{"slug":"uk-child-benefit-charge","name":"UK High Income Child Benefit Charge (HICBC) Optimizer","category":"everyday","tags":["tax","family","planning"],"region":"GB","tagline":"How much of your child benefit the £60k–£80k charge claws back — and the exact pension contribution that makes it disappear.","endpoint":"https://xearno.tools/api/v1/tools/uk-child-benefit-charge","page":"https://xearno.tools/t/uk-child-benefit-charge","description":"Computes the High Income Child Benefit Charge on the higher earner’s adjusted net income (ANI): 1% of the household’s child benefit per £200 of ANI above £60,000, reaching 100% at £80,000. Then it computes the lever most people miss — relief-at-source pension contributions are grossed up ×1.25 before they reduce ANI, so a precise net contribution can zero the charge while collecting higher-rate relief on top. General AI still quotes the old £50,000 threshold, cites the household-income reform that was announced and then dropped, and tells you Self Assessment is required when PAYE collection has been live since September 2025.","inputSchema":{"type":"object","properties":{"higherIncome":{"description":"Higher earner’s taxable income (£) The HIGHER earner’s adjusted-net-income components before this tool’s deductions: salary + bonus + benefits in kind (company car, medical) + rental and investment income. The charge always tests the higher partner individually — never the household total.","type":"number","minimum":0,"default":70000},"pensionContributions":{"description":"Pension contributions this year (relief at source, net) (£) What you actually paid into a personal/workplace relief-at-source pension (the net amount). The provider adds 25% basic-rate relief, and the GROSSED-UP figure (×1.25) reduces your adjusted net income — this is the lever that shrinks or zeroes the charge. Salary-sacrifice and net-pay contributions are already out of your taxable income, so leave those out.","type":"number","minimum":0,"default":0},"giftAid":{"description":"Gift Aid donations this year (net) (£) Charity donations under Gift Aid (what you actually gave). Like pensions, they are grossed up ×1.25 and reduce adjusted net income.","type":"number","minimum":0,"default":0},"children":{"description":"Children you claim child benefit for Eldest child £27.05/week, each additional child £17.90/week (2026-27).","type":"number","minimum":1,"maximum":8,"default":2}},"required":[],"additionalProperties":false},"methodology":["The charge (since April 2024): 1% of the household’s child benefit per full £200 of the HIGHER earner’s adjusted net income above £60,000, reaching 100% at £80,000. The percentage is a whole number rounded down, per HMRC’s method. Below £60,000 there is no charge. The pre-2024 £50,000/£60,000 taper is obsolete — sources (and AI models) quoting it are out of date.","Child benefit 2026-27: £27.05/week for the eldest child plus £17.90/week for each additional child; annual figures are weekly × 52. Two children = £2,337.40/year.","Adjusted net income = taxable income − (relief-at-source pension contributions × 1.25) − (Gift Aid donations × 1.25). The ×1.25 gross-up is the whole trick: £8,000 paid in (net) removes £10,000 from ANI. Salary-sacrifice and net-pay-arrangement pension contributions never enter taxable income in the first place, so they are excluded from this field — entering them here would double-count.","The zeroing contribution: net = (ANI − £60,000) ÷ 1.25. Its effective cost = net paid − higher-rate relief reclaimed (20% of the gross, limited to income above £50,270) − the charge no longer due. The tool reports the gross amount landing in the pension against that effective cost.","Marginal exposure: across £60,000–£80,000 the entire benefit is clawed back over a £20,000 span, so the charge alone adds (annual benefit ÷ £20,000) to your marginal rate — 11.7% for two children — on top of 40% income tax and 2% NI.","Collection: through Self Assessment, or (since September 2025) via your PAYE tax code with no return needed just for HICBC. The household-income reform announced in Spring 2024 was dropped in Autumn 2024; individual assessment stands.","Not modelled: the taper of the personal allowance above £100,000, benefits in kind you have not included in the income figure, and Scottish income-tax bands (HICBC itself is UK-wide and unaffected, but the 40%+2% marginal framing assumes rUK rates)."],"usage":"POST https://xearno.tools/api/v1/tools/uk-child-benefit-charge with a JSON body matching inputSchema."}