Latest / Stories Today / HMRC Child Benefit Update 2026: Higher Payments Coming in April

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HMRC Child Benefit Update 2026: Higher Payments Coming in April · Stories Today

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: The cost of raising a family in Britain is set
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: to undergo a significant adjustment as the Treasury finalizes its
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: spring financial targets. After months of speculation about potential inflation
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: related upratings, h m r C confirmed that the child
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: benefit will increase starting in April twenty twenty six to
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: help households keep up with changing economic conditions. The move
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: also reflects a broader strategy to simplify the tax system
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: and target relief for people feeling the pinch from high
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: utility bills and food prices. Summary of changes. H m
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: r C confirmed the child benefit will increase starting in
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: April twenty twenty six to new weekly highs. The three
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: point eight percent rise applies to both the eldest and
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: subsequent children. Universal credits to child limit is officially a
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: thing of the past. High earners gain a new digital
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: way to pay back the benefit via their tax code.
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: The breakdown new weekly and annual payments. From six April
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: twenty twenty six, the additional cash amount that is given
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  Speaker 1: to parents will be increased by three point eight percent,
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: which is linked to the September twenty twenty five Consumer
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: Price Index c p I. For the eldest or only
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  Speaker 1: child in a family, The weekly rate increases to twenty
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  Speaker 1: seven pounds and fivepence. Parents will now get seventeen pounds
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: and ninety pence a week for every additional child. Although
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: these weekly fluctuations may seem insignificant, it's the cumulative change
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: each year that adds up for household finances. A couple
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: with two children would now receive a sum of two thousand,
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: three hundred thirty seven pounds and forty pence paid into
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: their accounts each year, for instance. This is a gradual
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: increase on the twenty twenty five twenty six rates, which
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: were twenty six pounds and fivepence and seventeen pounds and
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: twenty fivepence, respectively, scrapping the two child limit a twenty
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: twenty six milestone. The big ticket item in this year's
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: welfare update isn't simply the increase in the payment rate.
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: It is that universal credits to child limit has now
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: been utterly abolished. Historically, families have been prevented from claiming
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: the child element for a third or subsequent child born
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  Speaker 1: since April twenty seventeen. Now Chancellor Rachel Reeves has put
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: an end to this cap effective April twenty twenty six.
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: This means families on Universal Credit can apply for the
• 2:29
  Speaker 1: Child Element about three thousand, six hundred forty seven pounds
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: a year in value for every child in the home,
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  Speaker 1: according to reports from which this policy reversal is the
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  Speaker 1: primary driver behind the government's goal to reduce child poverty
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  Speaker 1: figures by nearly half a million over the next three years.
• 2:48
  Speaker 1: The high income trap thresholds and new digital rules. While
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: headline rates have been increased, many squeezed middle earners find
• 2:57
  Speaker 1: the High Income Child Benefit Charge high ICBC contentious. The
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: individual income threshold sixty thousand pounds for the twenty twenty
• 3:07
  Speaker 1: six twenty seven tax year will remain frozen by the
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: government If the highest earner in a household earns more
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: than sixty thousand pounds. However, the taper begins, you lose
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: one percent of the benefit for every two hundred pounds
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  Speaker 1: earned above that mark. Once your income hits eighty thousand pounds,
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: the tax charge effectively wipes out the entire benefit. However,
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: HMRC is introducing a peace offering in the form of
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: a new digital paye service to avoid the hassle associated
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: with filing a self assessment tax return solely to repay
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: the benefit. Higher earners can now have this charge deducted
• 3:46
  Speaker 1: directly from their monthly salary. The automated system is to
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: roll out by summer twenty twenty six, slashing red tape
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  Speaker 1: for working parents. Broader economic context the April uplift the
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: old benefit rise doesn't exist in a vacuum. It is
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  Speaker 1: part of a wider package of measures going live in
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  Speaker 1: April twenty twenty six. National living wage increasing to twelve
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  Speaker 1: pounds and seventy one pence per hour, a move that
• 4:14
  Speaker 1: benefits roughly three million low paid workers. Universal Credit standard
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  Speaker 1: allowance rising by three point eight percent, alongside child benefit,
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  Speaker 1: State pension increasing by four point one percent under the
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: triple lock guarantee, taking the full new state pension to
• 4:32
  Speaker 1: roughly two hundred thirty pounds per week. What parents need
• 4:36
  Speaker 1: to do now, For the vast majority of people, there's
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: no need to lift a finger. HMRC and the DWP
• 4:44
  Speaker 1: process these increases automatically. Your first payment will be the
• 4:49
  Speaker 1: updated amount when it arrives in your bank account after
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  Speaker 1: six April twenty twenty six. If you have previously opted
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: out of the child benefit as a result of the
• 4:58
  Speaker 1: high income charge, it may be worth making a reassessment.
• 5:02
  Speaker 1: With the advent of digital paye systems, claiming is becoming easier,
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  Speaker 1: contributing to a reduction in the hassle factor of claiming.
• 5:12
  Speaker 1: Plus claiming insures you get the National Insurance credits needed
• 5:16
  Speaker 1: for your state pension, even if you end up paying
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  Speaker 1: the benefit back in tax.