UK Tax Rates & Thresholds 2026/27
Every headline UK rate and threshold for the 2026/27 tax year on a single page — the same figures used by our calculators, checked against HMRC and GOV.UK. Looking for the US? US tax tables →
✓ Checked against HMRC & GOV.UK · July 2026
How to read these tables
Income Tax and National Insurance are charged separately, on different rules, and both come out of the same payslip — which is why your take-home never matches the Income Tax table on its own. The bands below are marginal: crossing into the higher rate does not tax your whole salary at 40%, only the pounds above £50,270.
| Salary | Income Tax | National Insurance | Total deducted | Effective rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| £30,000 | £3,486 | £1,394 | £4,880 | 16.3% |
| £55,000 | £9,432 | £3,111 | £12,543 | 22.8% |
| £110,000 | £33,432 | £4,211 | £37,643 | 34.2% |
England, Wales and Northern Ireland, standard tax code, no pension or student loan. Scotland sets its own Income Tax bands.
Notice that National Insurance moves the opposite way to Income Tax. NI is 8% between £12,570 and £50,270 but only 2% above it, so at exactly the point Income Tax doubles from 20% to 40%, NI drops by six points. The combined marginal rate goes from 28% to 42% — a real jump, but not the doubling the headline rates suggest.
The £100,000 trap
The most expensive band in the UK system is not the 45% additional rate — it is the stretch between £100,000 and £125,140. The personal allowance is withdrawn by £1 for every £2 earned above £100,000, so each extra pound is taxed at 40% and costs you 50p of tax-free allowance. The effective rate on that slice is 60%, or 62% once the 2% NI is added — higher than anything paid by someone on £200,000.
This is why a pension contribution is worth far more in that band than anywhere else. Salary sacrifice reduces the income the taper is measured against, so contributing enough to bring your income back to £100,000 restores the full allowance: £1,000 sacrificed can cost as little as £380 of take-home pay. A bonus that pushes you just over £100,000 is often worth redirecting into a pension for exactly this reason.
Income Tax bands
Take-home calculator →| Band | Taxable income | Rate |
|---|---|---|
| Personal allowance | Up to £12,570 | 0% |
| Basic rate | £12,571 – £50,270 | 20% |
| Higher rate | £50,271 – £125,140 | 40% |
| Additional rate | Over £125,140 | 45% |
The personal allowance shrinks by £1 for every £2 earned above £100,000, disappearing entirely at £125,140. Scotland sets its own bands.
National Insurance (Class 1, employees)
NI calculator →| Earnings | Employee rate |
|---|---|
| Up to £12,570 | 0% |
| £12,570 – £50,270 | 8% |
| Above £50,270 | 2% |
Employers pay 15% on employee earnings above £5,000 a year. Employees stop paying NI at State Pension age.
Self-employed (Class 4 NI)
Self-employed calculator →| Profits | Class 4 rate |
|---|---|
| Up to £12,570 | 0% |
| £12,570 – £50,270 | 6% |
| Above £50,270 | 2% |
Dividend tax
Dividend calculator →| Band | Rate on dividends |
|---|---|
| Dividend allowance | £500 at 0% |
| Basic rate | 8.75% |
| Higher rate | 33.75% |
| Additional rate | 39.35% |
The first £500 of dividends is tax-free (dividend allowance). Rates apply by your overall income band.
Capital Gains Tax
CGT calculator →| Item | Amount / rate |
|---|---|
| Annual exempt amount | £3,000 |
| Basic-rate taxpayer | 18% |
| Higher/additional-rate taxpayer | 24% |
Gains stack on top of income: the part within the basic-rate band is taxed at 18%, the rest at 24%.
Stamp Duty Land Tax (England & NI)
Stamp duty calculator →| Portion of price | Standard rate |
|---|---|
| Up to £125,000 | 0% |
| £125,001 – £250,000 | 2% |
| £250,001 – £925,000 | 5% |
| £925,001 – £1,500,000 | 10% |
| Above £1,500,000 | 12% |
First-time buyers: 0% to £300,000, then 5% to £500,000 (no relief above £500,000). Additional properties add 5% to every band; non-UK residents add a further 2%.
Corporation Tax
Corporation tax calculator →| Profits | Rate |
|---|---|
| Up to £50,000 | 19% (small profits rate) |
| £50,000 – £250,000 | Marginal relief (19–25%) |
| Above £250,000 | 25% (main rate) |
| Rate | % | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Standard | 20% | Most goods and services |
| Reduced | 5% | Domestic energy, children's car seats |
| Zero | 0% | Most food, books, children's clothing |
Registration is compulsory once VAT-taxable turnover passes £90,000.
Inheritance Tax
IHT calculator →| Item | Amount / rate |
|---|---|
| Nil-rate band | £325,000 |
| Residence nil-rate band | £175,000 |
| Standard IHT rate | 40% |
| Rate with 10%+ left to charity | 36% |
The residence nil-rate band applies when a home passes to direct descendants. Unused allowances transfer between spouses.
Student loan repayment thresholds
Student loan calculator →| Plan | Annual threshold | Rate |
|---|---|---|
| Plan 1 | £24,990 | 9% |
| Plan 2 | £29,385 | 9% |
| Plan 4 (Scotland) | £32,745 | 9% |
| Plan 5 | £25,000 | 9% |
| Postgraduate | £21,000 | 6% |
You repay 9% of income above your threshold (6% for Postgraduate loans).
Redundancy pay
Redundancy calculator →| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Weekly pay cap (England, Wales, Scotland) | £751 |
| Weekly pay cap (Northern Ireland) | £749 |
| Maximum years of service counted | 20 |
| Tax-free limit on redundancy pay | £30,000 |
Pensions & other allowances
Pension calculator →| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Pension annual allowance | £60,000 |
| Pension Credit minimum guarantee (single) | £227.10 / week |
| Pension Credit minimum guarantee (couple) | £346.60 / week |
| Statutory holiday entitlement | 5.6 weeks (28-day cap) |
Where these numbers change what you do
Capital Gains Tax stacks on top of your income. The £3,000 annual exempt amount comes off first, then whatever is left is taxed at 18% for the part that still fits inside your basic-rate band and 24% above it. A £20,000 gain for a basic-rate taxpayer leaves £17,000 taxable — about £3,060. Because the allowance renews each April, splitting a large disposal across two tax years can save the tax on a second £3,000, and transfers between spouses are exempt, which doubles the allowance available to a couple.
Dividends are taxed far more lightly than salary. After the £500 allowance the rates are 8.75%, 33.75% and 39.35% — and dividends carry no National Insurance at all. That gap is the whole reason company directors take a small salary and the rest as dividends, though the profit has already borne Corporation Tax on the way out.
Stamp duty is banded, not a cliff. Only the slice of the price inside each band is charged at that band's rate, so nudging just over £250,000 costs 5% on the excess, not on the whole purchase. The genuine cliff is first-time buyer relief, which stops entirely above £500,000 — at £500,001 a first-time buyer pays the full standard rate on the lot.
Student loan repayments behave like an extra tax band. You repay 9% of everything above your plan's threshold (6% for Postgraduate), on top of Income Tax and NI. For a Plan 2 graduate earning above £50,270 the combined marginal deduction is 51%, and someone with both an undergraduate and a postgraduate loan pays more still.
Frequently Asked Questions
When does the 2026/27 tax year run?
The UK tax year runs from 6 April 2026 to 5 April 2027. New rates and thresholds normally take effect from the first day of the tax year.
Why do the thresholds stay the same each year?
Several thresholds — including the £12,570 personal allowance and £50,270 higher-rate threshold — have been frozen for multiple years. As wages rise with inflation, more income drifts into higher bands, an effect known as fiscal drag.
Do these rates apply in Scotland?
National Insurance, VAT, CGT and most other taxes apply UK-wide, but Scotland sets its own income tax bands and rates, and Scotland and Wales replace stamp duty with LBTT and LTT respectively.
What is the 60% tax trap?
Between £100,000 and £125,140 the personal allowance is withdrawn by £1 for every £2 earned, so each extra pound is taxed at 40% and also costs 50p of tax-free allowance. The effective rate on that band is 60%, or 62% with National Insurance — higher than the 45% additional rate paid above £125,140.
How much of a pay rise do I actually keep?
It depends on the band you are in, not your average rate. A basic-rate taxpayer keeps about 72p of each extra pound after 20% tax and 8% NI; a higher-rate taxpayer keeps 58p; someone in the £100,000–£125,140 taper keeps only 38p. Add a student loan and each figure drops a further 9p.
Does a pension contribution save tax at my marginal rate?
Yes. Contributions come out before Income Tax, so relief is given at the highest rate you pay — and with salary sacrifice National Insurance is saved too. This is most powerful in the £100,000–£125,140 band, where sacrificing back under £100,000 also restores the full personal allowance.
Figures mirror the constants used by our calculators and are checked against HMRC and GOV.UK publications. Rates can change at fiscal events — always confirm on GOV.UK before acting.