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Worked example
Real numbers from this tool, line by line.
£600.00 is the penalty exposure now for this UK dental practice manager: £1,200,000 turnover, 14 staff, renewal date 35 days ago, fee still unpaid. Here are the ten result lines the free calculator returned (not a charity, not a public authority, no direct debit):
- Tier 1 test met (1 = yes): 0
- Tier 2 test met (1 = yes): 1
- Your fee tier: 2
- List fee for your tier: £78.00
- Fee you pay this charge period: £78.00
- Increase over the 2018 rate: £18.00
- Days left in the 21-day payment window: 0
- Days past the 21-day payment window: 14
- Fixed penalty for your tier if unpaid: £600.00
- Penalty exposure now: £600.00
The penalty is 7.7 times the fee. Here is why.
If your UK organisation holds personal data about customers, patients, staff or supporters, it almost certainly owes a data protection fee every year. Since 30 September 2026 that fee is paid to the Information Commission, which replaced the ICO. The rules behind the fee did not change on that day. The amounts changed earlier, and many people renewing still work from the old figures.
The fees are set by regulation 3 of the Data Protection (Charges and Information) Regulations 2018. S.I. 2025/63 raised them from 17 February 2025. Tier 1 is now £52, tier 2 is £78 and tier 3 is £3,763. Paying by direct debit takes £5 off. Before February 2025 the figures were £40, £60 and £2,900, and many articles and chatbot answers still give those.
The tier test trips people up because it is either/or. You are in tier 1 if your turnover is £632,000 or less, OR you have 10 or fewer members of staff, OR you are a charity or a small occupational pension scheme. You are in tier 2 if you are not in tier 1 and your turnover is £36 million or less, OR you have 250 or fewer staff. Everyone else is tier 3. Public authorities ignore turnover and are tiered on staff alone. Both figures are taken on the first day of your charge period.
The timing rule is regulation 2(2): you must pay within the first 21 days of each charge period. Your charge period is a 12-month block that starts on your renewal date. If you pay by card and the reminder gets lost, the 21 days run out without anyone noticing.
The regulator's published document on fixed penalties for failure to pay the data protection charge sets the cost of missing it: £400 for tier 1, £600 for tier 2 and £4,000 for tier 3. Where there are aggravating factors, such as not engaging with the regulator, it can raise that to a statutory maximum of £4,350. Section 158 of the Data Protection Act 2018 caps any fixed penalty at 150% of the highest fee.
In the example above, the practice fails both legs of the tier 1 test: turnover is above £632,000 and staff are above 10. It passes tier 2, so its list fee is £78.00, £18.00 more than the 2018 rate. It is 14 days past the window, which puts the £600.00 fixed penalty on the line.
Change one number and the answer moves. Drop the staff to 10 and the same practice is tier 1 at £52, because the staff leg alone puts it there. Make it a registered charity and it is tier 1 at any size. Enter a renewal date 10 days ago and the exposure is £0, with 11 days left to pay.
The free calculator on this page runs that whole check with 6 inputs and 10 formulas, in your browser, as many times as you like. The paid workbook adds a group sheet for anyone running more than one company or charity, because each one is its own data controller and pays its own fee. It shows the fees for the whole group, the group penalty exposure, the days to your next renewal and the penalty as a multiple of the fee. Keep one copy per renewal as a record for your directors, trustees or auditor. If you are inside the 21 days, pay now and set up direct debit to save £5 next year. If you are past them, pay today.
15 seconds — what it actually does
Full walk-through
Questions people ask
What does this calculator work out?
It applies the tier test of the Data Protection (Charges and Information) Regulations 2018 to your turnover and staff, gives the fee at the rates in force since 17 February 2025 (£52, £78 or £3,763, less £5 by direct debit), counts the 21 days you have to pay after each renewal date, and shows the fixed penalty for your tier if you are late.
Who is this for?
Office managers, practice managers, company secretaries and charity administrators at UK organisations that hold personal data and renew the yearly data protection fee themselves: a dental or GP practice, an agency, a shop, a small charity. Since 30 September 2026 the fee is paid to the Information Commission, which replaced the ICO.
Why not just read the regulator's page or ask a chatbot?
The regulator's pages list the tiers and the penalty document lists the fines, but neither applies the either/or tier test to your own figures or counts your 21 days. Many articles and chatbots still quote the 2018 fees of £40, £60 and £2,900, which stopped applying on 17 February 2025.
What is free?
The whole check on the page is free with no limit on runs: 6 inputs and 10 formulas giving both tier tests, your tier, the list fee, the fee you pay, the increase over 2018, the days left or days past the 21-day window, the fixed penalty for your tier and your exposure now. Your figures stay in your browser.
What does the paid version add?
A saved Excel workbook with 7 inputs and 14 formulas: the same 10 lines plus 4 on a group sheet showing the fees for every company in your group, the group penalty exposure, the days to your next renewal and the penalty as a multiple of the fee. It is a one-time payment, not a subscription, and costs less than one tier 1 penalty of £400.
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