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Family and marriage tax 2026/27: Marriage Allowance, Child Benefit and childcare

For 2026/27, Marriage Allowance can cut a partner's tax by up to £252. The High Income Child Benefit Charge starts when adjusted net income passes £60,000 and reaches 100% at £80,000. Tax-Free Childcare and 30 hours of free childcare stop if you or your partner expect adjusted net income over £100,000. Figures are as at 25 October 2026.

Tax year figures are for 2026/27, which runs from 6 April 2026 to 5 April 2027. Examples use the rates for England, Wales and Northern Ireland unless they say otherwise. For your own tax position, see our Income Tax guide and our Child Benefit tax calculator.

£252

Marriage Allowance

Most it saves a couple in 2026/27

£60,000

Child Benefit charge starts

Adjusted net income

£80,000

Charge reaches 100%

All the Child Benefit is repaid

£2,000

Tax-Free Childcare top-up

A year for each child

£100,000

Childcare limit

Expected adjusted net income, each of you

3 tax years

No gain, no loss

After you stop living together

Main points

Marriage Allowance lets you transfer £1,260 of your Personal Allowance to your husband, wife or civil partner. It reduces their tax by up to £252 in 2026/27. You can backdate a claim to 6 April 2022 for any year you were eligible.
The High Income Child Benefit Charge applies if you or your partner get Child Benefit and one of you has adjusted net income over £60,000. You repay 1% of the Child Benefit for every £200 over £60,000, and all of it at £80,000.
Child Benefit is £27.05 a week for the eldest or only child and £17.90 a week for each additional child in 2026/27.
Pension contributions and Gift Aid donations lower adjusted net income. Each £1 you pay into a pension that has already had basic rate relief, or give through Gift Aid, counts as £1.25.
Tax-Free Childcare adds £2 for every £8 you pay in, up to £2,000 a year for each child, or £4,000 if the child is disabled.
Tax-Free Childcare and 30 hours of free childcare in England both stop if you or your partner expect adjusted net income over £100,000 in the current tax year.
A Junior ISA takes up to £9,000 in 2026/27, from anyone. The £100 limit on interest from a parent's gift does not apply to money in a Junior ISA or to gifts from grandparents, relatives or friends.
After you stop living together, transfers between spouses and civil partners can still be at no gain, no loss for Capital Gains Tax until the earlier of the end of the third tax year after the one you separated in and the date of a court decree.
You must cancel Marriage Allowance if you divorce, dissolve your civil partnership or legally separate.

Why does household income matter for family tax?

Income Tax is worked out for each person on their own income, but the Child Benefit charge and the childcare tests apply when you or your partner go over a limit. Two people on £49,000 each pay less in total than one person on £98,000, and only the single income triggers the Child Benefit charge.

The same £98,000 as one income or as two, employees in England, 2026/27
Item	One person on £98,000	Two people on £49,000 each
Income Tax	£26,632.00	£14,572.00 together
Employee National Insurance	£3,970.60	£5,828.80 together
High Income Child Benefit Charge, two children	£2,337	£0
Total	£32,939.60	£20,400.80

Our calculation from the 2026/27 Income Tax and National Insurance rates, the Child Benefit rates and the charge rule. The Personal Allowance of £12,570 applies to each person and neither income is over £100,000, so there is no allowance taper. Employees only: self-employed National Insurance differs. The comparison is arithmetic, not advice to share income between partners.

Income Tax is £12,060 lower for the two earners, National Insurance is £1,858.20 higher, and the Child Benefit charge of £2,337 does not apply. Each of the two earners has a £12,570 Personal Allowance and a £37,700 basic rate band, so they pay only the 20% rate. The single earner pays 40% on £47,730 of income.

Which tests look at one person and which look at a couple?

Income Tax: each person pays on their own income and has their own Personal Allowance of £12,570. Marriage Allowance is the exception: it lets a lower earner transfer £1,260 of it.
High Income Child Benefit Charge: it applies if you or your partner get Child Benefit and one of you has adjusted net income over £60,000. If both of you are over, the person with the higher income pays.
Tax-Free Childcare and 30 hours of free childcare: you or your partner's expected adjusted net income must not be over £100,000 for the current tax year.
Capital Gains Tax: each person has their own £3,000 annual exempt amount, and transfers between spouses or civil partners who live together are at no gain, no loss. See our Capital Gains Tax guide.

What is Marriage Allowance and who can claim it?

Marriage Allowance lets you transfer £1,260 of your Personal Allowance to your husband, wife or civil partner. In 2026/27 it reduces their tax by up to £252. You must be married or in a civil partnership, your income must usually be below £12,570, and your partner must usually pay tax at the basic rate.

Who can claim Marriage Allowance?

You are married or in a civil partnership. You cannot claim if you live together but are not married or in a civil partnership.
You do not pay Income Tax, or your income is below your Personal Allowance, which is usually £12,570.
Your partner pays Income Tax at the basic rate, which usually means income of £12,571 to £50,270 before they receive Marriage Allowance. In Scotland your partner must pay the starter, basic or intermediate rate, which usually means income of £12,571 to £43,662.
Receiving a pension, or living abroad while you get a Personal Allowance, does not affect your application.
If either of you was born before 6 April 1935 you may do better with Married Couple's Allowance. You cannot get both at the same time.

How much does Marriage Allowance save?

The most it saves is 20% of £1,260, which is £252 in 2026/27. The lower earner's own allowance falls to £11,310, so they may pay a little tax themselves. GOV.UK gives this example: one partner has income of £11,500 and the other £20,000.

GOV.UK Marriage Allowance example, before and after the claim
Item	Before	After
Lower earner, taxable income	£0	£190
Lower earner, tax	£0	£38
Partner, taxable income	£7,430	£6,170
Partner, tax	£1,486	£1,234
Couple, tax	£1,486	£1,272

Source: GOV.UK, Marriage Allowance. GOV.UK gives the taxable amounts and the £214 saving as a couple. The tax amounts are 20% of those taxable amounts. The partner saves £252 and the lower earner pays £38, which leaves £214.

How do you claim, backdate or cancel?

Apply online. There are different ways to apply if you are registered for Self Assessment or want to backdate. If you both have no income other than wages, the person who earns the least should claim.
You can backdate a claim to 6 April 2022 for any years you were eligible.
HMRC gives your partner the allowance by changing their tax code, which can take up to 2 months, or when they send their Self Assessment return. The partner who receives it gets a code ending in M. The partner who transfers it gets a code ending in N.
The allowance transfers automatically each year until you cancel. You must cancel if you divorce, end your civil partnership or legally separate, if your income changes and you no longer qualify, or if you no longer want to claim.
If you cancel because your income changed, the allowance runs to 5 April. If the relationship has ended, the change may be backdated to 6 April, so you or your partner may underpay tax for that year.

Source: GOV.UK, Marriage Allowance.

What is Married Couple's Allowance?

Married Couple's Allowance is for married couples and civil partners where one of you was born before 6 April 1935 and you live together. For marriages before 5 December 2005 the husband's income is used. For later marriages and civil partnerships it is the income of the higher earner. You can still claim if you cannot live together because of illness or old age, working away from home, an armed forces posting, prison, or training or education.

For 2026/27 the maximum amount is £11,700 and the minimum is £4,530. The relief is 10% of the amount, so up to £1,170 and at least £453. The amount falls by half of adjusted net income over £39,200, but never below the minimum.

Married Couple's Allowance by adjusted net income, 2026/27
Adjusted net income	Amount after reduction	Tax reduction at 10%
£39,200	£11,700	£1,170
£50,000	£6,300	£630
£60,000	£4,530	£453

At £50,000 the excess over £39,200 is £10,800, half is £5,400, and £11,700 less £5,400 is £6,300. At £60,000 half the excess is £10,400, which would leave £1,300, so the £4,530 minimum applies. Source: GOV.UK, Income Tax rates and allowances and Income Tax Act 2007 section 46.

How does the High Income Child Benefit Charge work?

You repay 1% of your Child Benefit for every £200 of adjusted net income over £60,000, and all of it at £80,000 or more. The charge applies if you or your partner get Child Benefit and one of you is over the threshold. If both are over, the person with the higher income pays.

Child Benefit in 2026/27 is £27.05 a week for the eldest or only child and £17.90 a week for each additional child. Over 52 weeks that is £1,406.60 for one child and £2,337.40 for two. The charge is worked out on the Child Benefit total rounded down to whole pounds, using a percentage rounded down to a whole number, and the charge itself is rounded down to whole pounds.

High Income Child Benefit Charge by adjusted net income, two children, 2026/27
Adjusted net income	Charge as a percentage	Child Benefit to repay
£60,000	0%	£0
£62,500	12%	£280
£65,000	25%	£584
£70,000	50%	£1,168
£75,000	75%	£1,752
£80,000 or more	100%	£2,337

Our calculation on £2,337, the 52-week total for two children rounded down. At £62,500 the income is £2,500 over, which is 12.5 steps of £200, rounded down to 12%. Source: GOV.UK, High Income Child Benefit Charge and Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003 section 681C.

A second example: one child and adjusted net income of £75,000. The charge is 75% of £1,406, which is £1,054.50, rounded down to £1,054.

What counts as adjusted net income?

Adjusted net income is your total taxable income, including savings interest and dividends, before Personal Allowances and less certain tax reliefs such as pension contributions and Gift Aid.
For every £1 you pay into a pension where your provider has already given basic rate relief, take £1.25 off. A payment of £6,400 counts as £8,000. The same £1.25 applies to every £1 you give through Gift Aid.
Salary sacrifice lowers your taxable pay, which lowers your adjusted net income.
The test uses each person's own figure. If both of you are over the threshold, the higher earner pays, whoever receives the Child Benefit. The charge may also apply if someone else gets Child Benefit for a child living with you and they contribute at least an equal amount towards the child's upkeep.

Can a pension payment remove the charge?

Take one earner on £68,000 with two children. The income is £8,000 over £60,000, which is 40 steps of £200, so the charge is 40% of £2,337, which is £934.80, rounded down to £934.

With salary sacrifice, an £8,000 sacrifice takes taxable pay to £60,000, so the charge is nil.
With a personal pension, a payment of £6,400 is topped up by the provider by £1,600 to £8,000. At £1.25 per £1, the £6,400 counts as £8,000, so adjusted net income is £60,000 and the charge is nil.
With the personal pension, all £8,000 is income taxed at 40%, so you can also claim extra Income Tax relief of 20% of £8,000, which is £1,600, through Self Assessment.

Other income, such as savings interest and dividends, also counts towards the threshold, so check your total first.

How do you pay the charge or opt out?

You can get the Child Benefit payments and pay the charge, or opt out of the payments and pay no charge. If you opt out you stay registered, so you still get National Insurance credits that count towards your State Pension and a National Insurance number for your child.
You can pay through PAYE if you do not have to send a tax return for another reason, and you are paying for the current or previous tax year on or before 31 January after the tax year. For 2025/26, PAYE is open on or before 31 January 2027.
If you send a tax return for another reason, or it is after that 31 January, you must pay through Self Assessment.
A partner is someone you are married to, in a civil partnership with or living with as if you were, unless you are permanently separated.

Source: GOV.UK, High Income Child Benefit Charge and Child Benefit. To estimate your own charge, use our Child Benefit tax calculator.

What happens to childcare help at £100,000?

Tax-Free Childcare and 30 hours of free childcare in England both stop if you or your partner expect adjusted net income over £100,000 in the current tax year. The Personal Allowance also starts to fall at £100,000. A pension contribution lowers adjusted net income, but the test uses your expected income for the year.

How does Tax-Free Childcare work?

For every £8 you pay into your childcare account, the government adds £2. The top-up is up to £500 every 3 months, which is £2,000 a year, for each child. It is £1,000 every 3 months, which is £4,000 a year, if the child is disabled.
Your child must be 11 or younger, or 16 or younger if disabled. They are eligible until the September after they turn 11, or 16 if disabled.
You usually need to be working. Working parents usually need to earn at least the National Minimum Wage or National Living Wage for 16 hours a week on average.
You can use it for childminders, nurseries and nannies, and for after school clubs, breakfast clubs and holiday clubs. The provider must be signed up to the scheme and registered.
It is not available with Universal Credit or childcare vouchers, or if you or your partner get a childcare bursary or grant. You must sign in to your childcare account every 3 months.

GOV.UK gives this example: a childcare bill of £250. You pay £200 into your account, which is 80% of the bill, and the government adds £50, which is 20% of the bill. To get the full £2,000 a year, you pay in £8,000 and the government adds £2,000, so you have £10,000 to spend for one child.

How do the 30 hours of free childcare work?

It is for England only. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have different schemes.
A child aged 9 months to 4 years can get 30 hours a week for 38 weeks of the year. You can apply from when your child is 23 weeks old.
You and any partner must be working, or about to start a job, or on sick, annual, shared parental, maternity, paternity or adoption leave, and earn over a minimum amount. You must confirm your details every 3 months.
As well as the 30 hours you may be able to get Tax-Free Childcare or Universal Credit childcare, but not both of those at once.
If you are not eligible and your child is aged 3 to 4 in England, you can get 15 hours a week for 38 weeks of the year.

Source: GOV.UK, Tax-Free Childcare and Free Childcare for Working Parents.

What does going over £100,000 cost in tax?

Over £100,000 the Personal Allowance falls by £1 for every £2 of adjusted net income, and it is nil at £125,140. In England, Wales and Northern Ireland that makes an effective rate of 60% on each extra pound in that band. In Scotland it is 67.5%. Take income of £105,000 and a £5,000 pension contribution through salary sacrifice.

Income of £105,000 with and without a £5,000 pension contribution, England, Wales and Northern Ireland, 2026/27
Item	Before	After
Adjusted net income	£105,000	£100,000
Personal Allowance	£10,070	£12,570
Taxable income	£94,930	£87,430
Income Tax	£30,432	£27,432

Our calculation from the 2026/27 rates. The £5,000 contribution saves £3,000 of Income Tax, which is 60% of £5,000. Check: 40% of £5,000 is £2,000, plus 40% of the £2,500 of Personal Allowance restored is £1,000. A personal pension payment of £4,000, topped up by £1,000, lowers adjusted net income by the same amount, and you claim the higher rate relief through Self Assessment. At £100,000 you still pass the childcare income test, because it applies to income over £100,000.

How are children's savings and Junior ISAs taxed?

A Junior ISA takes up to £9,000 in 2026/27 from anyone, with no tax on the interest, dividends or growth inside it. For other savings, GOV.UK says to tell HMRC if a child gets more than £100 in interest in a tax year from money given by a parent. The £100 limit does not apply to a Junior ISA.

How does a Junior ISA work?

The limit is £9,000 in the 2026/27 tax year. Anyone can pay in, but the total cannot go over £9,000. GOV.UK gives this example: if £2,000 goes into the cash Junior ISA, only £7,000 can go into the stocks and shares Junior ISA that year.
Your child must be under 18 and living in the UK. There are 2 types, cash and stocks and shares, and a child can have one of each.
A parent or guardian with parental responsibility opens the account and manages it, but the money belongs to the child. The child can take control at 16 but cannot withdraw until they turn 18.
A Junior ISA turns into an adult ISA automatically when the child turns 18.
You can transfer between a child's Junior ISAs, and from a Child Trust Fund into a Junior ISA. You cannot transfer between a Junior ISA and an adult ISA.

Read more in our Junior ISAs guide. Source: GOV.UK, Junior ISAs.

What is the £100 rule for money from parents?

Tell HMRC if, in the tax year, the child gets more than £100 in interest from money given by a parent. The parent will have to pay tax on all the interest if it is above their own Personal Savings Allowance.
The £100 limit applies separately to each parent, in each tax year. If a parent's gifts produce more than £100, the whole of that income is treated as the parent's, including the first £100.
The limit does not apply to money given by grandparents, relatives or friends, or to money in a Junior ISA or Child Trust Fund.

HMRC gives these examples. A father gives cash to two daughters: one earns £50 of interest and the other £105. The £50 is not treated as his income, but all £105 is. In another, a father gives a son cash that earns £80 of interest and the mother gives shares that pay £120 of dividends. The £80 is under £100, so it is not treated as the father's. The £120 is over £100, so the whole £120 is treated as the mother's. If one parent had made all the gifts, the full £200 would be treated as that parent's.

How does a bare trust work?

The assets are held in the name of a trustee, but the beneficiary has the right to all of the capital and income at any time once they are 18 or over in England and Wales, or 16 or over in Scotland.
The beneficiary is responsible for the tax on income from a bare trust and reports it on a Self Assessment return. The £500 tax-free limit for trusts does not apply, but you may be able to use your Personal Allowance of £12,570.
If a parent makes the trust for their minor, unmarried child, HMRC treats the income as the parent's, whether or not it is paid to the child, once it is over the £100 limit.
For money that does not come from a parent, GOV.UK says to tell HMRC if a child has income over their Personal Allowance, for example from a trust. The child pays the tax.

Source: GOV.UK, Trusts and taxes and Interest on savings for children, and HMRC's Trusts, Settlements and Estates Manual at TSEM4300 and TSEM4310.

What happens to tax when a couple separate or divorce?

Transfers between spouses and civil partners who live together are at no gain, no loss for Capital Gains Tax. After you stop living together, that holds until the earlier of the end of the third tax year after the one you separated in and a court decree. Transfers under court orders or formal agreements have no time limit.

How does the three tax year window work?

The window starts from the tax year in which you stopped living together. A disposal between you is at no gain, no loss if it is made on or before the earlier of the last day of the third tax year after that year and the day a court grants a divorce, annulment, dissolution, judicial separation or separation order. The person receiving the asset is treated as having paid an amount equal to your costs, so a later gain runs from your original cost.

Last day of the three tax year window if no court order comes first
You stop living together	Tax year	Third tax year after	Last day
1 December 2025 (HMRC's example)	2025/26	2028/29	5 April 2029
Any day in 2026/27	2026/27	2029/30	5 April 2030
A day in 2024/25	2024/25	2027/28	5 April 2028

Source: Taxation of Chargeable Gains Act 1992 section 58 and HMRC helpsheet HS281 (2026). The first row is HMRC's own example. The other two follow the same rule.

You count as living together unless you are separated under a court order, by a formal deed of separation, or in circumstances where the separation is likely to be permanent. The marriage or civil partnership must have broken down. If it has not, and you simply live in different houses, you are still treated as living together.
Transfers made under a formal divorce or separation agreement or court order are at no gain, no loss with no time limit. HMRC's example: a couple separate on 1 July 2026 and a transfer on 30 August 2030 under a formal divorce agreement still qualifies.
A transfer that does not qualify is a disposal at market value. The date of disposal depends on the circumstances, such as the date of the court order or the date of the contract.

What about the former family home?

You get Private Residence Relief for the time the home was your only or main residence, and for the final 9 months of ownership. If you move out and your spouse or civil partner stays, you can choose to treat the later period as your main residence if all of these apply: the sale is under a formal agreement or court order, the home stays your former spouse's or civil partner's only or main residence in the meantime, and you have not named another main residence. If you claim this, you cannot get relief on another home for the same period. Source: HMRC helpsheet HS281 (2026).

What else changes when you separate?

Marriage Allowance: you must cancel it if you divorce, end your civil partnership or legally separate. If the relationship has ended, the change may be backdated to 6 April, so tax may be underpaid.
Child Benefit: only one person can get Child Benefit for a child. If you have 2 children and one lives with each of you, you each get £27.05 a week. HMRC can tell you whether a partner or ex-partner gets Child Benefit or has a higher income, if you live together or separated within the tax year you ask about.
Stamp Duty Land Tax: you do not pay it on a transfer of an interest in land or property to your partner as part of an agreement or court order because you are divorcing, dissolving a civil partnership, annulling the marriage or legally separating. This is the English and Northern Irish tax: Scotland has Land and Buildings Transaction Tax and Wales has Land Transaction Tax. If you buy another home, the higher rates for additional residential property can apply: in England and Northern Ireland the extra rate is 5% for transactions with an effective date on or after 31 October 2024.
Child maintenance: GOV.UK says you will not have to pay tax on child maintenance payments, and they do not affect any benefits that you and your children get, including Universal Credit.

Family tax and divorce law are complex and depend on your own circumstances. Speak to a family law solicitor and an independent tax adviser before you agree a settlement.

Source: GOV.UK, Stamp Duty Land Tax: transfer ownership of land or property, Child Maintenance Service and Child Benefit.

Family and marriage tax FAQs

Who pays the High Income Child Benefit Charge if we are not married?

Marital status does not matter. A partner is someone you are married to, in a civil partnership with or living with as if you were, unless you are permanently separated. If both of you have adjusted net income over £60,000, the person with the higher income pays, whoever receives the Child Benefit.

How do I stop paying the High Income Child Benefit Charge?

You can opt out of the Child Benefit payments, so you pay no charge. You should still claim, because that keeps National Insurance credits that count towards the State Pension and gets your child a National Insurance number. Or you can lower adjusted net income below £60,000, for example with pension contributions or Gift Aid donations.

How do I claim Marriage Allowance and can I backdate it?

Usually the lower earner applies online. Use a different route if you are registered for Self Assessment or want to backdate. You can backdate to 6 April 2022 for any year you were eligible. The partner who receives the allowance gets a tax code ending in M, and the one who transfers it gets N.

Can I use Tax-Free Childcare and 30 hours of free childcare together?

In England you may be able to get both, but you cannot get Tax-Free Childcare and Universal Credit childcare at the same time. The 30 hours run for 38 weeks of the year. Both schemes stop if you or your partner expect adjusted net income over £100,000 in the current tax year.

What is the £100 rule for children's savings?

Tell HMRC if a child gets more than £100 in interest in a tax year from money given by a parent. The parent pays tax on all of that interest if it is above their own Personal Savings Allowance. The limit applies to each parent and does not apply to Junior ISAs or to gifts from grandparents, relatives or friends.

How long do we have to transfer assets between us without Capital Gains Tax after separating?

Transfers stay at no gain, no loss until the earlier of the end of the third tax year after the one you stopped living together in and the date a court grants a divorce, annulment or dissolution. Transfers under a formal agreement or court order have no time limit.

Are child maintenance payments taxable?

GOV.UK says you will not have to pay tax on child maintenance payments. They also do not affect any benefits that you and your children get, including Universal Credit. The Child Maintenance Service is the GOV.UK service for arranging child maintenance, and the court can also decide child maintenance when a couple divorce.

Where can you read more?

UK Tax hub

All of our UK tax guides in one place.

Income Tax

Rates, bands and the Personal Allowance taper above £100,000.

Tax planning and strategies

Pension contributions, Gift Aid and other ways to lower adjusted net income.

Capital Gains Tax

Rates, allowances and transfers between spouses and civil partners.

Junior ISAs

How Junior ISAs work and who can pay in.

HMRC rules and compliance

Self Assessment, records and deadlines.

Child Benefit tax calculator

Estimate the High Income Child Benefit Charge.

Primary sources

Your 2026/27 family tax checklist

Use these checks with your own figures, and take advice before a separation, a trust or a large pension payment.

£252

Marriage Allowance, most a year

£60,000

Child Benefit charge starts

£100,000

Childcare income limit

£9,000

Junior ISA limit

3 tax years

No gain, no loss window

Marriage Allowance: if you are married or in a civil partnership, one of you has income below £12,570 and the other pays basic rate tax, check whether you can claim and whether you can backdate to 6 April 2022.

Child Benefit: work out adjusted net income for each of you. Pension contributions and Gift Aid donations lower it, and you can opt out of the payments.

Childcare: the £100,000 test uses expected adjusted net income for the current tax year, for you or your partner.

Junior ISA: the limit is £9,000 for 2026/27, from anyone. Interest on a parent's gifts held outside a Junior ISA is subject to the £100 rule.

Separating: note the date you stopped living together and the last day of the three tax year window. Cancel Marriage Allowance when the relationship ends.

Child Benefit tax calculator Calculators and tools

TaxYZ provides educational information only and is not regulated by the FCA or ICAEW. Family tax and divorce law are complex and highly individual. All figures are for 2026/27 and come from GOV.UK, HMRC guidance and legislation, as at 25 October 2026. Worked examples are our own calculations from those figures. This page does not constitute tax, legal, or financial advice. Please consult a qualified family law solicitor and independent financial adviser before making binding decisions based on this information.

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