Is the 30 hours childcare cap £100,000 salary or adjusted net income?

Is the £100,000 cap my salary?

No. GOV.UK — check if you’re eligible says you will not be eligible if you or your partner’s expected adjusted net income (including any foreign income) is over £100,000 for the current tax year. Best Start in Life’s eligibility page (updated 9 April 2026) uses the same wording: expected ANI over £100,000 in the current tax year, and worldwide income is part of that calculation.

A £95,000 salary plus taxable extras can sit over the cap. A higher salary with reliefs that GOV.UK allows in the ANI calculation can sit under it. The figure HMRC wants is the adjusted one, not the number on a job offer.

Do not invent a pension or Gift Aid worksheet on this page. Work through GOV.UK — adjusted net income for the official steps.

Whose income is tested — mine, or the household total?

Each person. GOV.UK fails the household if either you or your partner expects ANI over £100,000. Best Start in Life says eligibility is calculated on an individual basis: both of you must sit between the minimum earnings floor and this cap. Adding two salaries together and comparing the sum to £100,000 is the wrong test.

The child must usually live with you. Foster carers have a separate route: Best Start in Life says there is no minimum income requirement for foster parents, but expected ANI must still not exceed £100,000, and they cannot use the online application.

What does GOV.UK count in adjusted net income?

HMRC’s adjusted net income page (last updated 30 May 2025) defines it as total taxable income before Personal Allowances, less certain reliefs. The page tells you to add taxable earnings, self-employed profits, some benefits, most pensions, savings interest, dividends, some rental income, trust income and foreign income, then take off listed reliefs. Gift Aid and some pension contributions are adjusted using the official ‘grossed-up’ method on that page — follow those steps rather than a blog example.

That ANI definition is the one the 30 hours cap points at. It is not the same as the 16-hour minimum earnings test, which ignores dividends, interest, property-investment income and pension payments when it asks whether you earn enough to qualify.

Is this the same as the High Income Child Benefit Charge?

You can be inside the 30 hours cap and still face the Child Benefit charge, because £60,000 is lower than £100,000. Crossing £100,000 is a 30 hours eligibility fail, not a Child Benefit taper step.

What if this tax year’s income might cross £100,000?

GOV.UK asks what you expect for the current tax year. A bonus, a new contract or foreign income can change that expectation. The 3-month reconfirmation is when the Childcare Service asks you to confirm details are still up to date. If you are no longer eligible and the child already has a place, Best Start in Life describes a short grace period while you sort the next application.

In shortIn short: the cap is expected adjusted net income this tax year, per parent, including foreign income. Either person over £100,000 takes the household out. It is not gross pay and not the Child Benefit charge. Use HMRC’s ANI page for the arithmetic; do not treat a payslip headline as the test.