UK Child Benefit & HICBC Calculator (2026)

Weekly rate: £25.60 first child + £16.95 each additional. 2 kids = £2,212/yr; 3 kids = £3,094/yr.

Gross salary BEFORE pension contribution (but after salary-sacrifice pension — salary sac already appears as reduced gross salary on the P60).

Monthly gross contribution to ALL schemes combined. For salary sac, this is ALREADY reflected in the reduced gross figure — don't double-count.

Monthly Gift Aid donations. The tool grosses these up by 1.25× (basic rate) to match HMRC ANI calculation.

See your annual benefit, HICBC charge, retained amount and the monthly pension top-up that would eliminate the clawback.

HICBC was introduced in January 2013 with a £50,000 threshold. The 2024 Spring Budget raised this to £60,000 (from April 2024) and the upper limit from £60,000 to £80,000 — doubling the taper width and reducing the effective marginal tax rate in the taper zone. A future government has signalled a shift to joint household assessment, but this requires significant HMRC system change and hasn't been legislated.

For a higher-rate earner (40% tax + 2% NI) with 2 children in the £60k–£80k taper, every £1 of extra salary causes: 42% income tax & NI + HICBC clawback of £2,212/20,000 per £ = 11.06% per child (22.12% for 2 kids). Total effective marginal rate: 64.12% for 2 kids, 75.2% for 3 kids. This is why the HICBC zone creates powerful incentives for pension contribution, salary sacrifice of bonus, and charitable giving.

HMRC will typically issue a PAYE Simple Assessment OR require self-assessment registration when your income exceeds £60,000 AND you receive Child Benefit. Self-assessment deadline: 31 January following tax year end. Late-filing penalty: £100 initial + daily charges. Many affected families miss this — HMRC has been aggressive with penalty-waiver waves for genuine unawareness, but don't rely on it.

Unlike relief-at-source pension where the gross contribution reduces ANI post-hoc, salary sacrifice REMOVES the contributed amount from gross salary entirely — meaning your P60 shows a lower number. This also reduces employer and employee NI (13.8% + 8%/2% saved). The combined effect on a £75k earner with 2 kids sacrificing £15k into pension: gross salary drops to £60k, HICBC charge eliminated, £2,212 benefit retained, £3,000+ in NI saved vs non-sacrifice pension. Net effective cost of the £15k pension: approximately £6,000.