Written and reviewed by James Whitfield · Updated for 2026/27 · Editorial standards · Methodology
The standard UK personal allowance for 2026/27 is £12,570 — the tax-free amount you can earn before income tax. See how it works with the tax bands, the £100,000 taper, your tax code, and Scotland.
The standard UK personal allowance for 2026/27 is £12,570 — the amount you can earn before paying any income tax. It is unchanged (frozen) from 2025/26 and applies UK-wide, including Scotland. Earnings from £12,570 to £50,270 are then taxed at 20%. If you earn over £100,000 the allowance is withdrawn by £1 for every £2 above that, disappearing entirely at £125,140. Your tax code — usually 1257L — reflects a full £12,570 allowance.
The personal allowance is the £12,570 you can earn tax-free in 2026/27. This guide covers how it works with the tax bands, the £100,000 taper, tax codes and Scotland.
Typical default outputs for quick context.
The standard personal allowance for 2026/27 is £12,570. This is the amount you can earn in a tax year before you pay any income tax at all.
The allowance is frozen — it is unchanged from 2025/26 and has been held at £12,570 since 2021/22. Because wages tend to rise while the allowance stays fixed, a larger share of pay becomes taxable over time.
The personal allowance is UK-wide. It applies the same way in England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland; only the tax bands above it differ in Scotland.
The personal allowance is the first slice of your income and is taxed at 0%. Income above it is then taxed through the bands. For England, Wales and NI in 2026/27: 20% from £12,570 to £50,270, 40% from £50,270 to £125,140, and 45% above £125,140.
For example, on a £30,000 salary the first £12,570 is tax-free and £17,430 is taxed at 20% — about £3,486 of income tax, leaving roughly £25,120 net a year after National Insurance. On £50,000, all taxable income still falls in the 20% band.
If your income goes above £100,000, the personal allowance is gradually withdrawn. You lose £1 of allowance for every £2 of income above £100,000, so the full £12,570 is gone by the time income reaches £125,140.
Because you lose tax-free allowance while still paying 40% on the extra income, the effective marginal tax rate between £100,000 and £125,140 is about 60% — one of the highest rates most employees ever face.
Pension contributions reduce the income used for this test, so higher earners often contribute enough to bring income back under £100,000 and keep the full allowance.
Your tax code tells your employer how much personal allowance to give you. The standard code for 2026/27 is 1257L, where the 1257 represents a £12,570 allowance spread across the year.
A different code can mean a reduced allowance (for example if you have taxable benefits or owe tax from a previous year), an emergency code, or a second job with no allowance. If your payslip tax looks too high or too low, checking the tax code is the first thing to do.
Some people can transfer part of their allowance. Marriage Allowance lets a non-taxpayer transfer £1,260 of their personal allowance to a basic-rate-paying spouse, cutting that partner's tax by up to £252 a year.
Blind Person's Allowance adds to the standard figure, and taxable benefits in kind can reduce it. The £12,570 figure is the standard starting point that most employees use.
Current tax-year thresholds used across this guide and calculator.
The standard personal allowance for 2026/27 is £12,570. This is the amount of income you can earn in the tax year before any income tax is due. It applies UK-wide, including Scotland.
No. The personal allowance is frozen at £12,570 for 2026/27, unchanged from 2025/26. It has been held at this level since 2021/22, so more income becomes taxable over time as pay rises — an effect known as fiscal drag.
Once your income goes above £100,000. You lose £1 of allowance for every £2 earned above £100,000, so the full £12,570 is gone by £125,140. This produces an effective marginal tax rate of about 60% between £100,000 and £125,140.
Yes. The £12,570 personal allowance is set UK-wide and is identical in Scotland. Only the income tax bands and rates above the allowance differ in Scotland.
Yes. Use the scenario links in this guide to open prefilled states, then adjust salary, region, loan and pension settings.
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