Understand the rule, compare ways to reduce ANI and check the special cases.
Your adjusted net income (ANI) is the figure used for the childcare income limit. Salary is only the starting point: pensions, bonuses, benefits and other income can change the answer.
Updated 28 October 2026
Going just over the limit can cost you far more than the extra pay brings in. Check your adjusted net income (ANI), rather than salary alone, to see which childcare support is at risk.
Updated 23 October 2026
For a child aged 9 months to 2, going over £100,000 means losing all 30 free hours, worth £11,400 a year at £10 an hour. See when it applies.
Updated 23 October 2026
Every 3- and 4-year-old in England keeps 15 free hours, whatever you earn. Over £100,000 you lose the other 15 and Tax-Free Childcare, up to £7,700 a year.
Updated 30 October 2026
Tax-Free Childcare is worth up to £2,000 a child, for children up to 11. See how the £100,000 test works, when you'd stop getting it, and what it's worth.
Updated 30 October 2026
Not yet. As of 28 October 2026, the £100,000 limit still applies. The 28 October 2026 Budget did not change the £100,000 adjusted net income limit, funded hours or Tax-Free Childcare. The childcare cliff remains.
Updated 28 October 2026
Salary sacrifice and a personal pension or SIPP can both lower your adjusted net income (ANI). Compare the same gross pension amount, then look at the cash you need and when relief arrives.
Updated 28 October 2026
A bonus can take you over the £100,000 childcare limit. You usually only need to sacrifice part of it. See how much, what it costs and when to act.
Updated 23 October 2026
Over £100,000 this tax year? Pay 80% of the excess into a SIPP by 5 April and claim the rest back. See how much cash you need and what it really costs.
Updated 23 October 2026
An electric car through salary sacrifice lowers your adjusted net income, but its 4% taxable benefit adds some back. See a worked example near £100,000.
Updated 23 October 2026
From April 2029, only £2,000 a year of pension salary sacrifice avoids National Insurance. It still lowers your ANI, so it still helps at the £100k limit.
Updated 23 October 2026
Rules checked on 28 October 2026.