Written and reviewed by James Whitfield · Updated for 2026/27 · Editorial standards · Methodology
The 40% higher-rate tax threshold for 2026/27 is £50,270 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland (£12,570 personal allowance + £37,700 basic-rate band). Only income above £50,270 is taxed at 40%. Worked examples at £55,000 and £70,000, the £100k taper and Scotland's 42% band.
You start paying 40% income tax in 2026/27 once your income goes above £50,270 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland: the £12,570 personal allowance plus the £37,700 basic-rate band1. Only the slice above £50,270 is taxed at 40%; everything below it is still taxed at 0% and 20%. On £55,000 just £4,730 is taxed at 40% (£1,892), giving total income tax of £9,432 and take-home of £3,538 a month. Above £50,270 employee NI drops to 2%3, so the true marginal rate is 42%. Scotland's 42% higher rate starts lower, at £43,6624.
Typical default outputs for quick context.
In England, Wales and Northern Ireland you start paying the 40% higher rate of income tax once your taxable income for the year goes above £50,270. That figure is the £12,570 personal allowance plus the £37,700 basic-rate band1. HMRC quotes the band width (£37,700) in its tables, which is why you will see both numbers used; £50,270 is the one to compare with your salary.
The threshold has been frozen at £50,270 since April 2021 and stays there for 2026/27. Because it does not move with pay rises, more people cross it every year: a salary that was comfortably basic-rate in 2021 can now be paying 40% on its top slice without any change in the rules.
| Band | Income range | Rate |
|---|---|---|
| Personal allowance | £0 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% |
Income tax is marginal. Crossing the threshold does not put your whole salary on 40%; it puts the part above £50,270 on 40% while everything below is still taxed at 0% and 20%. Someone earning £51,000 pays 40% on just £730 (the amount over £50,270), which is £292 of higher-rate tax instead of the £146 it would have cost at 20%. Their total income tax is £7,832, only £292 more than the £7,540 paid at exactly £50,270.
So a pay rise that takes you over the threshold always leaves you better off. The rise is simply taxed at a higher rate than the pay beneath it. Turning down a pay rise, or asking to stay just under £50,270, never makes financial sense on income tax grounds alone (though the child benefit charge from £60,000 and the personal allowance taper from £100,000 are separate cliff-edge effects worth planning around).
At £55,000 the first £12,570 is tax-free, the next £37,700 is taxed at 20% and the remaining £4,730 is taxed at 40%. National Insurance is 8% on earnings between £12,570 and £50,270 and 2% above that. Here is the full reconciliation for 2026/27 with tax code 1257L, no pension and no student loan.
| Line | Amount taxed | Rate | Tax |
|---|---|---|---|
| Personal allowance | £12,570 | 0% | £0 |
| Basic rate | £37,700 | 20% | £7,540.00 |
| Higher rate | £4,730 | 40% | £1,892.00 |
| Total income tax | £9,432.00 | ||
| National Insurance | £37,700 at 8% + £4,730 at 2% | £3,110.60 | |
| Take-home pay | £42,457.40 (£3,538.12 a month) |
Only £1,892 of the £9,432 income tax is charged at 40%. The effective rate on the whole salary is 22.8% including NI.
At £70,000 the higher-rate slice is £19,730 (£70,000 minus £50,270). The basic-rate tax is the same £7,540 it is for everyone above the threshold; what changes is the size of the 40% slice.
| Line | Amount taxed | Rate | Tax |
|---|---|---|---|
| Personal allowance | £12,570 | 0% | £0 |
| Basic rate | £37,700 | 20% | £7,540.00 |
| Higher rate | £19,730 | 40% | £7,892.00 |
| Total income tax | £15,432.00 | ||
| National Insurance | £37,700 at 8% + £19,730 at 2% | £3,410.60 | |
| Take-home pay | £51,157.40 (£4,263.12 a month) |
Effective deduction rate 26.9%. In Scotland the same salary pays £17,382.05 income tax, £1,950 more, because the 42% higher rate starts at £43,662.
Employee National Insurance drops from 8% to 2% at exactly the same point the higher rate starts, because the NI upper earnings limit is also £50,2703. So the combined marginal rate on each extra pound moves from 28% (20% tax + 8% NI) below the threshold to 42% (40% + 2%) above it, a 14-point jump rather than the 20-point jump the headline rates suggest.
Add a student loan and the marginal rate above £50,270 is 51% (9% more). Between £60,000 and £80,000, parents receiving child benefit also face the High Income Child Benefit Charge, which claws back 1% of the benefit for every £200 of income over £60,000.
The higher rate runs all the way to £125,140, but between £100,000 and £125,140 something else happens: the personal allowance is withdrawn at £1 for every £2 of income over £100,000, disappearing entirely at £125,1402. Losing £1 of tax-free allowance means £1 more taxed at 40%, so every £2 earned in that band costs 40% tax on the £2 plus 40% on the £1 of lost allowance: an effective 60% income tax rate, or 62% with NI.
In cash terms, someone on £110,000 pays £33,432 income tax against £27,432 at £100,000: £6,000 more tax on £10,000 more income. Above £125,140 the allowance is gone, the taper stops and the 45% additional rate applies, so the marginal rate actually falls back to 47% including NI.
Scottish taxpayers (tax code prefix S) use different bands set by the Scottish Parliament. For 2026/27 the Scottish higher rate is 42% and starts at £43,662, more than £6,600 lower than the rest of the UK, with an advanced rate of 45% from £75,001 and a top rate of 48% above £125,1404. National Insurance is the same UK-wide, so the 8% to 2% NI change still happens at £50,270.
| Band | Income range | Rate |
|---|---|---|
| Personal allowance | £0 to £12,570 | 0% |
| 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% |
At £55,000, income tax in Scotland is £11,082.05 versus £9,432 in England: £1,650 a year more.
The cleanest way to reduce higher-rate tax is a pension contribution. Salary sacrifice removes the contribution from your pay before tax and NI, so on £55,000 sacrificing £4,730 takes taxable pay back to £50,270 and saves 42% (£1,986.60) on that amount. Contributions to a personal pension paid from net pay get 20% relief added automatically and extend your basic-rate band by the gross contribution, so the higher-rate relief is reclaimed through Self Assessment or a tax code adjustment5.
Gift Aid donations extend the basic-rate band in the same way. Marriage Allowance is not available once either partner pays higher-rate tax, which is a small extra cost of crossing the threshold for some couples.
Current tax-year thresholds used across this guide and calculator.
£50,270 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. It is the £12,570 personal allowance plus the £37,700 basic-rate band. Income above £50,270 and up to £125,140 is taxed at the 40% higher rate; above £125,140 the rate is 45%.
From the first pound of income above £50,270 in a tax year. Income tax is marginal, so only the part of your income above the threshold is charged at 40%. Everything below it is taxed at 0% (the first £12,570) and 20% (£12,571 to £50,270).
No. On £51,000 only £730 is taxed at 40%, costing £292 rather than the £146 it would cost at 20%. Total income tax is £7,832, just £292 more than at exactly £50,270. A pay rise across the threshold always leaves you better off.
In England for 2026/27, £9,730 of a £60,000 salary sits above £50,270 and is taxed at 40% (£3,892). Add £7,540 at the basic rate and total income tax is £11,432. National Insurance is £3,210.60, so take-home is £45,357.40, or £3,779.78 a month.
Scotland's 42% higher rate starts at £43,662 for 2026/27, with a 45% advanced rate from £75,001 and a 48% top rate above £125,140. The personal allowance and National Insurance thresholds are the same as the rest of the UK.
No. The higher-rate threshold is frozen at £50,270 for 2026/27, where it has been since April 2021. Because pay has risen while the threshold has not, more people cross into the 40% band each year.
The rates, thresholds and rules on this page are drawn from the official UK government sources below, using the confirmed 2026/27 figures. Each link opens the relevant HMRC or GOV.UK page in a new tab.
Verified against published UK government guidance for 2026/27.