For the current 2026/27 tax year (6 April 2026 to 5 April 2027), the UK income tax brackets in England, Wales and Northern Ireland are: 0% up to £12,570, 20% from £12,571 to £50,270, 40% from £50,271 to £125,140 and 45% above £125,140. These are the same as in 2025/26. Scotland has six bands of its own, and dividends are taxed at different rates, which rose in April 2026.
2026/27 income tax brackets: England, Wales and Northern Ireland
These bands assume the standard Personal Allowance of £12,570:
| Band | Income | Rate |
|---|---|---|
| Personal Allowance | Up to £12,570 | 0% |
| Basic rate | £12,571 to £50,270 | 20% |
| Higher rate | £50,271 to £125,140 | 40% |
| Additional rate | Over £125,140 | 45% |
Legally, the bands are measured on taxable income after the allowance. The basic rate band is the first £37,700 of taxable income, and the 20%, 40% and 45% rates for 2026/27 are set by section 2 of Finance Act 2026. Welsh taxpayers pay the same rates because the Welsh rates currently match those in England and Northern Ireland. Their tax codes carry a C prefix so HMRC can identify them.
If you searched for the 2025 brackets, the answer is the same table. HMRC's published figures show identical bands for England, Wales and Northern Ireland in each of the four tax years from 2023/24 to 2026/27. What changed in April 2026 was the dividend rates and the Scottish lower bands, not the main UK brackets.
Two features change the picture for higher earners. First, the Personal Allowance falls by £1 for every £2 of adjusted net income above £100,000, and is nil from £125,140. As an illustration, that creates an effective 60% rate on income between those figures. Second, the bands are the same for everyone, but HMRC applies them across all your income, not job by job. That is why a second job is often coded BR or D0 (see our guide to the BR tax code).
Scottish income tax bands for 2026/27
The Scottish Parliament sets the rates and bands on non-savings, non-dividend income for Scottish taxpayers. The Personal Allowance is the same UK-wide. HMRC publishes the bands as taxable income after the allowance:
| Band | Rate | 2026/27 taxable income | 2025/26 taxable income |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starter | 19% | Up to £3,967 | Up to £2,827 |
| Basic | 20% | £3,968 to £16,956 | £2,828 to £14,921 |
| Intermediate | 21% | £16,957 to £31,092 | £14,922 to £31,092 |
| Higher | 42% | £31,093 to £62,430 | £31,093 to £62,430 |
| Advanced | 45% | £62,431 to £125,140 | £62,431 to £125,140 |
| Top | 48% | Over £125,140 | Over £125,140 |
The lower bands were widened for 2026/27, and the higher, advanced and top thresholds were held. Adding back the £12,570 allowance, a Scottish taxpayer reaches the 42% rate at £43,663 of income, against £50,271 elsewhere in the UK. Savings and dividend income of Scottish taxpayers is taxed at the UK rates below, not the Scottish ones.
Dividend tax rates: up 2 points from April 2026
Dividends above the £500 dividend allowance are taxed at their own rates. Finance Act 2026 raised the ordinary and upper rates from 6 April 2026:
| Band | 2026/27 | 2025/26 |
|---|---|---|
| Basic rate | 10.75% | 8.75% |
| Higher rate | 35.75% | 33.75% |
| Additional rate | 39.35% | 39.35% |
The additional rate did not change. For owner-managers paying themselves in dividends this is the most significant rate change of 2026/27. The upper rate also sets the section 455 charge on loans to participators, which is now 35.75% for loans made on or after 6 April 2026 (see our guide to section 455).
Savings income
For 2026/27, savings income is taxed at 20%, 40% and 45%, the same as other income. Two allowances sit in front of those rates:
- Starting rate for savings. Up to £5,000 of interest at 0%, available in full only where other taxable income is no more than £12,570, and reduced £1 for £1 above that until it is gone at £17,570. The £5,000 limit is fixed until 2030/31;
- Personal Savings Allowance. £1,000 for basic rate taxpayers, £500 for higher rate taxpayers and nil for additional rate taxpayers.
What changes in 2027/28
The bands themselves are frozen. The Personal Allowance stays at £12,570 and the basic rate limit at £37,700 to 2030/31, so the £50,270 higher rate threshold holds until 5 April 2031. The rates on two kinds of income are already legislated to rise from 6 April 2027:
- Savings income. 22% basic, 42% higher and 47% additional rate for 2027/28 (Finance Act 2026, section 5);
- Property income. A new set of property rates of 22% basic, 42% higher and 47% additional for 2027/28 (Finance Act 2026, sections 6 and 7). Section 8, brought into force for 2027/28 onwards, lets the Scottish Parliament and the Senedd set property rates for their own taxpayers.
From the same date, the Personal Allowance and other reliefs will be set against property, savings and dividend income only after other income. Landlords and people with large savings should model 2027/28 now rather than after the event. The HMRC rates and allowances table carries the official figures for the current and previous years.
What "tax percentage" you actually pay
The UK system is marginal: each rate applies only to the slice of income inside its band. Someone earning £60,000 in England pays nothing on the first £12,570, 20% on the next £37,700 and 40% only on the last £9,730. As an illustration, that is £7,540 plus £3,892, or £11,432 of income tax, an average rate of about 19%, not 40%. National Insurance is separate. For employees it is 8% between £12,570 and £50,270 and 2% above.
For more detail on the allowance, see our guide to the Personal Allowance, which covers the taper and Marriage Allowance.
Bands that hold still while income rises push more income into the higher rates every year, and the 2026 dividend increase changes the salary-versus-dividend calculation for company owners. Acumon's tax planning team can rerun that calculation for 2026/27 and 2027/28, and our income tax return service applies the right bands, Scottish or otherwise, on your return.