Income tax rates — England, Wales & Northern Ireland
BandTaxable incomeRate
Personal allowanceUp to £12,570 Frozen. Reduced by £1 for every £2 of income over £100,000, so it is gone at £125,140.0%
Basic rate£12,571 – £50,270 First £37,700 of taxable income after the allowance.20%
Higher rate£50,271 – £125,14040%
Additional rateOver £125,14045%
Allowances & personal charges
ItemDetail2026/27
Marriage allowanceTransfer of unused personal allowance to a basic-rate spouse or civil partner£1,260
Trading allowanceTax-free allowance for casual or self-employed income£1,000
Property allowanceTax-free allowance for property income£1,000
Rent a Room reliefLetting furnished accommodation in your own home£7,500
High Income Child Benefit ChargeStarts at £60,000 adjusted net income, full clawback at £80,000 — 1% of the benefit for every £200 above the threshold£60,000
Emergency tax codeApplied on a week 1 / month 1 basis1257L
Scotland. Scottish taxpayers pay Scottish rates on non-savings, non-dividend income — a different set of bands entirely. The personal allowance, savings and dividend rates on this page still apply.
Class 1 National Insurance thresholds — employees & employers
ThresholdWeeklyMonthlyAnnual
Lower earnings limit (LEL)Earn this much and you build up state benefit entitlement£129£559£6,708
Primary thresholdEmployee NI starts here£242£1,048£12,570
Secondary thresholdEmployer NI starts here£96£417£5,000
Upper earnings limit (UEL)Employee NI drops to 2% above this£967£4,189£50,270
National Insurance rates
ClassWho pays / on whatRate
Class 1 employeeEarnings between the primary threshold and the UEL8%
Class 1 employeeEarnings above the UEL2%
Class 1 employerAll earnings above the £5,000 secondary threshold15%
Class 1A & 1BBenefits in kind and PAYE Settlement Agreements15%
Employment allowanceRelief against employer NI. Not available to a single-director company with no other employee on the payroll.£10,500
Class 2 (self-employed)Voluntary weekly rate. Treated as paid at no cost once profits reach the £7,105 small profits threshold.£3.65/wk
Class 4 (self-employed)Profits between £12,570 and £50,2706%
Class 4 (self-employed)Profits above £50,2702%
Dividend tax
BandApplies to2025/262026/27
Dividend allowanceFirst slice of dividends, taxed at nil — but it still uses up your band£500£500
Ordinary rateDividends falling in the basic rate band8.75%10.75%
Upper rateDividends falling in the higher rate band33.75%35.75%
Additional rateDividends above £125,14039.35%39.35%
Savings, investments & ISAs
ItemDetail2026/27
Starting rate for savings0% band for savings interest, reduced by non-savings income above the personal allowance£5,000
Personal savings allowanceBasic rate taxpayer£1,000
Personal savings allowanceHigher rate taxpayer£500
Personal savings allowanceAdditional rate taxpayerNil
ISA subscription limitAcross all ISA types combined£20,000
Inheritance tax nil rate bandFrozen£325,000
Coming April 2027. Savings income rates rise by 2 percentage points to 22 / 42 / 47%, and property income gets its own separate rates of 22 / 42 / 47%. If you have rental property, that is a planning conversation worth having during 2026/27, not after it.
Corporation tax
BandAugmented profitsRate
Small profits rateUp to £50,00019%
Marginal relief£50,001 – £250,000 Effective marginal rate of 26.5% on profits in this band. Marginal relief fraction 3/200.19–25%
Main rateOver £250,00025%
Associated companiesBoth limits are divided by the number of associated companies, so two associated companies each get a £25,000 lower limit÷ n
Capital allowances
AllowanceDetail2026/27
Annual investment allowance100% relief on qualifying plant and machinery, for companies and unincorporated businesses£1,000,000
Full expensing100% first-year allowance for companies on new and unused main-rate plant and machinery100%
Main pool writing down allowanceReduced from 18% with effect from April 202614%
Special rate poolIntegral features, long-life assets, most cars over 50g/km6%
VAT thresholds & rates
ItemDetailAmount
Registration thresholdTaxable turnover in any rolling 12 months, or expected in the next 30 days alone£90,000
Deregistration thresholdExpected taxable turnover in the next 12 months£88,000
Standard rateMost goods and services20%
Reduced rateDomestic fuel and power, children's car seats, some renovations5%
Zero rateMost food, books, children's clothing, new-build residential0%
Flat rate scheme — joinExpected VAT-exclusive taxable turnover in the next 12 months£150,000
Flat rate — limited cost traderApplies where goods cost less than 2% of turnover, or under £1,000 a year16.5%
Cash accounting schemeJoin below this turnover; leave above £1.6m£1,350,000
Annual accounting schemeJoin below this turnover£1,350,000
Watch the rolling twelve months, not your financial year. The £90,000 test looks at any consecutive 12-month period. Plenty of businesses cross it in month seven and only find out at the year end, by which point HMRC wants the VAT on sales already invoiced without it.
Capital gains tax
ItemDetail2026/27
Annual exempt amountIndividuals£3,000
Annual exempt amountMost trusts£1,500
Basic rate taxpayerGains falling within the basic rate band18%
Higher / additional rate taxpayerGains above the basic rate band24%
Residential propertySame rates; a UK property return and payment are due within 60 days of completion18% / 24%
Business Asset Disposal ReliefRose from 14% to 18% from 6 April 2026. £1m lifetime limit.18%
Investors' Relief£1m lifetime limit18%
If you are thinking about selling the business, the BADR rate has now risen twice in two years — 10% to 14% in April 2025, and 14% to 18% in April 2026. Timing and structure matter more than they used to. Talk to us before you sign anything.
National Living & Minimum Wage — from 1 April 2026
CategoryDetailHourly rate
National Living WageAged 21 and over£12.71
18 to 20 year old rate£10.85
Under 18 rate£8.00
Apprentice rateUnder 19, or in the first year of an apprenticeship£8.00
Statutory payments
PaymentDetailWeekly rate
Statutory sick paySSP£123.25
Statutory maternity & adoption payFirst 6 weeks90% of pay
Statutory maternity & adoption payRemaining weeks — the lower of the flat rate and 90% of average weekly earnings£194.32
Paternity, shared parental & parental bereavement payThe lower of the flat rate and 90% of average weekly earnings£194.32
Student loan deductions
PlanAnnual thresholdRate
Plan 1£26,9009%
Plan 2£29,3859%
Plan 4 (Scotland)£33,7959%
Plan 5£25,0009%
Postgraduate loan£21,0006%
Mileage & expenses
ItemDetailRate
Cars & vansFirst 10,000 business miles in the tax year — increased from 45p with effect from 6 April 202655p / mile
Cars & vansEach business mile above 10,00025p / mile
MotorcyclesAll business miles24p / mile
BicyclesAll business miles20p / mile
Passenger paymentPer fellow employee carried on the same business trip5p / mile
Apprenticeship Levy0.5% of the pay bill, with a £15,000 annual allowance — so only employers with a pay bill over £3m pay it0.5%
Making Tax Digital for Income Tax — who and when
PhaseQualifying income testMandated from
Over £50,000Gross income from self-employment and property in the 2024/25 tax year6 April 2026
Over £30,000Gross income from self-employment and property in the 2025/26 tax year6 April 2027
Over £20,000Gross income from self-employment and property in the 2026/27 tax year6 April 2028
Self-employed National Insurance & allowances
ItemDetail2026/27
Class 2 small profits thresholdReach this and Class 2 is treated as paid at no cost, protecting your state pension record£7,105
Class 2 voluntary rateIf profits are below the threshold and you want to protect your record£3.65/wk
Class 4 lower profits limit6% applies above this£12,570
Class 4 upper profits limit2% applies above this£50,270
Trading allowanceNo need to register or report if this is your only trading income£1,000
Property allowanceAs above, for property income£1,000
Cash basisNow the default for unincorporated businesses — you can elect out onto accrualsDefault
Self assessment & personal tax
DateWhat is due
5 Oct 2026Register for self assessment if 2025/26 was your first year
31 Oct 2026Paper 2025/26 tax returns
30 Dec 2026File online if you want tax under £3,000 collected through your 2027/28 tax code
31 Jan 2027Online 2025/26 return, the balancing payment, and the first payment on account for 2026/27
31 Jul 2027Second payment on account for 2026/27
60 daysUK property return and CGT payment after completing on a residential disposal
Making Tax Digital quarterly updates — standard quarters
QuarterPeriod endsFiling deadline
Q15 July7 August
Q25 October7 November
Q35 January7 February
Q45 April7 May
Final declaration—31 January
Companies & employers
ObligationDeadline
Corporation tax payment9 months and 1 day after the end of the accounting period
CT600 corporation tax return12 months after the end of the accounting period
Accounts to Companies House9 months after the year end for a private company; 21 months after incorporation for a first set
Confirmation statementWithin 14 days of the review date
PAYE / NI payment22nd of the following month electronically, or the 19th by post. Quarterly if average monthly liability is under £1,500.
Full Payment SubmissionOn or before every payday
P60s to employees31 May
P11D and P11D(b)6 July
Class 1A NI on benefits22 July
VAT return and payment1 calendar month and 7 days after the end of the VAT period

Figures are for the 2026/27 tax year and apply to England, Wales and Northern Ireland unless stated. Sourced from GOV.UK and HMRC guidance current at the date of publication. This page is general information, not advice — please speak to us before acting on any of it.