Claiming Child Benefit can give a big boost to your family budget. If you’ve just had a baby, make sure you claim before they’re three months old. Even if you think you won’t be entitled to anything, it’s important to still apply, so you don’t miss out on other entitlements.
Who can claim Child Benefit?
You can claim Child Benefit for each child you’re responsible for, regardless of whether you’re working or have savings. You don’t have to be their parent to claim.
You can claim for each child:
- under 16
- under 20 years – if they’re in approved full-time education or training.
Find out more about what is approved full-time education or training at GOV.UKOpens in a new window
Your Child Benefit will stop if your child starts paid work for 24 hours or more a week, and is no longer in approved education or training.
The same applies if your child starts an apprenticeship or starts receiving certain benefits in their own right.
Payments are tax-free as long as neither parent or carer earns more than £50,000 a year.
Find out more about claiming Child Benefit at GOV.UK (Opens in a new window) or call the Child Benefit helpline on 0300 200 3100
How much is Child Benefit?
Did you know?
A family with two children can claim more than £2,000 a year in Child Benefit.
In the 2023/24 tax year, you can claim:
- £24 a week for your first child
- £15.90 a week per child for any more children.
That’s more than £1,200 a year if you have one child, and an extra £800 for second and further children.
Child Benefit if you earn more than £50,000
If you or your partner earns over £50,000 a year, you can still claim Child Benefit.
However, you’ll start to pay some of it back in extra Income Tax.
You’ll need to pay back 1% of your family’s Child Benefit for every £100 of your income over £50,000.
If either of you earns over £60,000 a year, you’ll have to repay all your Child Benefit in extra Income Tax.
Your salary could be over £50,000, but what HMRC pays attention to is your ‘adjusted net incomeOpens in a new window’. This is the pay you’re taxed on and doesn’t include things you pay for through salary sacrifice.
You can reduce your take home pay by increasing your workplace pension contributions. You can also do this by paying into a personal pension.
If you can afford to do this, it could limit how much Child Benefit you’ll need to pay back. You might want to talk to an accountant about this for more information.
Even if you have to repay it all, it can be worth continuing to claim Child Benefit as this will ensure you get National Insurance Credits which count towards your state pension.
This is particularly important if one of you isn't working or earns below the lower earnings limit for National Insurance Contributions.
For the 2023/24 tax year the lower earnings limit is:
- £123 a week
- £533 a month
- £6,396 a year.
How to claim Child Benefit
You can now apply for or change your claim for Child Benefit onlineOpens in a new window on the GOV.UK site or through the HMRC app.
You can also fill out a claim form (CH2) and send it to the Child Benefit Office if you don't want to apply online.
Download the claim form at GOV.UK (Opens in a new window)
Top tip
It’s worth claiming Child Benefit straight away. This is because your payments can only be backdated three months from the date your application is received.
If your child was born in Northern Ireland, or outside the UK, you’ll also need to send your child’s original birth certificate. You’ll get the certificate back.
If your child was born in England, Wales or Scotland, you won’t need to send in your child’s birth certificate. But make sure you have it to hand as you’ll need the information on it for the Child Benefit claim form.
If your child is adopted, send their original adoption certificate with the form.
If you’ve lost the original, you can order a new adoption certificate at GOV.UK (Opens in a new window)
Are you already claiming Child Benefit and need to update the claim for a new child? Then you can update your claim online or fill in the CH2 form. Or you can add the details by calling the Child Benefit helpline on 0300 200 3100.
Why it’s important to claim Child Benefit
Did you know?
Claiming Child Benefit will help you protect your State Pension.
Are you off work looking after your child and not paying National Insurance contributions? Claiming Child Benefit will make sure you get credits towards your State Pension.
If you don’t claim, you might also miss out on:
- other benefits, such as Guardian’s Allowance (a benefit you can claim if you’re bringing up a child whose parents have died)
- your child being automatically issued with a National Insurance number before their 16th birthday.
Even if you don’t think you’ll be entitled to anything – because you or your partner earns over the £50,000 tax-free limit – it’s still worth claiming. This is so you don’t miss out on National Insurance credits.
If either of you earns over £60,000, you can opt not to receive the payments. You’ll avoid the tax charge, but still get the entitlements.
