UK Income Tax Calculator 2026/27
See exactly how much income tax you pay this year, which band every pound of your income falls into, and what the next £100 you earn will really be worth.
Leave this blank and we work your allowance out for you.
Your numbers
At a glance
The working
Band by band, where your tax comes from
Income tax is not one rate applied to everything. Each slice of your income is taxed at its own rate.
Nearby
What a different income would cost you
The same calculation at incomes either side of yours. Your own row is highlighted.
The method
How much income tax will I pay in 2026/27?
Three steps, in this order. Nothing else happens.
One. Work out your Personal Allowance. For most people that is £12,570 of income you pay no tax on at all. It is reduced if you earn over £100,000 and increased if you qualify for Blind Person’s Allowance or receive Marriage Allowance.
Two. Take the allowance off your income. What is left is your taxable income.
Three. Run that taxable income through the bands, lowest first. The first £37,700 is taxed at 20% in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Anything above that up to £125,140 is taxed at 40%, and anything above £125,140 at 45%.
On a £35,000 salary in England that comes to £4,486 a year, or £374 a month, which is 12.8% of everything you earn. The 20% rate you hear about is not the rate you actually pay overall, because the first £12,570 is free.
Rates
Income tax rates and bands for 2026/27
England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Thresholds apply to income above your Personal Allowance.
| Band | Taxable income | Income you earn | Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Personal Allowance | Up to £12,570 | Up to £12,570 | 0% |
| Basic rate | £12,571 to £37,700 | £12,571 to £50,270 | 20% |
| Higher rate | £37,701 to £125,140 | £50,271 to £125,140 | 40% |
| Additional rate | Over £125,140 | Over £125,140 | 45% |
The two columns catch people out
The 40% rate starts at £37,701 of taxable income, which for someone on the standard 1257L code is £50,271 of actual pay. Both numbers are correct. They describe different things.
Scotland
Scottish income tax rates 2026/27
Scotland sets its own rates on earnings. Six bands instead of three, and the higher rate starts far earlier.
| Band | Income you earn | Scottish rate | Rest of UK rate on the same money |
|---|---|---|---|
| Personal Allowance | Up to £12,570 | 0% | 0% |
| Starter rate | £12,571 to £16,537 | 19% | 20% |
| Basic rate | £16,538 to £29,526 | 20% | 20% |
| Intermediate rate | £29,527 to £43,662 | 21% | 20% |
| Higher rate | £43,663 to £75,000 | 42% | 40% |
| Advanced rate | £75,001 to £125,140 | 45% | 40% |
| Top rate | Over £125,140 | 48% | 45% |
Below roughly £29,000 a Scottish taxpayer pays slightly less income tax than someone in England on the same money. Above that the gap opens quickly: £65 a year more at £40,000, £1,496 more at £50,000, and £3,300 more at £100,000.
Scotland only sets the rates on earnings, pensions and property income. National Insurance, the Personal Allowance, dividend tax and savings tax are all set by Westminster and are identical across the UK.
Scotland take-home pay calculator — the full picture including National Insurance.
Allowance
The Personal Allowance, and how you can lose it
£12,570 of your income is tax free in 2026/27. That figure has not moved since April 2021 and is frozen until at least April 2028, which is why more people drift into higher rates each year without getting a real pay rise.
Three things change it:
Income over £100,000
For every £2 of income above £100,000 you lose £1 of allowance. By £125,140 it has gone completely.
Blind Person’s Allowance
Added on top if you are registered blind or severely sight impaired. It is not means tested.
Marriage Allowance
A married partner earning under £12,570 can transfer £1,260 of allowance to a basic rate partner, worth £252 a year.
The trap
The 60% tax trap between £100,000 and £125,140
There is no 60% band in any HMRC table, and yet it is real. Between £100,000 and £125,140 you pay 40% tax on the money you earn and you lose 50p of tax-free allowance for every extra pound, which is taxed at 40% as well. The two together come to an effective 60%.
| Income | Personal Allowance left | Income tax | Tax on the next £100 |
|---|---|---|---|
| £100,000 | £12,570 | £27,432 | £60 |
| £110,000 | £7,570 | £33,432 | £60 |
| £120,000 | £2,570 | £39,432 | £60 |
| £125,140 | £0 | £42,516 | £45 |
| £130,000 | £0 | £44,703 | £45 |
A £5,000 pay rise at £105,000 leaves you £2,000
Once National Insurance and a student loan are added the marginal rate can pass 70%. The usual fix is a pension contribution large enough to bring your adjusted net income back under £100,000, which restores the whole allowance. In Scotland the effect is worse still, because the underlying rate is 45% rather than 40%.
Reference
Income tax at common UK salaries
Standard 1257L tax code, no pension, 2026/27 rates. Income tax only, before National Insurance.
| Salary | Income tax | Per month | Effective rate | Scotland | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| £20,000 | £1,486 | £124 | 7.4% | £1,446 | −£40 |
| £25,000 | £2,486 | £207 | 9.9% | £2,446 | −£40 |
| £30,000 | £3,486 | £291 | 11.6% | £3,451 | −£35 |
| £35,000 | £4,486 | £374 | 12.8% | £4,501 | +£15 |
| £40,000 | £5,486 | £457 | 13.7% | £5,551 | +£65 |
| £45,000 | £6,486 | £541 | 14.4% | £6,882 | +£396 |
| £50,000 | £7,486 | £624 | 15.0% | £8,982 | +£1,496 |
| £60,000 | £11,432 | £953 | 19.1% | £13,182 | +£1,750 |
| £70,000 | £15,432 | £1,286 | 22.0% | £17,382 | +£1,950 |
| £80,000 | £19,432 | £1,619 | 24.3% | £21,732 | +£2,300 |
| £100,000 | £27,432 | £2,286 | 27.4% | £30,732 | +£3,300 |
| £125,140 | £42,516 | £3,543 | 34.0% | £47,702 | +£5,186 |
| £150,000 | £53,703 | £4,475 | 35.8% | £59,634 | +£5,931 |
Not the same thing
Income tax and National Insurance are two different deductions
Both come off the same payslip and both are collected by HMRC, so people treat them as one. They are not. They have different thresholds, different rates, and they fund different things.
| Income tax | National Insurance | |
|---|---|---|
| Starts at | £12,570 | £12,570 |
| Main rate | 20% | 8% |
| Rate above £50,270 | 40% | 2% (it falls) |
| Charged on | Earnings, pensions, rent, savings, dividends | Earnings from work only |
| Charged after State Pension age | Yes | No |
| Set separately in Scotland | Yes | No |
The falling National Insurance rate is why the jump at £50,270 is smaller than it looks. Income tax rises by 20 points there while National Insurance drops by 6, so the real step up is 14 points, not 20.
To see both together, use the UK take-home pay calculator.
Tax codes
What your tax code is telling you
Your code is HMRC’s instruction to your employer about how much of your pay to leave untaxed.
| Code | What it means |
|---|---|
| 1257L | The standard code. £12,570 tax free, spread evenly across the year. |
| BR | Every pound taxed at 20%, no allowance. Usual on a second job. |
| D0 | Every pound taxed at 40%. Usual on a second job when the first already uses the higher rate. |
| D1 | Every pound taxed at 45%. |
| 0T | No allowance, but the normal bands still apply. Often used when HMRC has no details for you yet. |
| K codes | You owe more than your allowance covers, usually because of a company car or unpaid tax. The number is added to your taxable income instead of taken off. |
| NT | No tax at all. |
| S prefix | Scottish rates apply, for example S1257L. |
| C prefix | Welsh rates apply. They are currently identical to England. |
| W1 M1 X | Emergency code. Each pay period is taxed on its own, ignoring what you have earned so far this year. It usually corrects itself, but it is the most common reason for a first payslip in a new job looking wrong. |
Put your code into the calculator above to see what it actually does to your bill.
Beyond the payslip
Income that is taxed, but not through PAYE
PAYE only handles wages and pensions. Everything else has to be declared, usually through Self Assessment by 31 January after the tax year ends.
Savings interest
Basic rate taxpayers get £1,000 of interest tax free, higher rate £500, additional rate nothing. Above that it is taxed at your normal rate.
Dividends
£500 tax free, then 8.75% at basic rate, 33.75% at higher rate and 39.35% at additional rate. Dividend rates are UK wide, including Scotland.
Rental income
Taxed at your normal income tax rate after allowable expenses. Mortgage interest gets a 20% credit rather than a deduction.
Self-employment
Profit, not turnover, is taxed at the normal rates. The £1,000 trading allowance covers very small amounts.
Questions
Common questions
How much tax do I pay on £35,000 a year?
£4,486 in the 2026/27 tax year if you live in England, Wales or Northern Ireland and have the standard 1257L code. That is £374 a month, or 12.8% of your total income. In Scotland it is £4,501, fifteen pounds more. National Insurance is on top of this.
Why is my effective tax rate lower than my tax band?
Because the band rate only applies to the top slice of your income. Someone on £60,000 is a higher rate taxpayer, but only £9,730 of their income is taxed at 40%. The first £12,570 is free and the next £37,700 is taxed at 20%. Their effective rate is 19.1%, not 40%.
Does a pension contribution reduce my income tax?
Yes, and it is the single most effective way to do it. Contributions taken from your pay before tax reduce your taxable income directly. Contributions you pay from your own pocket get 20% added automatically, and if you are a higher rate taxpayer you claim the other 20% back through your tax return. Either way, a pension payment can also bring your adjusted net income back under £100,000 and restore a Personal Allowance you were losing.
When does the 2026/27 tax year start and end?
6 April 2026 to 5 April 2027. Every threshold on this page applies to income earned inside those dates. The Self Assessment deadline for the year is 31 January 2028 online.
I live in Scotland but work in England. Which rates apply?
Where you live, not where you work. Scottish income tax follows your main home address, and HMRC puts an S in front of your tax code once it knows. If you move, tell HMRC rather than your employer.
My tax code changed mid-year and my tax jumped. Why?
Tax codes work cumulatively. If HMRC lowers your allowance in month seven, the system does not just charge you more from that point, it also collects the under-payment from the first six months out of the remaining pay periods. That makes one or two payslips look alarming before it settles.
Where these figures come from. All rates and thresholds on this page are taken from HMRC and gov.uk publications for the 2026/27 tax year and were checked on 22 September 2026.
Income Tax rates and Personal Allowances · Scottish Income Tax · Rates and thresholds for employers 2026 to 2027 · Tax codes
How we calculate · Editorial policy. This is general information, not tax advice.