Victim surcharge calculator: rates, table and rules (UK)
Last updated · By Mustafa Bilgic · Amounts from the Surcharge Order 2012 and its amendments, the Victim Surcharge (Scotland) Regulations 2019 and the Justice Act (Northern Ireland) 2011
This page sets out the full surcharge tables for England and Wales since October 2012, the rules courts use to pick the amount, how compensation takes priority, and the separate schemes in Scotland and Northern Ireland. The calculator applies the right table to the date of the offence, the offender's age and the sentence.
Victim surcharge table for England and Wales
Pick the column for the date of the earliest offence, then the row for the sentence. For a fine the surcharge is a percentage of the total of all fines, rounded up or down to the nearest pound. For custody it depends on the total (aggregate) term imposed.
| Sentence | 1 Oct 2012 to 7 Apr 2016 | 8 Apr 2016 to 27 Jun 2019 | 28 Jun 2019 to 13 Apr 2020 | 14 Apr 2020 to 15 Jun 2022 | From 16 Jun 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conditional discharge | £15 | £20 | £21 | £22 | £26 |
| Fine (total of all fines) | 10% of the fine, minimum £20, maximum £120 | 10% of the fine, minimum £30, maximum £170 | 10% of the fine, minimum £32, maximum £181 | 10% of the fine, minimum £34, maximum £190 | 40% of the fine, maximum £2,000 |
| Community order | £60 | £85 | £90 | £95 | £114 |
| Suspended sentence, 6 months or less | £80 | £115 | £122 | £128 | £154 |
| Suspended sentence, over 6 months | £100 | £140 | £149 | £156 | £187 |
| Immediate custody, 6 months or less | £80 | £115 | £122 | £128 | £154 |
| Immediate custody, over 6 months up to 24 months | £100 | £140 | £149 | £156 | £187 |
| Immediate custody, over 24 months | £120 | £170 | £181 | £190 | £228 |
| Custody for life | £120 | £170 | £181 | £190 | £228 |
For offences committed from 1 April 2007 to 30 September 2012 a flat £15 surcharge applies, and only when the offender is fined. The 2012 Order at first charged the surcharge on shorter prison terms only when the Crown Court imposed them. A 2014 amendment removed that limit from 1 September 2014, so a magistrates' court custodial sentence for an offence committed before that date carries no surcharge.
Offenders under 18 and organisations
When every offence was committed before the offender's 18th birthday, a lower flat table applies. Article 5 of the Order uses the same table when the court deals with several offences and at least one was committed under 18 and at least one at 18 or over.
| Sentence | 1 Oct 2012 to 7 Apr 2016 | 8 Apr 2016 to 27 Jun 2019 | 28 Jun 2019 to 13 Apr 2020 | 14 Apr 2020 to 15 Jun 2022 | From 16 Jun 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conditional discharge | £10 | £15 | £16 | £17 | £20 |
| Fine, youth rehabilitation order, referral order or community order | £15 | £20 | £21 | £22 | £26 |
| Suspended sentence | £20 | £30 | £32 | £34 | £41 |
| Custodial sentence | £20 | £30 | £32 | £34 | £41 |
| Sentence | 1 Oct 2012 to 7 Apr 2016 | 8 Apr 2016 to 27 Jun 2019 | 28 Jun 2019 to 13 Apr 2020 | 14 Apr 2020 to 15 Jun 2022 | From 16 Jun 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conditional discharge | £15 | £20 | £21 | £22 | £26 |
| Fine | 10% of the fine, minimum £20, maximum £120 | 10% of the fine, minimum £30, maximum £170 | 10% of the fine, minimum £32, maximum £181 | 10% of the fine, minimum £34, maximum £190 | 40% of the fine, maximum £2,000 |
Victim surcharge calculator
England and Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland
The court only matters for custody for an offence committed before 1 September 2014. Tick every sentence the court is imposing: only the highest surcharge is ordered.
When a court orders the surcharge
Section 42 of the Sentencing Code says a court dealing with an offender for one or more offences committed on or after 1 April 2007 must also order the offender to pay a surcharge. The Sentencing Council calls it a mandatory requirement. The Order lists the sentences that attract it: a conditional discharge, a fine, a community order, a youth rehabilitation or referral order, a suspended sentence and custody. If none of those is imposed, no surcharge is due.
A court does not deal with an offender for this purpose when it gives an absolute discharge or makes an order under the Mental Health Act 1983, so neither carries a surcharge. There is also no surcharge when compensation is ordered as a sentence in its own right, rather than as an ancillary order. For an offender under 18, section 380 of the Code on payment by a parent or guardian applies, so the court can order the parent or guardian to pay, and then looks at their means.
How the amount is worked out
- One surcharge only: where an offender is dealt with in different ways, only one surcharge is paid, whichever attracts the higher sum. A community order and a small fine together carry the community order amount if that is higher.
- Total of the fines: where more than one fine is ordered, the surcharge is assessed on the total fine.
- Aggregate custodial term: where a custodial sentence is imposed, the surcharge is based on the aggregate term imposed.
- Age at the offence: the adult table applies only when every offence was committed at 18 or over. If at least one offence was committed under 18, the court orders the surcharge at the under-18 rate.
- Earliest offence date: each change to the amounts applies only where every offence was committed on or after its start date. With several offences, the date of the earliest one decides the table.
- Breach: no surcharge is payable where the court is only dealing with the breach of a community order, a suspended sentence or a conditional discharge. When the court deals with a new offence and a breach together, the surcharge is calculated by reference to the date of the earliest offence, including the offence whose sentence was breached.
Before 16 June 2022 the adult fine surcharge was 10% of the total fine, with a minimum and a maximum that rose each time the amounts changed, from £20 to £120 in 2012 up to £34 to £190 in 2020. The 2022 regulations raised it to 40% of the fine with a maximum of £2,000 and no minimum, so a fine of £200 now brings a surcharge of £80.
Compensation comes first
The surcharge must not take money away from the victim. If the court thinks a compensation order, an unlawful profit order or a slavery and trafficking reparation order is appropriate but the offender cannot afford both that and the surcharge, section 42(3) requires it to reduce the surcharge, to nil if necessary. The Sentencing Council adds that if the offender can afford the surcharge as well, the court must impose it rather than another financial order such as costs.
Where the offender cannot pay everything the court thinks right, the order of priority is compensation, surcharge, fine, costs. A court that orders both a fine and a surcharge may only reduce the fine to the extent that the offender cannot pay both. Our compensation order calculator shows the guideline amounts courts use for injuries.
Scotland: a victim surcharge on fines
Scotland's victim surcharge came into force on 25 November 2019 and applies to people who commit an offence on or after that date and are convicted and fined. The Victim Surcharge (Scotland) Regulations 2019 make a fine the only sentence that attracts it, and the amount depends on the total of the fines imposed in the same proceedings. Section 253F of the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995 says only one surcharge is ordered for all the offences in those proceedings, and none where the court makes a restitution order. The prescribed sum in the table is £10,000, the figure set by section 225(8) of the 1995 Act.
| Total of the fines | Surcharge |
|---|---|
| Up to and including £200 | £10.00 |
| £200.01 to £500 | £20.00 |
| £500.01 to £1,000 | £40.00 |
| £1,000.01 to £2,500 | £75.00 |
| £2,500.01 to £5,000 | £175.00 |
| £5,000.01 to £10,000 | £350.00 |
| More than £10,000 (the prescribed sum) | 7.5% of the fine |
The Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service collects the surcharge in the same way as fines and compensation orders, and the money goes into the Victim Surcharge Fund run by the Scottish Government. Victims do not apply to the fund directly: victim support organisations bid for money and use it to pay for practical support for the people they help.
Northern Ireland: the offender levy
Northern Ireland has an offender levy under the Justice Act (Northern Ireland) 2011 instead of a surcharge. Section 6 sets the amounts, and nidirect explains that only one levy can be given in a particular court case, applied to the most serious sentence. It does not apply to offenders under 18, and a prison sentence served concurrently with an earlier sentence that already carried the levy does not attract a second one. Section 5 adds the levy to penalty notices and road traffic fixed penalties for people over 18.
| Most serious sentence or penalty | Offender levy |
|---|---|
| Immediate custody of more than 2 years, or an indeterminate sentence | £50 |
| Immediate custody of 2 years or less | £25 |
| Court fine | £15 |
| Penalty notice or road traffic fixed penalty | £5 |
| Community order or suspended sentence | none (section 6(1)(c) not in force) |
Section 6(1)(c) of the Act also sets a £20 levy for community orders and suspended sentences, but the commencement notes on legislation.gov.uk list only paragraphs (a), (b) and (d) of section 6(1) as in operation, and nidirect lists the levy only for immediate custody, court fines and penalty notices. If the court also makes a compensation order and the offender cannot pay both, the court must reduce the levy, to nil if necessary. The money goes to a dedicated Victims of Crime Fund, and for someone sent to custody the Northern Ireland Prison Service collects it in instalments from prisoner earnings.
Worked examples
Fine in 2025, England: an adult is fined £500 for an offence committed in March 2025. The 2022 table applies, so the surcharge is 40% of £500, which is £200.
Community order and a fine: an adult receives a community order and a £150 fine for offences in 2024. The community order surcharge is £114 and the fine surcharge would be £60, so one surcharge of £114 is ordered.
Older offence: the earliest offence was in January 2021, so the 2020 table applies. A fine of £2,500 gives 10%, £250, which is above the £190 maximum, so the surcharge is £190.
Scotland: fines totalling £750 in one case carry a surcharge of £40. These figures are our calculation from the published tables.
Sources and methodology
The England and Wales tables were read from each instrument as made and from the current schedule on legislation.gov.uk, and compared cell by cell with the Sentencing Council's surcharge table. The calculator applies articles 3 to 6 of the Order (one surcharge, the highest amount, and the under-18 rate for mixed ages), the date rules in each amending instrument, the Scottish schedule and section 6 of the Northern Ireland Act. It was tested on every cell of every table and on the date and band boundaries.
- Sentencing Code (Sentencing Act 2020), section 42, on legislation.gov.uk.
- Criminal Justice Act 2003 (Surcharge) Order 2012 and its schedule as substituted in 2022, on legislation.gov.uk, with the amending instruments S.I. 2014/2120, 2016/389, 2019/985, 2020/310 and 2022/584.
- Surcharge, explanatory material for magistrates' courts, Sentencing Council.
- Victim Surcharge (Scotland) Regulations 2019 (S.S.I. 2019/387) and section 253F of the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995, on legislation.gov.uk; Victim Surcharge Fund: guidance, Scottish Government.
- Justice Act (Northern Ireland) 2011, sections 1, 5 and 6, on legislation.gov.uk; Offender levy, nidirect.
Frequently asked questions
How much is the victim surcharge in 2026?
For adult offences committed on or after 16 June 2022 it is £26 for a conditional discharge, 40% of the fine up to £2,000, £114 for a community order, £154 or £187 for a suspended sentence and £154, £187 or £228 for immediate custody, depending on the term. These are the latest amounts, set in 2022.
How is the victim surcharge worked out on a fine?
For an adult it is 40% of the total of all fines, rounded up or down to the nearest pound, with a maximum of £2,000. For offences before 16 June 2022 it was 10% of the fine within a minimum and maximum, for example £34 to £190 for offences from 14 April 2020.
Can the victim surcharge be reduced?
Only if the court thinks compensation, an unlawful profit order or a slavery and trafficking reparation order is right and the offender cannot afford both. Then it must reduce the surcharge, to nil if necessary. Compensation comes first, then the surcharge, the fine and costs.
Do under-18s pay the victim surcharge?
Yes, at lower flat rates: for offences from 16 June 2022, £20 for a conditional discharge, £26 for a fine, youth rehabilitation, referral or community order, and £41 for a custodial or suspended sentence. The court can order a parent or guardian to pay.
Is there a victim surcharge on a discharge?
A conditional discharge carries one: £26 for an adult offence from 16 June 2022. An absolute discharge does not, because the Sentencing Code says the court does not deal with the offender for this purpose.
How does the victim surcharge work in Scotland and Northern Ireland?
Scotland adds a surcharge only to fines, from £10 for fines up to £200 to £350, or 7.5% of fines over £10,000. Northern Ireland has an offender levy of £5 to £50 for adults, one per case, on the most serious sentence.