Rest-of-UK Income Tax bands and the £100,000 taper for 2026/27

How much Income Tax comes off a UK payslip is set by four bands and, above £100,000, by a taper that most people never see coming. This exhibit lays out both for 2026/27 (the rest-of-UK rates that apply in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland). The band diagram shows the rates; the taper panel shows the trap. The authoritative figures are on gov.uk's Income Tax rates and Personal Allowance^[1].

The four bands are straightforward. The Personal Allowance of £12,570 is taxed at 0%. The basic rate of 20% applies to the next £37,700 of taxable income, taking it up to £50,270. The higher rate of 40% applies from £50,271 to £125,140. The additional rate of 45% applies above £125,140. These are the numbers a PAYE calculation works through in order, band by band, once the tax code has set the allowance.

The taper is where high earners lose ground quietly. For every £2 of income above £100,000, £1 of Personal Allowance is withdrawn. So an allowance of £12,570 shrinks steadily and is fully gone at £125,140 (£100,000 plus twice the £12,570 allowance). Someone on £110,000 is £10,000 over the threshold, loses £5,000 of allowance, and keeps only £7,570 of it. Because losing allowance exposes more income to 40% tax on top of the 40% already charged on the extra pay, the effective marginal rate between £100,000 and £125,140 is about 60%, higher than the additional rate above it. The £12,570 Personal Allowance article covers the mechanics in full.

Two caveats decide whether these figures are the right ones. First, they are the rest-of-UK bands; Scotland sets its own rates and bands, so a Scottish taxpayer on the same salary pays a different amount, though the £100,000 taper applies UK-wide. Second, the Personal Allowance and the higher-rate threshold are frozen to April 2031 (the Nov-2025 Budget extended the freeze by three years), so as pay rises with inflation more income is dragged into higher bands each year. This is fiscal drag: effective tax rises without any rate change. Confirm current-year figures against gov.uk^[1] before relying on them.