High Income Child Benefit Charge HICBC
Published / Last Updated on 17/04/2021
The High Income Child Benefit Charge HICBC started in 2013.
If you or your partner earn more than £60,000 pa and one of you claims Child Benefit, then the higher earner will face a HICBC of 100% of the child benefit received. In short, you get child benefit in one hand and it is taken away in the other.
If one of you earns between £50,000 and £60,000, then child benefit is still paid in full, but the higher earner will pay a tax charge of 1% reduction of child benefit for every £100 earned over £50,000.
This has led many people to not even bother to claim child benefit as it creates simple administration in claiming it then paying it back with the HICBC.
That said, we urge all to claim the benefit, even if you have to refund it because:
If you are a none earner or low earner and claiming child benefit, you will still get Home Responsibilities Protection i.e. state pension credits even if you are not paying national insurance.
If you claim child benefit, your child is then automatically registered to receive their National Insurance Number (NINo) at age 16. If you do not claim it, your child will have to register themselves for a NINo.
