UK Income Tax bands for 2026/27

For 6 April 2026 to 5 April 2027, the standard Personal Allowance is £12,570. Income Tax is charged in slices on the income above that allowance, not as one rate on the whole salary.

England, Wales and Northern Ireland use 20%, then 40%, then 45%. Scotland uses six rates on earned income: 19%, 20%, 21%, 42%, 45% and 48%. Once adjusted net income is above £100,000, the allowance falls by £1 for every £2, and it is zero at £125,140.

The figures below are annual Income Tax on one employment. They are not the PAYE tax on one payslip, and they are not take-home pay. National Insurance is worked out on the week or month. Use the take-home pay calculator for a weekly or monthly estimate.

The rates in one view

The examples below use one employment and treat the salary as adjusted net income. There is no pension, Gift Aid or taxable benefit, except in the pension section. The sections after this summary cover each nation, the worked salaries, and the allowance taper.

The 2026/27 tax year

The current rates page says the tax year runs from 6 April 2026 to 5 April 2027. A pay rise, a move, or a new tax code during the year can change what is withheld from each pay packet. The bands in this guide are the annual bands.

HMRC uses the address it holds. Welsh rates apply when someone lives in Wales for longer than anywhere else in the UK during the tax year. Scottish Income Tax applies to wages, pensions and most other taxable income when someone lives in Scotland. The examples follow the rate table for the nation named. They do not decide which home is the main home.

The £12,570 Personal Allowance

The standard Personal Allowance is £12,570. That part of income is taxed at 0%.

On a salary of £30,000, the allowance covers the first £12,570. Income Tax is worked out on the remaining £17,430.

The allowance is not always £12,570. The rates and allowances publication, updated 6 April 2026, lists Blind Person's Allowance for 2026 to 2027 as £3,250. It is added to the Personal Allowance. The summary rates page describes that allowance and does not print the amount. Marriage Allowance can transfer part of an unused allowance when the giver's income is below the standard allowance. The tax-code letter table, opened on 24 October 2026, describes that transfer as 10% of the giver’s Personal Allowance. This guide does not turn that percentage into a pound amount. Above £100,000 of adjusted net income, the Personal Allowance is reduced. The salary examples keep the standard allowance until the taper section.

The calculator uses 1257L in England and Northern Ireland, C1257L in Wales, and S1257L in Scotland. Another code can change the result.

England, Wales and Northern Ireland

Income while the allowance is still £12,570

The current rates page shows the bands for someone who still has a Personal Allowance of £12,570. Its middle column is headed "Taxable income". The rows below are that person's income, with the allowance included in the first row. The Welsh table for 2026 to 2027 uses the same rows. The rates and allowances publication, updated 6 April 2026, groups England, Northern Ireland and Wales together.

Income after the allowance

The same publication says tax is paid on the income remaining after the Personal Allowance. Those widths are what the calculator applies once the allowance has been taken off. The employer PAYE table uses the same widths for England, Northern Ireland and Wales, in a column headed "above the PAYE threshold".

£12,570 plus £37,700 is £50,270. The two tables meet at that salary only while the allowance is still £12,570. After the taper starts, the first table no longer describes the person. The £37,700 basic-rate width stays in place. A smaller allowance increases the amount that is taxed. It does not shrink the 20% width. Those published widths are slices of taxable income. They do not mean the full £12,570 Personal Allowance is still available once adjusted net income is above £100,000.

The current rates page puts the additional rate over £125,140. The rates publication's after-allowance column prints it as over £125,141. The employer table says above £125,140. The examples follow the current rates page and the employer table. A salary of exactly £125,140 has no 45% slice. The next pound, £125,141, is taxed at 45%, which adds £0.45. There is no untaxed pound between the two official wordings.

The rates publication also lists a 0% starting rate for savings of up to £5,000. That band applies to savings interest. It is not used on a salary.

View the full-size diagram

England, Wales and Northern Ireland Income Tax bands for 2026/27

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The bar lengths are £37,700 and £87,440. £125,140 minus £37,700 is £87,440. The 45% rate has no upper end, so it is named beside the bar rather than drawn as a third slice. The diagram assumes the full £12,570 allowance. It does not show the taper above £100,000.

Scotland's earned-income rates

Scotland sets its own rates for wages, pensions and most other taxable income. The Personal Allowance is still the UK allowance of £12,570. Dividend and savings rates stay the same as the rest of the UK, so the Scottish table is not a dividend table or a savings table.

Income while the allowance is still £12,570

The Scottish rates page shows these 2026 to 2027 bands for someone who still has the £12,570 allowance. Its income column is the person's income, with the allowance in the first row.

Income after the allowance

Adding £12,570 to the first four ceilings gives the total-income points of £16,537, £29,526, £43,662 and £75,000. That addition fits only while the allowance is £12,570. Both Scottish presentations use £125,140 as the last point before the top rate. The rates publication prints the top rate as over £125,141. The employer table says above £125,140. The examples treat taxable income above £125,140 as the 48% slice.

View the full-size diagram

Scotland's six earned-income bands for 2026/27

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The five drawn widths are £3,967, £12,989, £14,136, £31,338 and £62,710. They add up to £125,140. The 19%, 20% and 21% slices are labelled in the list because they are too narrow for text inside the bar. The 48% rate is not given a made-up length.

A higher rate taxes only the slice above the threshold

Each rate applies only to the slice inside its own band. Crossing a threshold leaves the earlier income on its earlier rate.

A salary of £60,000 in England, Wales or Northern Ireland uses three slices. The allowance covers £12,570. The next £37,700 takes the salary to £50,270 and is taxed at 20%. The remaining £9,730 is taxed at 40%.

View the full-size diagram

A £60,000 salary in England, Wales or Northern Ireland for 2026/27, split into £12,570 at 0%, £37,700 at 20% and £9,730 at 40%

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£37,700 times 20% is £7,540.00. £9,730 times 40% is £3,892.00. Together they are £11,432.00. An extra £100 of salary at this level is taxed at 40%, so the annual Income Tax rises by £40. The first £12,570 remains covered by the 0% Personal Allowance, and the next £37,700 remains taxed at 20%. Only the income above £50,270 enters the 40% band, under these assumptions.

The first higher-rate pound is £50,271. Taxable income is £37,701. Income Tax is £7,540.00 on the basic-rate width plus £0.40 on that one pound, which is £7,540.40.

£30,000 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland

£30,000 minus £12,570 is £17,430. All of that £17,430 sits inside the £37,700 basic-rate width.

£17,430 times 20% is £3,486.00.

Wales and Northern Ireland use the same employment bands, so the annual Income Tax is also £3,486.00. The £30,000 after tax page adds National Insurance and shows a monthly estimate. How take-home pay is calculated walks through that month. This guide stops at Income Tax.

£3,486.00 is 11.62% of the £30,000 salary. The rate on the next pound is still 20%, because the salary is £20,270 below £50,270.

£50,270 in England

£50,270 is the top of the basic-rate band when the standard allowance is still £12,570. Taxable income is exactly £37,700.

£37,700 times 20% is £7,540.00.

None of this salary is taxed at 40%. The next pound is the £50,271 worked out above.

The £50,000 after tax page sits £270 below this threshold. On the same assumptions its annual Income Tax is £7,486.00, still entirely at 20%. £37,430 times 20% is £7,486.00.

£30,000 in Scotland

Taxable income is again £17,430. It crosses three Scottish bands.

£3,967 times 19% is £753.73. £12,989 times 20% is £2,597.80. £474 times 21% is £99.54. The three amounts add to £3,451.07.

That is £34.93 less Income Tax than the England figure of £3,486.00. The difference comes from the Scottish starter and intermediate rates on this salary. Employee National Insurance uses the same UK thresholds in Scotland.

The £35,000 after tax page already compares an England month with a Scotland month. On these assumptions the annual Income Tax is £4,486.00 in England and £4,501.07 in Scotland. The monthly figures on that page also include National Insurance.

The Personal Allowance taper above £100,000

The current rates page says the Personal Allowance goes down by £1 for every £2 that adjusted net income is above £100,000, and that the allowance is zero at £125,140 or above. The rates publication states the same £1 for every £2 above the £100,000 limit. Adjusted net income is total taxable income before Personal Allowances, minus specified reliefs such as certain pension contributions and Gift Aid. In the examples here, the salary equals adjusted net income because there is no other income and no relief.

At £100,000 the allowance is still £12,570. Taxable income is £87,430. The basic-rate width of £37,700 at 20% is £7,540.00. The remaining £49,730 at 40% is £19,892.00. Annual Income Tax is £27,432.00. The taper has not started, so the total-income table still applies.

At £110,000, adjusted net income is £10,000 above the limit. Half of £10,000 is £5,000, so the allowance falls from £12,570 to £7,570. Taxable income is £102,430.

£64,730 times 40% is £25,892.00. Added to £7,540.00, the annual Income Tax is £33,432.00. The band widths do not shrink. Losing £5,000 of allowance adds £5,000 to the income that is taxed, and at this salary that £5,000 falls inside the 40% slice.

The same £7,570 allowance in Scotland uses the Scottish widths:

In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, on these assumptions, an extra £2 of income while some allowance remains and the person is still inside the 40% band raises Income Tax by £1.20. The £2 itself is taxed at 40%, which is £0.80. One pound of allowance is withdrawn, and that pound is also taxed at 40%, which is £0.40. The marginal rate on that extra income is 60 pence in the pound. £33,432.00 is 30.39% of that £110,000 salary. The 60 pence rate applies to the extra pound in the 40% band, not to the whole salary. It does not describe the Scottish £110,000 example. That example uses the Scottish rates, including 42% and 45%, and its total is £37,482.05.

At £125,140 the reduction is £12,570, so the allowance is £0. Taxable income is £125,140. None of it is above £125,140, so the 45% rate charges nothing. Annual Income Tax in England, Wales and Northern Ireland is £42,516.00: £7,540.00 at 20% and £34,976.00 at 40% on the remaining £87,440.

How a net-pay pension changes Income Tax

A pension contribution can change the Income Tax without changing the published rates.

In a net-pay arrangement, the employee contribution is deducted before Income Tax. On a £35,000 England salary, £50 in each of 12 regular months is £600 for the year. The pay charged to Income Tax becomes £34,400. After the £12,570 allowance, £21,830 is taxed at 20%, which is £4,366.00.

Without that contribution, £22,430 is taxed at 20%, which is £4,486.00. The difference is £120, and £120 is 20% of the £600. The salary stays inside the basic-rate band either way. The homepage calculator is the place to change the contribution. Salary sacrifice and relief at source follow different rules, and this guide does not work those methods through.

Gift Aid and some pension contributions can make adjusted net income lower than total income. The taper uses adjusted net income. A salary-only example cannot stand in for a return that includes other income or those reliefs.

Income Tax, National Insurance and PAYE

National Insurance is a separate charge

Income Tax uses the annual bands in this guide. Employee Class 1 National Insurance uses the pay period. The National Insurance rates and deductions guide works through the Category A week and month. For 2026/27, employer rates and thresholds set the primary threshold at £242 a week and £1,048 a month, and the upper earnings limit at £967 a week and £4,189 a month. Category A is 0% up to the primary threshold, 8% up to the upper earnings limit, and 2% above it.

The same page publishes an annual upper earnings limit of £50,270. That is the same number as the basic-rate ceiling, but a weekly or monthly National Insurance calculation uses the weekly or monthly limit. £967 times 52 is £50,284, and £4,189 times 12 is £50,268. Neither product is £50,270, so the annual Income Tax ceiling is not divided into the pay period.

PAYE is the tax withheld from a pay period

The annual figures in this guide are the Income Tax liability for the year under the stated assumptions. PAYE is the tax an employer withholds from one pay period, using the tax code. A week 1 or month 1 code, a new job, a benefit, or a change of pay can make one month's withholding differ from one twelfth of the annual liability. The salary pages show that annual liability spread over a regular month, and they label it as an annual-tax equivalent.

Common mistakes about these bands

A higher rate applies only to the slice inside that band. On a £60,000 salary in England, Wales or Northern Ireland, £9,730 is taxed at 40%. The £12,570 allowance and the £37,700 basic-rate slice stay on their own rates.

The £37,700 figure is taxable income after the allowance, not a salary of £37,700. While the allowance is still £12,570, that width ends at a salary of £50,270.

A salary of exactly £125,140 has no 45% slice in England, Wales or Northern Ireland, and no 48% slice in Scotland. The current rates pages put those top rates over £125,140. The next pound is the first pound in the top rate.

In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, the 60 pence effect above £100,000 is the extra tax on an extra £2 while some allowance is still being withdrawn and that income is still in the 40% band. It is not a 60% tax on the whole salary, and it is not the marginal rate for the Scottish £110,000 example. £33,432.00 is 30.39% of the England, Wales and Northern Ireland £110,000 example, which is a different measure.

National Insurance does not use these annual Income Tax bands for a weekly or monthly payday. Scotland's six rates apply to earned income. Savings interest and dividends keep the UK rates, including in Scotland.

What these examples leave out

The examples are one employment. They leave out savings interest, dividends, rental income, the High Income Child Benefit Charge, and taxable benefits. A monthly or weekly take-home figure also needs National Insurance, and any pension or Student Loan that applies.

The take-home pay calculator applies those parts when they are selected. Worked salary pages for £30,000, £35,000 and £50,000 use the same engines. The methodology records the assumptions, and the sources list the official pages used for the rates.

Questions

What is the Personal Allowance in 2026/27?

The standard Personal Allowance is £12,570. Income above that is taxed in bands. Above £100,000 of adjusted net income it falls by £1 for every £2, and it is zero at £125,140. Blind Person's Allowance, where it applies, is a separate £3,250.

Do Wales and Northern Ireland have different Income Tax bands?

No. For 2026/27 their employment bands match England: 20% to £50,270, 40% to £125,140, and 45% over £125,140, while the standard allowance remains £12,570. A Welsh tax code starts with C. A Scottish code starts with S.

Does the 40% rate apply to all of a £60,000 salary?

No. Only the £9,730 above £50,270 is taxed at 40% in England, Wales or Northern Ireland on the assumptions in this guide. The annual Income Tax is £11,432.00, not 40% of £60,000.

Is £125,140 already in the 45% band?

No. At £125,140 the allowance is zero and the 45% rate, or the Scottish 48% rate, charges nothing. The following pound is the first pound in that top rate. One official table prints the top rate as over £125,141. The examples follow the pages that say over or above £125,140.

Are savings and dividends included?

No. This guide and the salary calculator cover employment earnings. Savings interest and dividends have their own allowances and rates. Scottish Income Tax does not replace those UK savings and dividend rates.

Is this the tax on my payslip?

No. These are annual liabilities under the stated assumptions. PAYE is the Income Tax an employer withholds for one pay period. A week 1 or month 1 code, a benefit, or a change of pay can make one month differ from one twelfth of the annual figure.

Where do I estimate take-home pay?

Use the take-home pay calculator for a weekly or monthly estimate, including Category A National Insurance and any pension or Student Loan you select. How take-home pay is calculated explains that sequence. The salary comparison calculator puts two salaries side by side, and the UK salary table lists a range of annual salaries. The £30,000 after tax page is the worked England month for that salary. The result is an estimate, not a guaranteed payslip.

Sources

Opened on 24 October 2026:

• Income Tax rates and Personal Allowances. Tax year 6 April 2026 to 5 April 2027, the £12,570 allowance, the taper, and the main bands. This page describes Blind Person’s Allowance and does not print £3,250.
• Income Tax in Wales. Rates and bands for 2026 to 2027, and the residence rule.
• Income Tax in Scotland. The 2026 to 2027 earned-income table.
• Income Tax rates and allowances for current and previous tax years. Updated 6 April 2026. The “income after allowances” tables, Blind Person’s Allowance of £3,250, and the £100,000 limit. The additional and Scottish top rates are printed there as over £125,141.
• Personal Allowances: adjusted net income. Last updated 30 May 2025. Total taxable income before Personal Allowances, minus specified reliefs. The income-related reduction applies over £100,000.
• Rates and thresholds for employers 2026 to 2027. Last updated 1 September 2026. PAYE widths and Class 1 National Insurance thresholds.
• What your tax code means. Marriage Allowance described as 10% of the giver’s Personal Allowance. No pound amount is used here.

The salary figures were recalculated from those tables on 18 October 2026. They agree with the project's annual Income Tax fixtures, including the derived £60,000 and £50,271 results. They are not separate HMRC worked examples of these salaries.