The High Income Child Benefit charge - the basics

You may be liable to the High Income Child Benefit charge if you, or your partner, have an individual income of more than £50,000 and one of you gets Child Benefit. It may also apply if someone else receives Child Benefit for a child who lives with you.

On this page:

Who is affected by the High Income Child Benefit charge?
Who isn't affected
What to do if you're affected
How the tax charge works
Claiming Child Benefit
Changes in circumstances
More useful links

Who is affected by the High Income Child Benefit charge?

You will be affected by the High Income Child Benefit charge if during a tax year any of the following applies to you:

you have an individual income of more than £50,000 and are entitled to receive Child Benefit
you have an individual income of more than £50,000 and live (or have lived) with a partner who's entitled to receive Child Benefit
both you and your partner have an income of more than £50,000 per year, you have the higher income and one of you is entitled to receive Child Benefit

You will also be affected if during a tax year you have an individual income of more than £50,000 and both of the following apply:

someone else is entitled to receive Child Benefit for a child who lives with you
they're entitled because they contribute at least an equivalent amount of Child Benefit towards the child's upkeep, for example pocket money or clothes

It doesn't matter if the child that is living with you is not your own child.

Your income will generally be your income before tax and deduction of ''Personal Allowance'.

Check if you're affected by the High Income Child Benefit charge

You can find out more about the type of contributions that count by going to the guide 'Child Benefit if your child lives with someone else'.

A tax year runs from 6 April to 5 April the following year.

Child Benefit if your child lives with someone else

Child Benefit rates

Who counts as a 'partner'?

For the High Income Child Benefit charge, a partner is one of the following:

a person you are married to and you are living with - or have lived with during a tax year - and not permanently separated from
a civil partner you are living with - or have lived with during a tax year - and not permanently separated from
a person you are living with - or have lived with during a tax year - as if you are married or a civil partner

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Who isn't affected

You won't be affected if:

both you and your partner have an individual income below £50,000 for a tax year
neither you or your partner are entitled - or have been entitled - to receive Child Benefit

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What to do if you're affected

You will need to choose to do one of the following:

keep receiving Child Benefit payments - but if you do you will need to declare the amount you or your partner are entitled to by filling in a tax return each year and registering for Self Assessment if you haven't done so already
tell the Child Benefit Office that you want to stop receiving Child Benefit payments - in which case you won't be liable for the new tax charge and won't need to fill in a tax return (unless you need to for other reasons)

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How the tax charge works

The amount of the tax charge will be based on the amount of Child Benefit entitlement and the level of what is known as 'adjusted net income'.

You can find out more about how the tax charge is worked out, and what 'adjusted net income' means, by going to the guide 'How the High Income Child Benefit charge works'.

How the High Income Child Benefit charge works

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Claiming Child Benefit

If you decide to stop your Child Benefit payments it won't affect your entitlement to Child Benefit. As long as you, or your partner, are entitled to receive it you should still fill in a Child Benefit claim form if you have not already done so. This is because entitlement to Child Benefit:

can help you qualify for National Insurance credits that can protect your entitlement to State Pension
can help protect your entitlement to other benefits such as Guardian's Allowance
ensures your child is automatically issued with a National Insurance number before their 16th birthday

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Changes in circumstances

Some changes can affect whether you are liable to the High Income Child Benefit charge, or how much you might have to pay. These can include when a partner moves in or leaves, changes in income or changes in your entitlement to receive Child Benefit.

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