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Child Benefit if you earn over £60,000

If you or your partner earn over £60,000, you may pay some of your Child Benefit back. Here is how it works and whether to claim.

The short answer

Yes, it is usually still worth claiming. The charge only takes back part of the benefit between £60,000 and £80,000 of income, and claiming earns National Insurance credits for a parent at home. If you would pay all of it back, you can claim and choose not to receive the money. To see your own figure, use the Child Benefit tax charge calculator.

How much you pay back

The charge is 1% of your Child Benefit for every £200 of adjusted net income over £60,000, up to 100% at £80,000. In 2026/27 Child Benefit is £27.05 a week for the first child, which is about £1,407 a year, and £17.90 a week for each other child.

  • One child on £70,000: 50% of £1,407, so about £703 is paid back.
  • Two children on £70,000: 50% of £2,337, so about £1,169 is paid back.
  • Anyone on £80,000 or more pays back all of it.

It is the higher earner's income that counts, even if the other partner receives the benefit. See GOV.UK: High Income Child Benefit Charge.

The hidden tax rate

Because the charge grows with income, extra earnings between £60,000 and £80,000 are taxed more heavily than they look. For one child, each extra £200 costs another 1% of the benefit, about £14, which adds about 7 percentage points to the 40% tax rate. For two children it adds about 12.

Ways to reduce it

  • Pay into a pension. Pension contributions lower your adjusted net income, so they can cut or remove the charge as well as building retirement savings.
  • Gift Aid donations also reduce adjusted net income.
  • Check which partner has the higher income. The charge falls on the higher earner, so changes to their income matter most.

Claim even if you will repay it

Claiming gives a parent who is not earning enough National Insurance credits while the child is under 12, which protects their State Pension. It also gets your child a National Insurance number automatically at 16. You can opt out of the payments, so that you do not need to repay it, but still keep the claim. See GOV.UK: How to claim Child Benefit.

Where to learn more

This guide is for information only and is not tax advice.

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