Child Benefit calculator
Enter the number of children you claim for and the yearly income of you and your partner. The calculator shows the Child Benefit you get in the 2026/27 tax year, any High Income Child Benefit Charge, and what is left once the charge is paid.
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What the calculator assumes
- The 2026/27 tax year, with the same number of children for the whole year.
- One of you claims for all the children, so the eldest gets the higher rate and every other child gets the lower rate.
- The incomes you enter are adjusted net income for the year, explained below.
- You and your partner live together. A single parent can leave the partner's income at zero.
How much Child Benefit is
Child Benefit has two weekly rates. The eldest or only child gets the higher one, and each other child gets the lower one. There is no limit on how many children you can claim for. The calculator adds up the weekly rates for your children and turns them into a yearly figure. The working under the result shows both rates and the number of weeks used.
It is usually paid every four weeks, and only one person can get Child Benefit for any one child. Child Benefit continues past the usual age limit while a child stays in approved education or training.
The High Income Child Benefit Charge
If either you or your partner has an adjusted net income over the charge threshold, the one with the higher income pays some or all of the Child Benefit back as a tax charge. It does not matter which of you receives the benefit. The charge depends only on the higher of the two incomes, so a couple who each earn just under the threshold pay nothing, even when their joint income is far above it.
The charge rises in small steps as income goes over the threshold, and at a set income above it the charge equals the whole benefit. The working shows the threshold, the size of each step and the share of your benefit that is charged. The charge is never more than the Child Benefit you get.
Your adjusted net income is your total taxable income before personal allowances, which includes savings interest and dividends, minus certain tax reliefs such as pension contributions and Gift Aid. The same figure decides whether your personal allowance is reduced once income passes £100,000. You can pay the charge through PAYE, which collects it through your tax code, or through a Self Assessment return. If you already send a return for another reason, you must pay it that way.
When the charge takes it all
If the charge equals your Child Benefit, the payments leave you with no extra money, but the claim itself still has uses. Claiming Child Benefit gives you National Insurance credits towards your State Pension for years when you are not working or earn too little to pay National Insurance, while your child is below the age GOV.UK sets for these credits. It also means your child gets a National Insurance number without applying for one. You can claim and opt out of the payments, and then you pay no charge. GOV.UK says that if you choose not to get the payments, "you should still make a claim to get the other advantages."
What it leaves out
- Families where children live in two households, or where two claimants live together. Each case has its own rules on who gets the higher rate.
- Other benefits. Child Benefit counts towards the benefit cap, which can reduce other benefits.
- How to work out adjusted net income from your own records. GOV.UK has a guide, linked below.
- Tax years before 2024 to 2025, when the threshold and the steps were different.
To see what your salary leaves you after tax, use the take-home pay calculator. The income tax rates page explains the personal allowance taper that uses the same income figure. If you are expecting a baby, the Statutory Maternity Pay calculator covers pay while you are on leave.
Official guidance
- What you get from Child Benefit on GOV.UK
- High Income Child Benefit Charge on GOV.UK
- Adjusted net income on GOV.UK
- Child Benefit tax calculator on GOV.UK
- National Insurance credits on GOV.UK
- Opting out of Child Benefit payments on GOV.UK
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