UK Tax Bands 2026/27 Explained

For England, Wales and Northern Ireland, the standard Personal Allowance is £12,570. Income above it is generally taxed at 20% up to £50,270, 40% up to £125,140, and 45% above that. These figures apply from 6 April 2026 to 5 April 2027.

Scottish taxpayers use six rates for wages, pensions and most other non-savings, non-dividend income. With the standard £12,570 Personal Allowance, the 2026/27 gross-income thresholds are:

These gross thresholds assume the full standard Personal Allowance. Above £100,000, the UK-wide allowance taper changes the amount of taxable income inside the upper Scottish bands.

The standard Personal Allowance is reduced by £1 for every £2 of adjusted net income above £100,000. It is fully withdrawn once adjusted net income reaches £125,140.

That taper can make the marginal tax effect in this range much higher than the headline higher-rate figure. Pension contributions and other reliefs can be relevant, so verify complex cases with HMRC or a qualified adviser.

Employment pay, pensions, taxable benefits, trading profit and property income can all contribute to a person's Income Tax position. They do not always arrive through the same collection method: salary commonly uses PAYE, while self-employed and rental profit are usually reconciled through Self Assessment.

Savings interest and dividends have their own rates and allowances. They still interact with other income because earlier income can use the Personal Allowance and tax-band space before savings or dividends are considered. Capital gains use a separate calculation and should not be added to salary as if they were employment income.

The salary calculator is deliberately narrower than a full tax return. It estimates one employment using annual earned-income bands. Use the self-employed, property or dividend calculator for the matching job, and do not add several calculator headlines together as though they form a complete Self Assessment bill.

At adjusted net income of £110,000, the amount above the £100,000 taper threshold is £10,000. The standard allowance is reduced by half of that excess: £10,000 ÷ 2 = £5,000. The resulting Personal Allowance is therefore £7,570 before considering any other adjustment.

That lost allowance exposes another £5,000 to Income Tax as well as the ordinary tax on the extra income. This is why the effective marginal Income Tax rate between £100,000 and £125,140 can be higher than the visible 40% headline rate for England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Scottish taxpayers combine the same allowance taper with Scottish earned-income bands.

Only the portion of income inside each band is taxed at that band’s rate. Someone earning £60,000 does not pay 40% on all of it: the standard Personal Allowance is tax-free, the next £37,700 is taxed at 20%, and only the remaining amount falls into the higher-rate band.

Use the salary calculator for an estimate with employee National Insurance and optional student-loan repayment. For dividends, use the dividend tax calculator.

£30,000 salary: the standard £12,570 Personal Allowance leaves £17,430 taxable at 20%, producing £3,486 of income tax before considering National Insurance or other deductions.

£50,000 salary: £37,430 is taxable at 20%, producing £7,486 of income tax. The salary remains below the £50,270 higher-rate threshold, so none of it enters the 40% band.

£60,000 salary: £37,700 is taxed at 20% and the remaining £9,730 is taxed at 40%. This is why crossing a threshold does not make the whole salary subject to the higher rate.

These examples assume the full standard Personal Allowance and no adjustments. The linked worked examples show employee National Insurance and take-home pay for £30,000 and £50,000.

Income-tax bands do not describe every deduction from pay. Employee National Insurance uses separate thresholds and rates. Student-loan and postgraduate-loan repayments also use their own annual or pay-period thresholds, while workplace pension treatment depends on the arrangement.

PAYE applies tax through a tax code and payroll periods, so an individual payslip can differ from a simple annual calculation. Bonuses, job changes, benefits, earlier pay in the tax year and non-standard tax codes can all affect the timing of deductions.

Use this guide as a band reference. Use the calculator for an annualised estimate, and use your tax code, payslip and HMRC record when you need to understand an actual payroll deduction.

The standard code 1257L usually represents the £12,570 Personal Allowance for one straightforward employment, but a person's code can be different. HMRC can adjust it for benefits, earlier underpayments, transferred allowance, another job or pension, or an emergency basis.

A tax code controls how payroll collects Income Tax; it does not rewrite the statutory annual bands. Cumulative PAYE normally looks at pay and tax so far in the tax year, while W1, M1 or X treatment calculates the current period in isolation. That timing distinction can make one payslip look inconsistent with an annual estimate even when the year-end position later reconciles.

Use the PAYE tax-code calculator for supported weekly or monthly codes and cumulative totals. Unsupported specialist codes are rejected rather than approximated. If HMRC has issued a code that does not match your circumstances, check the code notice or Personal Tax Account instead of selecting a more favourable code yourself.

For 2026/27, a Scottish taxpayer on £50,000 with the full standard Personal Allowance has £37,430 of taxable earned income. That amount passes through the 19%, 20%, 21% and 42% Scottish bands, producing about £8,982.05 of Income Tax in the site's annual model.

The same gross salary under the England, Wales and Northern Ireland bands produces £7,486 of Income Tax. Employee National Insurance remains UK-wide, so the regional difference comes from Income Tax rather than a Scottish NI rate. The full Scottish £50,000 worked example shows every band and the resulting annual take-home.

Scottish taxpayers can use the regional option for employment income. Savings and dividend income continue to follow UK-wide rules, which can make mixed-income cases more involved.

You may also need a fuller calculation if your adjusted net income is above £100,000, you claim Marriage Allowance or Blind Person's Allowance, you have several jobs or pensions, or you receive taxable benefits. Self-employment and property income can add payments on account and other rules that are outside a salary estimate.

For a material decision, check the current HMRC guidance linked below or ask a qualified adviser to consider the complete tax year rather than one income figure in isolation.