UK Income Tax,
made understandable.

01 · Start here

Your first £12,570 is usually tax-free

The Personal Allowance is the amount you can earn before Income Tax starts. For 2026/27, it is £12,570.

If your adjusted net income goes above £100,000, your allowance falls by £1 for every £2 of extra income. It reaches zero at £125,140. This is why earnings between £100,000 and £125,140 can face an unusually high effective marginal rate.

02 · The bands

England, Wales and Northern Ireland

Scotland uses different bands

If you live in Scotland, Scottish Income Tax applies to wages, pensions and most other taxable income. Savings and dividends follow the same tax rules as the rest of the UK.

03 · Worked examples

What the bands mean in real salaries

These examples use England, Wales or Northern Ireland, the standard allowance, no pension contribution and no student loan. The figures are annual estimates.

04 · Your tax code

How HMRC tells payroll what to deduct

HMRC gives your employer a tax code to work out what to deduct. The most common code is 1257L, reflecting the standard £12,570 allowance. A different code can account for another job, taxable benefits, tax owed from an earlier year or a changed allowance.

You can find your code on your payslip, in the HMRC app, in your online tax account or on a Tax Code Notice. If it looks wrong, check with HMRC rather than guessing in the calculator.