Child Benefit is paid to anyone bringing up a child, but since 2013 a quirk in the system claws it back from higher earners through the awkwardly named High Income Child Benefit Charge. It catches more families every year, confuses almost everyone, and leads some to opt out when they should not. The thresholds rose in 2024, which helps, but the trap is still real. Here is how it works in 2025/26 and the decision you actually need to make.
- Child Benefit is £26.05 a week for the eldest child and £17.25 for each other child in 2025/26.
- The charge starts when the higher earner's adjusted income passes £60,000, removing it fully by £80,000.
- It is based on the highest individual income, not the household total.
- You should usually still claim — even if you repay it — to protect your State Pension and your child's NI number.
What Child Benefit pays
For 2025/26, Child Benefit is worth £26.05 a week (about £1,355 a year) for your eldest or only child, plus £17.25 a week (about £897 a year) for each additional child. It is not means-tested at the point of payment — anyone responsible for a child can claim. The clawback happens separately, through the tax system.
The High Income Child Benefit Charge
If you or your partner has an "adjusted net income" over £60,000, you start to repay some of the benefit through a tax charge. It is tapered:
Below £60,000
no charge; you keep all the Child Benefit.
£60,000 to £80,000
you repay 1% of the benefit for every £200 of income over £60,000.
£80,000 and above
the charge equals the full benefit; you effectively repay all of it.
So at £70,000 — halfway through the band — you repay half. At £80,000 you repay it all. The thresholds doubled-ish in April 2024 (they used to start at £50,000), which lifted many families out of the charge, but high earners are still caught. Our Child Benefit trap calculator shows your exact position.
The unfairness everyone notices
The charge is based on the highest single income, not the household's combined income. That produces an obvious injustice: a couple each earning £55,000 — £110,000 between them — keep all their Child Benefit, while a single earner on £80,000 loses all of theirs. It is widely criticised and politically awkward, but it is the rule, and it shapes the planning.
The pension lever
Because the charge keys off adjusted net income, pension contributions can rescue it. Pension contributions reduce your adjusted income, so paying enough into a pension to drop below £60,000 — or further down the taper — can restore some or all of your Child Benefit. For a higher earner with children, a pension contribution can therefore deliver income tax relief and recovered Child Benefit at the same time, an unusually high effective return. The pension calculator helps you size it, and the take-home pay tool shows the income effect.
Should you still claim?
This is where people make a costly mistake. Faced with repaying the benefit, some families simply do not claim it. That can be wrong for two reasons:
Opting out can cost you State Pension years Claiming Child Benefit gives the at-home parent National Insurance credits that count toward their State Pension while they are not working. Opt out entirely and you can quietly lose qualifying years, worth far more over a lifetime than the benefit you avoided repaying. It also triggers your child's National Insurance number automatically.
The usual answer: claim the benefit, but tick the box to not receive the payments if your income means you would repay it all. That way you keep the National Insurance protection without the hassle of repaying through Self Assessment. If your income is in the taper or might fall, take the payments and settle the charge through your tax return.
Frequently asked questions
The High Income Child Benefit Charge begins when the higher earner's adjusted net income passes £60,000, and removes the benefit entirely by £80,000.
Individual income — specifically the highest earner's. This is why two parents on £55,000 each keep the benefit while a single earner on £80,000 loses it.
£26.05 a week for the eldest child and £17.25 a week for each additional child.
Usually not. Claim it but opt out of the payments if you would repay it all — that preserves the National Insurance credits toward your State Pension and your child's NI number.
Yes. Pension contributions reduce your adjusted net income, so paying enough to drop below or through the £60,000–£80,000 band can restore some or all of the benefit, on top of the normal tax relief.
Figures are 2025/26 estimates. The charge is settled through Self Assessment; check your own position and consider advice if your income is near the thresholds.