Pension contributions and Gift Aid can bring the figure down. See adjusted net income.
• Missing the 31 January cut-off. After 31 January following the tax year, PAYE collection for that year is closed.
• Filing the “no longer need a return” form to switch. For HICBC-only filers the switch is by phone, per GOV.UK.

Worked example

Child Benefit for 2026/27 is £27.05 a week for the eldest child and £17.90 for each additional child (GOV.UK rates). HICBC counts the weeks whose Monday falls in the tax year (ITEPA 2003 s.681H(3)), and 2026/27 runs from Monday 6 April 2026 to Monday 5 April 2027, so it has 53 such weeks. A family with two children paid all year gets £2,382.35 (£1,433.65 plus £948.70). HMRC’s 18 May 2026 release quotes 52-week annual figures (£1,406.60 and £930.80), which is why they differ.

The higher earner is employed and has adjusted net income of £70,000, with no other reason to file. That is £10,000 over the £60,000 threshold. At 1% per £200, the charge is 50%, or £1,191.18. Because they meet all three PAYE conditions, they register online and HMRC codes the charge into their tax code, with the new code sent to them and their employer. Use HMRC’s calculator for your own figures.

Related reading

• HICBC explained — thresholds, the taper and ways to reduce the charge.
• HICBC calculator — estimate the charge from your income.
• How to read a PAYE coding notice — check the new code HMRC sends.