The Carer's Allowance earnings checker
The earnings limit is £204 a week and it is a cliff: a pound over and nothing is paid. But the figure is measured after tax, National Insurance and a short list of expenses, which gives more room than the headline suggests. Enter a week's figures and see where you land, with every deduction shown.
What reaches your account from work, before the expenses below. If your pay changes week to week, enter a typical week.
What you pay into a pension from your earnings. Half of it counts as an expense.
Only things the job needs and you pay for yourself. Leave blank if none.
Only travel between workplaces that your employer does not pay for. Travel to and from home does not count.
Leave blank if you are employed.
Care for the person you look after, or for your children, so that you can go to work.
Care paid to a close relative does not count as an expense. Tick this and the care figure is left out.
The result updates as you type. Worked out on your device. Nothing is sent anywhere.
What it decides, and from where
Every rule is from the eligibility section of GOV.UK's Carer's Allowance guidance: the £204 limit, the five expenses that can come off, the half-share of pension contributions, the cap on care costs and the relatives whose care does not count. GOV.UK's own worked example was the case the arithmetic was tested against.
In that example, £100 of earnings after tax and other expenses with £60 paid for care leaves £50 that counts, because care costs are capped at half of earnings. Our how much page explains the limit beside the payment itself.
What it will not do
It will not decide the claim. The 35-hour test, the qualifying benefit and the State Pension overlap are not asked about, because they are yes-or-no rules that our Carer's Allowance page already answers. It does not average pay that changes week to week, because GOV.UK's page does not say how that is done.
And it does not convert monthly pay to weekly for you. A rough weekly figure gives a rough answer, and a close result is a reason to ring the Carer's Allowance Unit rather than a verdict.
Common questions
Does this tell me whether I can get Carer's Allowance?
No. It answers one of the tests, the earnings limit, and shows the arithmetic. The 35 hours of care, the benefit the person you care for must receive, and the overlap with State Pension are separate tests. Someone under the limit can still be refused on one of those, and the Carer's Allowance page sets them out.
Which expenses come off my earnings?
GOV.UK lists them: half of your pension contributions, equipment you need for the job, travel between workplaces your employer does not pay for, business costs if you are self-employed, and what you pay someone to provide care while you work, up to half of your earnings and not if that person is a spouse, partner, parent, child or sibling.
What if my pay changes from week to week?
GOV.UK's page does not say how pay that changes from week to week is treated, so this tool cannot either. Enter a typical week. If the result lands close to the line, or your pay swings across it, that is a reason to ask the Carer's Allowance Unit before relying on the answer.
Is anything I enter stored?
No. The figures stay in your browser, nothing is transmitted or logged, and closing the tab discards them. There is no account and no email box. The result is a figure for earnings that count, the deductions that produced it, and a link to the page that explains each rule.
If the limit rules you out, Carer's Credit protects your State Pension record for nothing, and the person you care for may still gain from your being eligible: our Carer's Allowance page explains the Pension Credit link. Earnings that rise above the limit must be reported; our contact page lists what and to whom.