Child Benefit - you may no longer need to do a self-assessment tax return if you're a higher earner

Under the High Income Child Benefit Charge, if you or your partner earn more than a certain amount – currently £60,000 a year – you have to start repaying the benefit. The charge is tapered, so the more you earn, the more you need to pay back. Once you hit £80,000 a year, you have to repay the full amount.

Until now, the ONLY way to pay the charge was by filing a self-assessment tax return – even if you were employed and paying tax through the pay-as-you-earn (PAYE) system. But in the Autumn Budget last year, the Government announced it would make it simpler for employees to pay the charge – and this new option is now available.

Who qualifies for the easier way to pay the Child Benefit charge

Here are the key need-to-knows:

• You CAN access the new service if you're employed and don't need to file a self-assessment return for any other reason.

• You CAN'T use this option if you need to file a self-assessment tax return for other reasons. If you're self-employed or earn £10,000+ a year from savings or investments, for example, then you'll still need to file a self-assessment return as usual. You can use the Government's free tool to check if you need to file a tax return.

• If you have a partner, it's the person with the highest income that has to pay the charge. So either you or they may have to follow the steps below. If you earn more but it's your partner that receives Child Benefit, you'll need to provide their National Insurance number as part of the process. HMRC determines a 'partner' as someone you're married to, in a civil partnership with, or live with as though you were (provided you're not "permanently separated").

How to opt in to pay the Child Benefit charge via PAYE

If you qualify, here's how to opt in to have the charge collected through PAYE alongside your normal income tax payments:

• Paying the charge for the first time? You can opt in using the online form on Gov.uk or the HMRC app. HMRC says it'll be writing to over 100,000 people who are newly liable for the charge, inviting them to use the online service.

• Already pay the charge through self-assessment? If the charge is the ONLY reason you have to file tax returns, you can call HMRC on 0300 200 3310 to switch to the new service (phone lines open Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm).

• You have until 31 January 2026 to opt in for the latest 2024/25 tax year, which ended on 5 April 2025. You'll only need to do this once – you'll then keep paying the charge through PAYE every year unless your circumstances change (in which case you'll need to contact HMRC).

How the repayments will work in practice

Once you opt in, HMRC will change your tax code, which is what dictates to your employer how much tax to take off each month – so you will automatically pay the charge back from your salary without doing anything.

If you have a charge to pay for the current tax year, your repayments should start from your next pay period after you opt in, with the charge spread over the remaining months of this tax year (which ends on 5 April).

This means that if you opt in partway through a tax year, you'll have fewer months to repay the charge, so it will temporarily have a bigger impact on your take-home pay. Here's an example to show you how this works in practice:

Earning over £80,000? It's still worth registering for Child Benefit

If you or your partner have an income of £80,000 or more, it's still worthwhile filling in the Child Benefit form and registering your entitlement – even if you get it clawed back through tax or if you opt out of getting the payments themselves. Registering has a couple of advantages:

• You'll get National Insurance (NI) credits, which count towards your State Pension. Most need at least 35 years' worth of NI credits to receive the full State Pension, so this is especially important if one of you is a non-earner or makes less than £125 a week (which is how much you need to earn to qualify for automatic NI credits).

• Your child will automatically be registered to receive a National Insurance number shortly before they turn 16. Otherwise they'll need to apply for one manually, which can be slower.