2026 to 2027 tax year

UK rates and allowances

Every figure this site relies on, in one place, with the gov.uk page it came from and the date it is next checked. Written with company directors and the self-employed in mind, because that is where the numbers interact worst.

Why this page cannot go stale

These are not typed out. Each one is a registered claim carrying its source and a recheck date, and the same object feeds the calculators — so a figure cannot be right here and wrong in a tool. When a recheck date passes, the site stops building until a human has been back to gov.uk.

Registered figures here: 32
Next recheck falls due: 2027-01-31

How we work the numbers

Running a company

The numbers that decide how you pay yourself. Two of them moved this year, and both move the salary-versus-dividend answer.

Corporation tax on company profits.

19% up to £50,000, 25% above £250,000, with marginal relief in between

GOV.UK, Corporation Tax rates · Current rates · checked again by 2027-03-01

Both thresholds are divided by the number of associated companies, so a second company can raise the rate on the first.

Tax rates on dividends above the allowance.

Basic 10.75%, higher 35.75%, additional 39.35%

GOV.UK, Tax on dividends · 6 April 2026 to 5 April 2027 · checked again by 2027-03-01

The basic and higher rates rose for 2026 to 2027. Any salary-versus-dividend sum built on the old numbers is out of date.

Dividend income you can receive before tax.

£500

GOV.UK, Tax on dividends · 2026 to 2027 tax year · checked again by 2027-03-01

Employer National Insurance and the threshold it starts at.

15% on earnings above a secondary threshold of £5,000 a year

GOV.UK, Rates and thresholds for employers · 6 April 2026 to 5 April 2027 · checked again by 2027-03-01

A director paying themselves a salary pays this on top of income tax and employee NI.

The reduction in an employer's annual National Insurance bill.

£10,500

GOV.UK, Rates and thresholds for employers · 2026 to 2027 tax year · checked again by 2027-03-01

Not available to a company whose only employee is a single director.

The turnover at which VAT registration becomes compulsory.

£90,000 of taxable turnover in the last 12 months, or expected in the next 30 days

GOV.UK, When to register for VAT · Current threshold · checked again by 2027-03-01

Rolling 12 months, not your accounting year.

The reduced capital gains rate when selling a business.

18% on qualifying disposals from 6 April 2026, up from 14% in 2025 to 2026 and 10% before that

GOV.UK, Business Asset Disposal Relief · Disposals from 6 April 2026 · checked again by 2027-03-01

The rate has risen twice in two years. Any exit plan built on 10% is out of date.

Self-employed

If you are a sole trader rather than a company, these are yours instead.

National Insurance for the self-employed.

Class 4 at 6% on profits from £12,570 to £50,270 and 2% above; Class 2 treated as paid once profits reach £7,105

GOV.UK, Self-employed National Insurance rates · 2026 to 2027 tax year · checked again by 2027-03-01

Below £7,105 you can pay voluntary Class 2 to protect your State Pension record.

Extra tax-free savings interest for people with low other income.

Up to £5,000, reduced as other income rises

GOV.UK, Tax on savings interest · 2026 to 2027 tax year · checked again by 2027-03-01

Often overlooked by company directors taking a small salary.

Income tax

England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The band between £100,000 and £125,140 is the expensive one.

Income tax rates and bands in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Nil to £12,570, 20% to £50,270, 40% to £125,140, then 45%

GOV.UK, Income Tax rates and Personal Allowances · 2026 to 2027 tax year · checked again by 2027-03-01

Scotland sets its own bands and rates.

How the personal allowance is withdrawn above £100,000.

£12,570, reduced by £1 for every £2 of adjusted net income above £100,000, and nil at £125,140

GOV.UK, Income Tax rates and Personal Allowances · 2026 to 2027 tax year · checked again by 2027-03-01

Produces an effective 60% marginal rate on income between £100,000 and £125,140 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Scottish rates differ.

What adjusted net income is, and what reduces it.

Total taxable income before personal allowances, less certain reliefs including pension contributions and Gift Aid

GOV.UK, High Income Child Benefit Charge · 2026 to 2027 tax year · checked again by 2027-03-01

Includes foreign income. It is not the same as gross salary or taxable pay.

Pensions

The largest lever most people have, and the one that reduces adjusted net income — which is what the thresholds above and the childcare cliff are tested on.

The standard annual allowance for tax-relieved pension contributions.

£60,000

GOV.UK · 2026 to 2027 tax year · checked again by 2027-03-01

Tapers down where threshold income is over £200,000 and adjusted income is over £260,000.

The incomes at which the pension annual allowance starts to taper.

Threshold income over £200,000 and adjusted income over £260,000

GOV.UK, Pension annual allowance · 2026 to 2027 tax year · checked again by 2027-03-01

Both tests must be met before the allowance is reduced.

ISAs and investing

What you can shelter, and what tax applies to everything outside the wrapper.

The total that can be paid into ISAs in a tax year.

£20,000

GOV.UK · 2026 to 2027 tax year · checked again by 2027-03-01

The annual Junior ISA subscription limit.

£9,000

GOV.UK, Junior Individual Savings Accounts · 2026 to 2027 tax year · checked again by 2027-03-01

The child can take control at 16 and withdraw at 18. It is their money, not yours.

Lifetime ISA limits and the government bonus.

£4,000 a year, with a 25% bonus up to £1,000 — and it counts towards the £20,000 ISA limit

GOV.UK, Lifetime ISA · 2026 to 2027 tax year · checked again by 2027-03-01

Pay in before 50, open before 40. Withdrawing for anything other than a first home or age 60 carries a charge.

The capital gains tax-free allowance.

£3,000 (£1,500 for trusts)

GOV.UK, Capital Gains Tax allowances · 2026 to 2027 tax year · checked again by 2027-03-01

Capital gains tax rates on most assets.

18% within the basic rate band, 24% above it, on gains made from 6 April 2026

GOV.UK, Capital Gains Tax rates · Gains made from 6 April 2026 · checked again by 2027-03-01

Savings interest you can receive before tax.

£1,000 basic rate, £500 higher rate, nil additional rate

GOV.UK, Tax on savings interest · 2026 to 2027 tax year · checked again by 2027-03-01

Property

England and Northern Ireland. Scotland and Wales charge their own taxes instead.

Stamp duty on a home you will own outright, England and Northern Ireland.

Nil to £125,000, 2% to £250,000, 5% to £925,000, 10% to £1.5m, then 12%

GOV.UK, Stamp Duty Land Tax residential rates · Current rates · checked again by 2027-03-01

Scotland and Wales charge their own taxes instead.

First-time buyer stamp duty relief.

Nothing up to £300,000, 5% from £300,001 to £500,000, and no relief at all above £500,000

GOV.UK, Stamp Duty Land Tax residential rates · Current rates · checked again by 2027-03-01

A cliff: one pound over £500,000 and the whole relief goes.

The surcharge on an additional residential property.

5% on top of the standard rates

GOV.UK, Stamp Duty Land Tax residential rates · Current rates · checked again by 2027-03-01

Passing it on

Inheritance tax is the part of the positioning most people leave until it is too late to do much about.

The inheritance tax nil-rate band, and the rates above it.

£325,000, then 40% — or 36% where at least 10% of the net estate goes to charity

GOV.UK · 2026 to 2027 tax year · checked again by 2027-03-01

The additional allowance when a home passes to direct descendants.

Up to £175,000

GOV.UK · Unchanged since the 2020 to 2021 tax year · checked again by 2027-03-01

Reduced by £1 for every £2 an estate is worth above the £2 million taper threshold.

Gifts you can make each year that leave your estate immediately.

£3,000 a year, and one unused year can be carried forward

GOV.UK, Inheritance Tax gifts · Current rules · checked again by 2027-03-01

Small gift and wedding gift exemptions.

£250 per person per year; weddings £5,000 to a child, £2,500 to a grandchild, £1,000 to anyone else

GOV.UK, Inheritance Tax gifts · Current rules · checked again by 2027-03-01

The £250 cannot be combined with another allowance for the same person.

How tax on a gift falls away over seven years.

Within 3 years 40%, 3 to 4 years 32%, 4 to 5 years 24%, 5 to 6 years 16%, 6 to 7 years 8%, then nothing

GOV.UK, Inheritance Tax gifts · Current rules · checked again by 2027-03-01

Taper relief only applies where gifts made in the seven years before death exceed the £325,000 threshold. It reduces tax on the gift, not the value of the gift.

Children and childcare

Both childcare schemes are withdrawn in full at the same threshold, with no taper.

Free childcare for working parents in England, and the income at which it is lost.

30 hours a week for 38 weeks, ages 9 months to 4 years — lost if either parent's adjusted net income is over £100,000

GOV.UK, Free Childcare for Working Parents · 2026 to 2027 tax year · checked again by 2027-03-01

England only. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland run different schemes with different rules.

The Tax-Free Childcare top-up, and the income at which it is lost.

£2 for every £8 paid in, up to £2,000 per child a year (£4,000 if disabled), to age 11 — lost if either parent's adjusted net income is over £100,000

GOV.UK, Tax-Free Childcare · 2026 to 2027 tax year · checked again by 2027-03-01

Cannot be held at the same time as Universal Credit or childcare vouchers. Runs UK-wide, unlike the free hours.

The income at which Child Benefit starts to be clawed back.

1% of Child Benefit for every £200 of adjusted net income over £60,000, and all of it at £80,000

GOV.UK, High Income Child Benefit Charge · From the 2024 to 2025 tax year · checked again by 2027-03-01

Student loans

Repaid as a share of income above a threshold, and written off at the end of the term.

Annual income thresholds and deduction rates for student loan repayment.

Plan 1 £26,900, Plan 2 £29,385, Plan 4 £33,795, Plan 5 £25,000 — each at 9%; Postgraduate Loan £21,000 at 6%

GOV.UK, rates and thresholds for employers · 2026 to 2027 tax year · checked again by 2027-03-01

Where this stops

A reference, not advice

This page states what the rules are, not what you should do about them. The interactions between these figures — salary against dividends, pension against childcare, a company sale against a pension — are exactly where general information stops being useful. Anything material is worth an accountant or a regulated adviser who can see your whole position.

Found something wrong? Tell us at hello@swealth.co.uk and we will correct it on the page with the date noted.

The Swealth letter

We tell you when these move

Thresholds change at the Budget and at the tax year end, usually without anyone telling the people they affect. One letter a week.