MILLIONS claim child benefit to help with the cost of childcare – but how much you can get depends on your circumstances.

You can claim £21.80 per week for your first or eldest child, then £14.45 for each child after that.

Payments are usually made every four weeks, on a Monday or Tuesday.

Plus, by claiming you also get National Insurance credits that count towards your state pension.

If you are wondering how much you can get in total from child benefit, the government has its own calculator.

It will help you work out how much you might have to pay back if you're hit with the high income child benefit charge too.

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The charge impacts families where one or both partners earn individually £50,000 or more a year.

You can find the tax calculator on the government's website – just type "child benefit tax calculator" into Google and it should be the first result.

Once you've clicked through it will ask you a series of questions to determine how much you are entitled to.

What is child benefit and who is eligible?

Child benefit is paid to parents to help cover the cost of childcare.

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There are two different rates – parents can claim £21.80 per week for their first child and for any additional children they can claim an extra £14.45 a week.

You qualify for child benefit if you live in the UK and are responsible for a child under 16.

But, you can also claim the support for a child under 20 if they are in approved education or training.

This classes as A levels, T levels, traineeships and so on. For the full list you can check out the government's website.

If you are in a couple, only one person can claim child benefit.

That means it's worth considering if one person needs the National Insurance credits more than the other.

You'll be classed as responsible for a child if you live with them or are paying at least the same amount as child benefit towards looking after them.

So, if you are paying the equivalent amount you might receive from child benefit on food, clothes or pocket money.

You should bear in mind, eligibility changes if a child goes into hospital or care and if your child starts to live with someone else.

Usually, you get child benefit for eight weeks after your child goes to live with a friend or relative – as long as they don't make a claim.

But it can continue for longer if you make contributions to your child's upkeep.

Foster parents can also claim child benefit, as long as the council is not paying anything towards their accommodation or maintenance.

Legal guardians or parents adopting a child can also apply for the benefit, but the child has to be living with them.

You will only be able to claim for a short period of time if you leave the UK, for example if you go on holiday or for medical treatment.

For anyone not sure about eligibility, you can contact the Child Benefit Office.

How do I cancel child benefit?

Through what's known as the high income child benefit charge, you might have to pay some of your child benefit back.

The charge is applied to one or both of a couple individually earns £50,000 or more.

It means you pay back 1% of your child benefit for every £100 of income over this amount.

Once you reach £60,000 a year earned income, you have to repay the full amount.

But it's your responsibility to tell HM Revenue and Customs about any earnings over the £50,000 threshold.

You have to do this through by filing a self-assessment tax return.

To avoid the charge, some parents look to cancel child benefit payments completely.

You can do this in two ways – either by filling in an online form on the government's website or by contacting the Child Benefit Office by phone or post.

The number to call is 0300 200 3100.

The address to send any post to is HM Revenue and Customs – Child Benefit Office, PO Box 1, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE88 1AA, United Kingdom.

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You'll need your government gateway user ID and password to hand to fill in the online form.

If you don't have a user ID you can create one when you fill in the form.

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