2026/27
This tax year's numbers.
ISA allowance
Across all adult ISAs; a Lifetime ISA's £4,000 sits inside it.
£20,000
Junior ISA allowance
Per child, separate from the adult allowance.
£9,000
Pension annual allowance
Lower for the highest earners; allowance left unused in the three previous tax years can still be used.
£60,000
Capital gains exempt amount
Gains up to here in the year are free of capital gains tax.
£3,000
Dividend allowance
Dividends up to here are taxed at 0%.
£500
Personal Allowance
Shrinks by £1 for every £2 of income over £100,000.
£12,570
Higher rate from
20% below, 40% above, 45% from £125,140. England, Wales and Northern Ireland; Scotland's bands are below.
£50,270
National Insurance
Employees: 8% between £12,570 and £50,270, 2% above.
8% / 2%
Full new State Pension
35 qualifying years on your National Insurance record for the full amount, 10 for any.
£241.30 a week
Scotland's income tax bands
These bands apply to pay, pensions and most other income if you live in Scotland, after the usual Personal Allowance. Savings interest and dividends are taxed at the UK rates, and National Insurance is the same everywhere.
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%
Source: gov.uk: Scottish Income Tax
Student loan repayments
You repay a share of your income over your plan's yearly threshold.
Plan 1
9% of income over this.
£26,900
Plan 2
9% of income over this.
£29,385
Plan 4 (Scotland)
9% of income over this.
£33,795
Plan 5
9% of income over this.
£25,000
Postgraduate Loan
6% of income over this, on top of any undergraduate plan.
£21,000
Source: gov.uk: what you pay
Self-employed and company
Class 4 National Insurance
6% on profits between £12,570 and £50,270, 2% above.
6% / 2%
Class 2 National Insurance
Profits of this or more count as a year towards your State Pension, for free. Below it, you can choose to pay £3.65 a week.
£7,105
Trading allowance
Income from a side business, before expenses. Under it, there is nothing to report.
£1,000
VAT registration
VAT-taxable sales over this in any 12 months in a row.
£90,000
Self Assessment
Online return, the bill and the first payment on account (an advance towards next year's bill). Paper returns by 31 October, the second payment on account by 31 July, and register by 5 October after your first year.
31 January
Making Tax Digital for Income Tax
Updates to HMRC every three months once self-employment and property income together are over £50,000 from 6 April 2026, over £30,000 from 6 April 2027, over £20,000 from 6 April 2028.
6 April 2026
Corporation Tax due
After the end of the company's accounting period.
9 months and 1 day
Source: gov.uk: self-employed National Insurance, VAT registration, Self Assessment deadlines, Making Tax Digital
Pensions
Lump sum allowance
The most that can be taken tax-free from pensions over a lifetime: a quarter of the pot, up to this.
£268,275
Minimum pension age
The earliest a private or workplace pension can usually be taken. It rises to 57 on 6 April 2028.
55
Annual allowance for the highest earners
When threshold income (roughly your income minus what you pay into a pension) is over £200,000 and adjusted income (your income plus everything paid into your pensions that year, your employer's payments included) over £260,000, the annual allowance falls by £1 for every £2 of adjusted income above that, to no less than this.
Down to £10,000
Lifetime ISA
Paying in
A year, inside the £20,000 ISA allowance, not on top of it.
£4,000
Government bonus
On what you pay in, so up to £1,000 a year.
25%
Withdrawal charge
Of the whole amount taken out, unless it is for a first home, after 60 or if you are terminally ill.
25%
Source: gov.uk: Lifetime ISA
181
days to 5 April, the last day of 2026/27.
On 6 April 2027 the allowances above start again. What is unused by then is gone, except where it says otherwise.
What does not reset
Money already in an ISA
Stays sheltered.
Pension carry forward
Three years, as before.
Income tax bands
Frozen to April 2031.
Self Assessment for 2026/27
Due 31 January 2028.
Announced changes still to come
From 6 April 2027
Cash ISA limit, under 65s
The £20,000 overall stays; the other £8,000 can go into a Stocks and Shares, Lifetime or Innovative Finance ISA.
£12,000
Unused pension funds
Most unused funds and death benefits join the estate.
Count for IHT
Tax on savings interest and rental income
In every band.
+2 points
Making Tax Digital for Income Tax
Sole traders and landlords whose self-employment and property income together was over £30,000 in 2025/26.
Over £30,000
Company car tax, electric cars
Of the list price, up from 4%. Bands under 75g/km also rise a point, to a ceiling of 21%.
5%
Plan 2 student loan threshold
For three tax years, to 2029/30, instead of rising each April.
Frozen at £29,385
From 1 April 2028
Electric Vehicle Excise Duty
1.5p for a plug-in hybrid, on top of Vehicle Excise Duty.
3p a mile
From 6 April 2028
Minimum pension age
Up from 55, for private and workplace pensions, unless a scheme gives a protected pension age.
57
Making Tax Digital for Income Tax
Qualifying income over £20,000 in 2026/27.
Over £20,000
From 6 April 2029
Salary sacrifice free of National Insurance
Above that, employee and employer NI apply as they would to pay.
Up to £2,000 a year
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