Child Benefit just got a 3.8% rise from April 2026. But for families with one parent earning over £60,000, there's a tax charge that claws some or all of it back — and understanding exactly how it works can save you hundreds, possibly thousands, per year.
From 6 April 2026, Child Benefit rates increased to:
| Child | Weekly rate (2025/26) | Weekly rate (2026/27) | Annual value |
|---|---|---|---|
| First or only child | £26.05 | £27.50 | £1,430/yr |
| Each additional child | £17.25 | £17.90 | £931/yr |
A family with two children now receives £2,361 a year in Child Benefit. Three children: £3,292. There's no cap on the number of children you can claim for.
You can claim if you're responsible for a child under 16, or under 20 if they're in approved full-time education or training. Only one parent can claim per child, but it doesn't have to be the higher earner — and as you'll see, who claims can matter.
The HICBC is a tax charge that claws back Child Benefit when the higher earner in your household has an adjusted net income above £60,000. The charge is paid by the higher earner, regardless of which parent is actually claiming the benefit.
The taper works like this: for every £200 of adjusted net income above £60,000, you repay 1% of the total Child Benefit received. By the time adjusted net income reaches £80,000, 100% of Child Benefit is clawed back.
How the taper works: two children, income between £60k and £80k
The HICBC is based on individual income, not household income. This creates a significant unfairness that the previous government promised to fix by April 2026 — but Labour dropped the plan after taking office in July 2024.
What this means in practice: a dual-income couple each earning £59,999 (combined £119,998) pay zero HICBC and keep all their Child Benefit. A single parent earning £70,000 loses half of theirs. A couple where one earns £80,000 and the other earns nothing loses all of it.
This isn't going to change for now. But it does mean that if your combined household income is high due to one person earning significantly more than the other, the HICBC hits harder than it would if income were split equally.
Before October 2025, anyone liable for HICBC had to file a self-assessment tax return every year purely to pay it. From October 2025, HMRC introduced a new PAYE option.
If your only reason for filing self-assessment is the HICBC — meaning you're a straightforward employee with no other untaxed income — you can now opt to pay through your PAYE tax code instead. HMRC adjusts your code, the charge is collected from your monthly salary, and no self-assessment return is needed.
If you've been filing returns just for HICBC, it's worth looking at whether the PAYE route simplifies things for you. Log in to your HMRC Personal Tax Account to see the option.
If you signed up for the PAYE option in late 2025 or early 2026, be aware that you may have two years of HICBC collected in one year's code — 2024/25 and 2025/26 together. HMRC warned this could happen for early adopters. Check your tax code and contact HMRC if you're unsure what's being deducted.
This is not obvious and genuinely important. If your income is over £80,000, you'll repay every penny of Child Benefit through the HICBC. So you might think: why bother claiming at all?
Two reasons. First, the non-working or lower-earning parent receives National Insurance credits for each year they claim Child Benefit. These credits count toward the State Pension. At current rates, each year of NI credits is worth roughly £5.29 per week in eventual pension — approximately £275 per year, for life. Over a 20-year retirement, one year of NI credits is worth around £5,500 in pension income. For a parent who takes time out of work for childcare, losing several years of credits by not claiming is a costly mistake.
Second, your child receives an automatic National Insurance number at 16 when a Child Benefit claim is active. Without the claim, they'll need to apply separately — an unnecessary hassle.
The solution if you're over £80,000: claim Child Benefit but opt out of receiving the payments. You keep the NI credits and the automatic NI number for your child, with no money changing hands and no HICBC to pay. You can opt out online through your HMRC Personal Tax Account.
If your adjusted net income is between £60,000 and £80,000, pension contributions reduce it — and therefore reduce your HICBC liability. Every £1,000 of pension contributions reduces your adjusted net income by £1,000, which reduces the HICBC by 0.5% of your total Child Benefit.
For a family with two children on full Child Benefit of £2,361 a year, a £2,000 pension contribution reduces the HICBC by £23.61 directly, and you also get higher-rate tax relief on the contribution. The combined return is substantial — contributing to your pension is almost always worth it in the £60k–£80k income range.
If your income is close to £100,000, the pension contribution effect goes much further — it also restores eligibility for Tax-Free Childcare and the 30 free hours. We've written a separate guide on the pension contribution trick for that scenario.
Our tool calculates your exact Child Benefit entitlement after the HICBC taper, and flags the pension contribution opportunity if your income is between £60,000 and £100,000.
Check my entitlements →