Tax year 2026/27 (6 April 2026 to 5 April 2027)
Income Tax is charged on most kinds of income: wages, self-employed profits, pensions, rent, savings interest and dividends. The tax year runs from 6 April to the following 5 April.
Your Personal Allowance is used first, and only income above it is taxed. The rest is taxed in bands, with a higher rate applying to each slice of income as it rises. You never pay the higher rate on all of your income, only on the part that falls in that band.
For working out which band applies, income is stacked in layers: earnings, pensions, rent and trading profits first, then savings interest, then dividends on top. That is why savings and dividends can fall into a higher band even when your earnings on their own do not.
If your main home is in Scotland, different bands and rates apply to earnings, pensions, rent and trading profits: see the Scotland tab.
Your allowance can be reduced if your income is over £100,000, and some payments, such as personal pension contributions and Gift Aid donations, can reduce the tax you pay. These are explained in the Watch points tab, and the allowances themselves are on the Allowances page.
This is not a full set of rates and rules. For anything not shown here, see HMRC’s Income Tax rates and allowances.
Tax year 2026/27 (6 April 2026 to 5 April 2027)
These rates apply to earnings, pensions, rent and trading profits if you live in England, Wales or Northern Ireland. Savings and dividends have their own rates, shown on the Savings and dividends tab.
If your main home is in Scotland, these rates do not apply: see the Scotland tab.
These bands assume the standard Personal Allowance of £12,570.
| Personal Allowance: up to £12,570 | 0% |
| Basic rate: £12,571 to £50,270 | 20% |
| Higher rate: £50,271 to £125,140 | 40% |
| Additional rate: over £125,140 | 45% |
Example: on income of £60,000, the first £12,570 is tax-free, the next £37,700 is taxed at 20% (£7,540) and the remaining £9,730 at 40% (£3,892), a total of £11,432.
Above £100,000 the Personal Allowance starts to reduce, so the bands work differently. See the Watch points tab.
This is not a full set of rates and rules. For anything not shown here, see HMRC’s Income Tax rates and Personal Allowances guidance.
Tax year 2026/27 (6 April 2026 to 5 April 2027)
If you live in Scotland, the Scottish Government sets the rates and bands on your earnings, pensions, rent and trading profits. There are more bands than elsewhere in the UK, and the rates differ.
Whether you pay Scottish rates depends on where your main home is, not where you work. If you have homes in Scotland and elsewhere in the UK, it is the main home that counts. Employees and pensioners can usually tell from their tax code, which starts with an S.
Savings interest and dividends are taxed at the same rates as the rest of the UK, even for Scottish taxpayers.
These bands assume the standard Personal Allowance of £12,570.
| Personal Allowance: up to £12,570 | 0% |
| Starter rate: £12,571 to £16,537 | 19% |
| Basic rate: £16,538 to £29,526 | 20% |
| Intermediate rate: £29,527 to £43,662 | 21% |
| Higher rate: £43,663 to £75,000 | 42% |
| Advanced rate: £75,001 to £125,140 | 45% |
| Top rate: over £125,140 | 48% |
Example: on income of £40,000, a Scottish taxpayer pays about £5,551 (19% on £3,967, 20% on £12,989 and 21% on £10,474). Someone in England on the same income pays £5,486.
This is not a full set of rates and rules. For anything not shown here, see HMRC’s guidance on Income Tax in Scotland.
Tax year 2026/27 (6 April 2026 to 5 April 2027)
Savings interest and dividends sit on top of your other income and are taxed at their own rates. Before any tax is due, they benefit from their own allowances (the starting rate for savings, the Personal Savings Allowance and the Dividend Allowance), which are explained on the Allowances page.
The band that applies depends on your total income, including the savings and dividends themselves.
| Savings interest: basic rate | 20% |
| Savings interest: higher rate | 40% |
| Savings interest: additional rate | 45% |
| Dividends: basic rate | 10.75% |
| Dividends: higher rate | 35.75% |
| Dividends: additional rate | 39.35% |
The basic and higher rates on dividends rose by 2 percentage points from 6 April 2026. From 6 April 2027, the rates on savings interest are due to rise by 2 percentage points to 22%, 42% and 47%, and new separate rates of 22%, 42% and 47% are due to apply to property income in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. See HMRC’s policy paper on these changes.
This is not a full set of rates and rules. For anything not shown here, see HMRC’s Income Tax rates and allowances.
Tax year 2026/27 (6 April 2026 to 5 April 2027)
A few rules catch people out, often around particular levels of income. They are worth knowing about because a small change in income, or a pension contribution, can make a large difference.
In this range your Personal Allowance is reduced by £1 for every £2 of income. Each extra £1 of income is therefore taxed at 40% and also removes 50p of tax-free allowance, giving an effective rate of 60% on that slice (higher for Scottish taxpayers). The test uses your adjusted net income, so personal pension contributions and Gift Aid donations can bring it back below £100,000.
If you or your partner receives Child Benefit and either of you has adjusted net income over £60,000, the higher earner pays back 1% of the Child Benefit for every £200 over that figure. At £80,000 or more, all of it is paid back. This is the High Income Child Benefit Charge. Some families choose not to receive the payments instead, but there are reasons to keep claiming, so check HMRC’s guidance or speak to your adviser first.
Payments into a personal pension, and Gift Aid donations, are treated as made after basic rate tax has been taken off. If you pay tax above the basic rate, they extend your basic rate band, so more of your income is taxed at the lower rate. Higher and additional rate taxpayers often need to claim this through a Self Assessment return or by asking HMRC to adjust their tax code; it does not always happen automatically.
This is not a full set of rates and rules. For anything not shown here, see HMRC’s Income Tax rates and Personal Allowances guidance.
Tax year 2026/27 (6 April 2026 to 5 April 2027)
Most people pay Income Tax through PAYE: your employer or pension provider takes it before paying you, using your tax code. If your affairs are more complicated, for example if you are self-employed or a landlord, you pay through Self Assessment by completing a tax return each year.
You normally need to complete a return if you had more than £1,000 of self-employed income, or more than £2,500 of other untaxed income such as rent.
For the 2025/26 tax year (6 April 2025 to 5 April 2026):
| Tell HMRC you need to file, if you have not filed before | 5 October 2026 |
| Paper return deadline | 31 October 2026 |
| Online return deadline, if you want tax collected through your tax code | 30 December 2026 |
| Online return deadline, and payment of tax due | 31 January 2027 |
| Second payment on account, if due | 31 July 2027 |
If your last tax bill through Self Assessment was £1,000 or more, you will usually pay towards the next one in advance, in two halves on 31 January and 31 July. This does not apply if more than 80% of your tax was already collected at source, for example through PAYE. Any balance is then paid the following 31 January.
Sole traders and landlords will move to quarterly digital updates using compatible software, depending on their qualifying income (self-employment and property income before expenses). Those with over £50,000 in 2024/25 started from 6 April 2026; over £30,000 in 2025/26 start from 6 April 2027; and over £20,000 in 2026/27 start from 6 April 2028. Check whether and when it applies to you, including the exemptions.
This is not a full set of rates and rules. For anything not shown here, see HMRC’s guidance on Self Assessment.