UK HICBC Calculator 2026/27

What the High Income Child Benefit Charge is

The High Income Child Benefit Charge (HICBC) is a UK Income Tax charge that recovers Child Benefit through the tax system when one partner in a household has adjusted net income above £60,000. It was introduced in January 2013, originally with a £50,000 lower threshold, and recalibrated with effect from 6 April 2024 - lifting the lower threshold to £60,000, the upper threshold to £80,000, and widening each 1% taper step from £100 to £200 of income. Both thresholds and the £200 step are unchanged for the 2025/26 and 2026/27 tax years.

HICBC is a charge on the higher-earning partner, regardless of who actually claims and receives the Child Benefit payments. It is paid via Self Assessment - HMRC does not collect it through PAYE - so a high earner whose partner receives Child Benefit will need to register for a Self Assessment tax return if they are not already filing one.

How HICBC is calculated in 2026/27

The mechanics are simple to state and easy to get wrong in the corners. For each full £200 of adjusted net income above £60,000, recover 1% of the annual Child Benefit. Maximum charge: 100% at £80,000.

Steps = floor((adjusted net income - 60,000) / 200)
Charge % = min(100, steps x 1%)
HICBC = annual Child Benefit x Charge %

The floor is important: at £60,150 of income the household is one £200-step above the threshold? No - 150 / 200 = 0.75, floored to 0, so the charge is still 0%. At £60,200 the charge rises to 1%. At £65,000 the charge is 25%, at £70,000 it is 50%, and from £80,000 the charge is 100%.

Worked example: £70,000 earner, two children

• Annual Child Benefit (2026/27): £27.05 + £17.90 = £44.95/week x 52 = £2,337.40
• Income above threshold: £70,000 - £60,000 = £10,000
• Steps: £10,000 / £200 = 50
• Charge: 50%
• HICBC: £2,337.40 x 50% = £1,168.70 for the year
• Net Child Benefit retained: £2,337.40 - £1,168.70 = £1,168.70

The household receives the full £2,337.40 from HMRC throughout the year into the claiming partner’s account, then the higher earner pays back £1,168.70 via their Self Assessment return. Net household benefit: £1,168.70.

Worked example: £90,000 earner, three children

• Annual Child Benefit: £27.05 + 2 x £17.90 = £62.85/week x 52 = £3,268.20
• Income above threshold: £90,000 - £60,000 = £30,000 (capped at £80k)
• Charge: 100%
• HICBC: £3,268.20 for the year
• Net Child Benefit retained: £0

At £90,000 the household has lost Child Benefit entirely through the charge. In this position the standard advice is to claim Child Benefit but elect not to receive payment - retaining the underlying Class 3 National Insurance credits for the non-working partner without paying the charge (see below).

Child Benefit rates 2026/27

Published by HMRC at gov.uk/child-benefit-rates and uplifted with inflation each April:

• Eldest or only child: £27.05 per week (£1,406.60 a year, 52 weeks)
• Each additional child: £17.90 per week (£930.80 a year)

Annual amounts for typical family sizes:

• 1 child: £1,406.60
• 2 children: £2,337.40
• 3 children: £3,268.20
• 4 children: £4,199.00

For comparison, the 2025/26 rates were £26.05 / £17.25 a week, and 2024/25 were £25.60 / £16.95. Year-on-year increases roughly track CPI.

What counts as adjusted net income

HICBC uses the same definition of adjusted net income as the £100,000 personal-allowance taper:

Adjusted net income =

• Total taxable income (salary, self-employment profits, taxable rental income, taxable savings interest above the Personal Savings Allowance, taxable dividends above £500, taxable pension income, taxable benefits in kind such as a company car)
• MINUS allowable deductions:
  • Member pension contributions (gross), made via RAS (relief at source), net pay or salary sacrifice
  • Gift Aid donations grossed up by 25%
  • Trading loss relief

Tax-free items do not count: ISA interest, premium bond prizes, the first £500 of dividends, the Personal Savings Allowance (£1,000 basic / £500 higher), and employer pension contributions paid via salary sacrifice (which never enter taxable income in the first place).

A worked example: salary £75,000, taxable BIK from a company car £3,000, RAS pension contributions £4,000 gross.

Adjusted net income = 75,000 + 3,000 - 4,000 = 74,000

That £74,000 is what triggers HICBC, not the headline £75k salary.

The pension sacrifice escape

For a household with one earner in the HICBC taper band, salary sacrifice into pension is one of the most tax-efficient moves available in the UK system. Every £1 sacrificed reduces adjusted net income by £1, which:

• saves 40% Income Tax (or 60% in the £100k taper) on the sacrificed pound,
• saves 8% (or 2% if higher-rate already) employee NI on the same,
• saves the employer 15% Class 1 secondary NI (sometimes shared with the employee),
• AND reduces the HICBC clawback on the household’s Child Benefit.

In the £60,000-to-£80,000 zone, the combined effective relief rate on a sacrificed pound often exceeds 60% - and approaches 75% for larger families where the absolute Child Benefit at stake is higher. The £1 in your pocket pre-sacrifice was worth about 50p after tax + NI + HICBC; the £1 in your pension is worth a full £1 plus investment growth.

Worked sacrifice: £73,000 earner, two children

• Pre-sacrifice: HICBC = 65% x £2,337.40 = £1,519.31. Net take-home tax
  • HICBC on the £13,000 slice above £60,000 = roughly £6,980.
• Sacrifice £13,000 into workplace pension. Adjusted net income drops to £60,000. HICBC = £0.
• Tax + NI saved on the £13,000: ~42% x £13,000 = £5,460.
• HICBC saved: £1,519.31.
• Net benefit of the sacrifice: £6,979.31 of tax + HICBC savings on a contribution that arrives in pension at full £13,000 value - equivalent to a 54% combined relief rate on the pound.

Should you stop claiming Child Benefit at high incomes?

Not necessarily. You can claim Child Benefit but elect not to receive payment - HMRC keeps the underlying claim alive while paying £0 each week. This avoids the HICBC entirely and preserves:

1. Class 3 National Insurance credits for the non-working partner, awarded automatically until the youngest child turns 12. Each missing NI year reduces the State Pension by 1/35th of the full weekly rate (currently £241.30/week, so each year is worth about £358 a year for life from State Pension age). For a parent who takes 12 years out of paid work, that is potentially £4,300+ a year of State Pension in retirement that would otherwise be lost.
2. HMRC record of the child - simplifies later interactions when the child reaches 16 (NI number, tax code) and is sometimes used by other agencies as a proof of existence.

The “claim but don’t receive” form is part of the standard Child Benefit claim (gov.uk: Child Benefit claim form CH2). It can be toggled on or off later via the Child Benefit helpline as circumstances change.

Couples where both partners earn over £60,000

If both adults have adjusted net income above £60,000, the HICBC is applied to the higher earner only. There is no doubling. Worked example: partner A earns £75,000, partner B earns £85,000, two children. The HICBC liability sits entirely with partner B at 100% clawback. Partner A pays no HICBC even though they are also over £60,000.

This is one of the structural quirks of HICBC: a single earner on £85,000 with a non-earning partner pays the same charge as a household where both earn £85,000. The charge is not means-tested at household level.

Filing HICBC via Self Assessment

The higher earner must register for Self Assessment by 5 October following the tax year in which HICBC first becomes payable. The full charge for the year is reported on box 7 of the SA100 (or the relevant box on the online return) and is included in the 31 January payment alongside any other Income Tax balance. If HICBC was over £1,000 in the previous year, HMRC will apply payments on account - collecting half of the next year’s expected HICBC at the same time as the balancing payment, with another half due by 31 July. This can materially affect cash flow for families newly into the taper band.

From April 2026 onwards HMRC has consulted on collecting HICBC through PAYE for the higher earner, removing the Self Assessment requirement for taxpayers whose only reason for filing is the charge. The change has not yet been legislated. Until it is, the Self Assessment route remains the only mechanism.

See our methodology for sources and testing approach.

Related guides

• High Income Child Benefit Charge explainer - the standalone landing page with rate tables.
• 60% Tax Trap - the £100,000 personal-allowance taper that often stacks on top of HICBC.
• Pension Contribution Calculator - model the exact pension sacrifice needed to clear HICBC.
• Salary Sacrifice Calculator - quantify the combined tax + NI saving from sacrifice.
• Tax Trap Calculator - interactive view of all the high-marginal-rate cliff edges.