Tax and NI
The High Income Child Benefit Charge when you are self-employed
Once adjusted net income passes £60,000, Child Benefit is taken back through your tax return, a slice at a time.
A self-employed parent with £70,000 of adjusted net income and two children pays back £1,169 of the £2,337 of Child Benefit the family receives in 2026/27, 50 % of it. The High Income Child Benefit Charge takes 1 % of the year’s benefit for every £200 of income above £60,000, and all of it once income passes £80,000. Child Benefit itself is £27.05 a week for the eldest or only child and £17.90 for each other child. The charge falls on the partner with the higher adjusted net income, whoever actually receives the payments, and a sole trader has to pay it through Self Assessment alongside Income Tax and Class 4. Adjusted net income starts with profit and other taxable income, savings and dividends included, then deducts gross pension contributions and Gift Aid. Enter yours and the number of children below to see the charge and what the family keeps.
Child Benefit charge on a self-employed income
Charge to pay back
£935
| Child Benefit for the year | £2,337 |
| Share paid back | 40 % |
| Kept | £1,402 |
Paid through Self Assessment by the partner with the higher adjusted net income.
Figures checked by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · How we calculate
The £20,000 band, step by step
The charge rises in whole percentage points, one for each full £200 of income above £60,000. It is a share of the Child Benefit paid for the tax year, never more than the benefit itself. The table assumes a full year of payments.
| Adjusted net income | Share repaid | 1 child | 2 children | 3 children |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| £60,000 | 0 % | £0 | £0 | £0 |
| £62,000 | 10 % | £141 | £234 | £327 |
| £65,000 | 25 % | £352 | £584 | £817 |
| £70,000 | 50 % | £703 | £1,169 | £1,634 |
| £75,000 | 75 % | £1,055 | £1,753 | £2,451 |
| £80,000 | 100 % | £1,407 | £2,337 | £3,268 |
What the band really costs a pound
Inside the band every extra pound of profit pays tax and also gives back part of the benefit. For a sole trader in England, Wales or Northern Ireland at £70,000, Income Tax and Class 4 take 42 % of the next pound. With two children the charge adds £2,337 spread over £20,000, or about 11.7 %, so the true cost is close to 53.7 %. With three children it is close to 58.3 %. Few people notice this rate until the first tax return in the band, because the charge appears only when the return is filed, not when the money is earned.
Adjusted net income, for someone who invoices
For a sole trader the starting point is taxable profit, after allowable expenses and capital allowances, or after the trading allowance if that was used. Add any salary, rental profit, savings interest and dividends. Then subtract gross personal pension contributions and Gift Aid. A graphic designer whose business makes £58,000 but who also has £5,000 of dividends is in the band; a partner with £66,000 of profit who pays £6,000 gross into a pension is not. Because profit is only known after the year ends, the charge for 2026/27 is settled with the rest of the bill on 31 January 2028.
A pension contribution worked through
Take a self-employed electrician at £74,000 of profit with two children. The charge is £1,636. A gross pension contribution of £14,000, the amount above £60,000, brings adjusted net income down to the threshold and removes the charge entirely. The provider adds £2,800 of basic-rate relief, so the electrician pays in £11,200; the return then gives £2,800 of higher-rate relief. Add the £1,636 of Child Benefit kept, and a £14,000 pension costs £6,764 out of pocket. The pension relief calculator works out the relief on other amounts.
Employees can sometimes have the charge collected through their tax code. Anyone who already sends a tax return, as every sole trader over the trading allowance does, must report and pay it through Self Assessment instead.
Claiming, opting out and the bigger picture
Registering for Child Benefit and then opting out of payments avoids the charge while keeping the National Insurance credits that count towards the State Pension. Payments can be restarted later if income falls. Above £100,000 the Personal Allowance taper begins, which uses the same measure of income. Sources: GOV.UK, High Income Child Benefit Charge; GOV.UK, Child Benefit: what you'll get.