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You may have to pay the High Income Child Benefit Charge if you or your partner have an individual income that’s over the threshold and either:

• you or your partner get Child Benefit

• someone else gets Child Benefit for a child living with you and they contribute at least an equal amount towards the child’s upkeep 

It does not matter if the child living with you is not your own child.

The threshold

An individual income is over the threshold if it’s:

• over £60,000 for tax years starting from 2024 to 2025

• over £50,000 for tax years up to and including the tax year 2023 to 2024

What counts as income

To work out if your income is over the threshold, you’ll need to work out your ‘adjusted net income’.

Your adjusted net income is your total taxable income before any allowances and not including things like Gift Aid. Your total taxable income includes interest from savings and dividends.

Use the Child Benefit tax calculator to get an estimate of your adjusted net income.

Who pays the tax charge

If your adjusted net income is over the threshold and so is your partner’s, then whoever has the higher income is responsible for paying the tax charge.

‘Partner’ means someone you’re not permanently separated from who you’re married to, in a civil partnership with or living with as if you were.Ìý

If your income is over the threshold  

You can choose to either:

• get Child Benefit payments and pay the tax charge

• opt out of getting payments and not pay the tax charge

Find out what Child Benefit you’ll get.

Getting Child Benefit payments and paying the tax charge

You must pay the tax charge through Self Assessment if any of the following apply:

• you need to send a tax return for another reason, for example to report income from savings 

• it’s later than 31 January in the year after the tax year you need to pay for

Otherwise you can choose whether to pay the tax charge through PAYE or through Self Assessment.

Opting out of Child Benefit payments

You should still fill in the Child Benefit claim form. You need to state on the form that you do not want to get payments.

You need to fill in the claim form if you want to:

• get National Insurance credits, which count towards your State Pension

• get your child a National Insurance number without them having to apply for one - they’ll usually get the number before they turn 16 years old

If you’re already getting Child Benefit payments

You can choose to either:

• opt out of getting Child Benefit payments

• carry on getting Child Benefit payments and pay any tax charge

You must pay the tax charge through Self Assessment if either of the following apply:

• you need to send a tax return for another reason, for example if you become self-employed
• it’s later than 31 January in the year after the tax year you need to pay for

Otherwise you can choose to pay the tax charge through PAYE instead.

How to pay through Self Assessment

1. Register for Self Assessment.

2. Fill in a Self Assessment tax return each tax year and pay what you owe.

Register for Self Assessment

If you do not usually send a tax return, you need to register by 5 October following the tax year you need to pay the tax charge.

You’ll get a letter telling you what to do next after you’ve registered.

Change from paying through Self Assessment to paying through PAYE

Contact HMRC by phone to tell them you want to stop paying through Self Assessment.

If you cannot get information from your partner or ex-partner

You can write to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) to ask whether your partner or ex-partner gets Child Benefit or has a higher income than you. HMRC will reply ‘yes’ or ‘no’ - they will not give you any financial information.Ìý

Write to HMRC

You need to tell HMRC the tax year you’re asking about, as well as your:

• name, address, date of birth and National Insurance number

• Unique Taxpayer Reference, if you have one

• ‘adjusted net income’ - use the Child Benefit tax calculator to work this out

• partner or ex-partner’s name

If you can, include your partner or ex-partner’s:

• address

• date of birth

• National Insurance number, if you know it

• Unique Taxpayer Reference, if they have one

Send your letter to: 

Use this service to pay the tax charge through your regular Income Tax payments.

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) will adjust your tax code to tell your employer or pension provider how your tax will change.

When you can pay through PAYE

You can pay the tax charge through PAYE if:

• you do not need to send a tax return for another reason, for example if you become self-employed

• it’s before 31 January in the year after the tax year you need to pay for

If you cannot pay through PAYE then you must pay through Self Assessment instead.

If you have a partner who received Child Benefit in the last tax year

To pay the tax charge through PAYE you’ll need:

• their National Insurance number

• the dates you were partners

If you do not have this information contact HMRC by phone to make an income tax enquiry.

You cannot save your progress in this service. You should collect the information you need before you start.

Sign in to pay the tax charge through PAYE

You’ll need to sign in to use this service. If you do not already have sign in details, you’ll be able to create them.

You’ll be told when you sign in if you need to prove your identity. This is to keep your details safe and normally involves using photo ID like a passport or driving licence.

Change from paying through Self Assessment to paying through PAYE

Contact HMRC by phone to tell them you want to stop paying through Self Assessment.

If you cannot get information from your partner or ex-partner

You can write to HMRC to ask whether your partner or ex-partner gets Child Benefit or has a higher income than you. HMRC will reply ‘yes’ or ‘no’ - they will not give you any financial information.

Write to HMRC

You need to tell HMRC the tax year you’re asking about, as well as your:

• name, address, date of birth and National Insurance number

• Unique Taxpayer Reference, if you have one

• ‘adjusted net income’ - use the Child Benefit tax calculator to work this out

• partner or ex-partner’s name

If you can, include your partner or ex-partner’s:

• address

• date of birth

• National Insurance number, if you know it

• Unique Taxpayer Reference, if they have one

Send your letter to:

To opt out of Child Benefit payments, you can either:

You’ll need to sign in to use the online service or fill in the online form. If you do not already have sign in details, you’ll be able to create them.

You can also contact the Child Benefit Office by phone or post to opt out.

You cannot opt out of Child Benefit payments if you’re using them to pay back an overpayment or to pay back certain other benefits from another country.

Responsibilities after you opt out of Child Benefit payments

You must pay any tax charge owed for each tax year up to the date your Child Benefit payments stop.

Use the Child Benefit tax calculator to get an estimate of how much you may owe each tax year.

Even after you opt out of payments, you must report any changes in your family life that affect your entitlement to Child Benefit.

You can restart your Child Benefit payments if:

• you’ve previously opted out because of the tax charge

• you still qualify for Child Benefit

To restart your Child Benefit payments, either:

You’ll need to sign in to use the online service or fill in the online form. If you do not already have sign in details, you’ll be able to create them.

You can also contact the Child Benefit Office by phone or post to restart your Child Benefit payments.

When you’ll start getting payments

After the Child Benefit Office gets your request, it can take up to 28 days before you get your first payment.

The office will write to tell you how much money you’ll get from backdated payments (if any).

Responsibilities after your Child Benefit restarts 

You or your partner will have to pay any tax charge on the benefit received from the restart date if your ‘adjusted net income’ is over the threshold.

Use the Child Benefit tax calculator to get an estimate of your adjusted net income and see if you may be affected by the tax charge.

You must report any changes to your family life that affect your Child Benefit.

Your income changes 

You will not have to pay the tax charge if your or your partner’s individual ‘adjusted net income’ for the whole of a tax year is below the threshold.

Use the Child Benefit tax calculator to get an estimate of your adjusted net income changes and see if they may affect the tax charge.

You can choose to opt out or restart your Child Benefit payments at any time.

If your adjusted net income goes below the threshold and you no longer need to complete a Self Assessment tax return, you must tell HMRC.

You’re paying through Self Assessment and no longer need to send a tax return

If you no longer need to send a tax return for another reason, for example if you stop being self-employed - you can pay the tax charge through PAYE instead.

Contact HMRC by phone if you need to close your Self Assessment account and want to start paying the tax charge through PAYE.

You have a new child 

Claiming Child Benefit helps you qualify for: 

• National Insurance credits, which protect your right to the State Pension 

• other benefits like Guardian’s Allowance 

Child Benefit proves you (or your partner) support another child. You may pay less child maintenance for children not living with you.

You can make a new claim or just protect your entitlement to the above by:

+  sending a Child Benefit claim form

+  ticking the option to ‘not have the benefit paid’ 

A partner moves in or out

Your situation may change if your adjusted net income is over the threshold and you move in or split up with someone who’s getting Child Benefit.

If both you and your partner have an individual income that’s over the threshold, then whoever has the higher adjusted net income is responsible for paying the charge.

The tax charge applies from the date you move in together to either the date you permanently separate or the Child Benefit payments stop - for example because the child is too old to qualify for Child Benefit.Ìý