Personal Allowance 2025/26 and 2026/27: the standard amount, the £100,000 taper and a calculator

GOV.UK’s Income Tax previous tax years page says: “The standard Personal Allowance from 6 April 2025 to 5 April 2026 was £12,570.” GOV.UK’s Income Tax rates and Personal Allowances page, retrieved on 5 November 2026, says: “The standard Personal Allowance is £12,570, which is the amount of income you do not have to pay tax on.” HMRC’s Income Tax rates and allowances for current and previous tax years, updated 6 April 2026, lists £12,570 for 2026 to 2027 and £12,570 for 2025 to 2026. section 35 of the Income Tax Act 2007 gives the allowance to an individual who “makes a claim” and “meets the requirements of section 56 (residence etc)”, so the amount depends on those conditions and on income over £100,000.

section 35 of the Income Tax Act 2007 says: “For an individual whose adjusted net income exceeds £100,000, the allowance under subsection (1) is reduced by one-half of the excess.” It adds: “If the amount of any allowance that remains after the operation of subsection (2) would otherwise not be a multiple of £1, it is to be rounded up to the nearest amount which is a multiple of £1.” GOV.UK’s Income Tax rates and Personal Allowances page, retrieved on 5 November 2026, says: “Your personal allowance goes down by £1 for every £2 that your adjusted net income is above £100,000. This means your allowance is zero if your income is £125,140 or above.” The income measured is adjusted net income, which section 35 of the Income Tax Act 2007 points to section 58 for. For 2025 to 2026 and 2026 to 2027, £125,140 is the income at which the £12,570 allowance reaches zero.

section 5 of the Finance Act 2021 (revised text), as amended by the Finance Act 2023 (which brought in 2027-28) and by section 10 of the Finance Act 2026 (which brought in 2028-29, 2029-30 and 2030-31), fixes the £12,570 amount for the tax years up to and including 2030-31, the tax year ending 5 April 2031, and disapplies indexation of the allowance for those years. These documents do not state an amount for 2031 to 2032 or later years.

Neither GOV.UK’s Income Tax rates and Personal Allowances page nor HMRC’s Income Tax rates and allowances for current and previous tax years gives a rate for this band. This is FedRateCalc arithmetic, not a statement by GOV.UK or HMRC: where income is taxed at 40%, each extra £1 of income removes 50p of Personal Allowance under section 35 of the Income Tax Act 2007, which adds 20p of tax on top of the 40p on the £1, so 60%, for the tax years 2025 to 2026 and 2026 to 2027. It ignores National Insurance, student loans, savings and dividend rates and Scottish rates, which differ.

GOV.UK’s Blind Person’s Allowance page (what you’ll get), retrieved on 5 November 2026, lists £3,250 for 2026 to 2027 and £3,130 for 2025 to 2026, and says: “Blind Person’s Allowance is added to your yearly Personal Allowance - the amount of money you can earn before you start paying Income Tax.” For England and Wales, GOV.UK’s Blind Person’s Allowance page (eligibility) says: “You can claim Blind Person’s Allowance if both of the following apply:” then, as separate lines, “you’re registered with your local council as blind or severely sight impaired”; “you have a certificate that says you’re blind or severely sight impaired (or a similar document from your doctor)” For Scotland and Northern Ireland it says: “You can claim Blind Person’s Allowance if you cannot do work that eyesight is essential for.” GOV.UK’s Blind Person’s Allowance page (what you’ll get) also says: “If you and your spouse or civil partner are both eligible, you’ll each get an allowance.” It adds: “You can transfer your Blind Person’s Allowance to your spouse or civil partner if you do not pay tax or earn enough to use all of your allowance.”

GOV.UK’s Marriage Allowance page, retrieved on 5 November 2026, says: “Marriage Allowance lets you transfer £1,260 of your Personal Allowance to your husband, wife or civil partner. Your Personal Allowance is the amount you can earn before paying tax. This reduces their tax by up to £252 in the tax year (6 April to 5 April the next year).” On who can apply it says: “You can benefit from Marriage Allowance if all the following apply:” then, as separate lines, “you’re married or in a civil partnership”; “you do not pay Income Tax or your income is below your Personal Allowance (usually £12,570)”; “your partner pays Income Tax at the basic rate, which usually means their income is between £12,571 and £50,270 before they receive Marriage Allowance” It also says: “You cannot claim Marriage Allowance if you’re living together but you’re not married or in a civil partnership.” For Scotland it says: “If you’re in Scotland, your partner must pay the starter, basic or intermediate rate, which usually means their income is between £12,571 and £43,662.” And: “If you or your partner were born before 6 April 1935, you might benefit more as a couple by applying for Married Couple’s Allowance instead. You cannot get Marriage Allowance and Married Couple’s Allowance at the same time.”

GOV.UK’s Income Tax rates and Personal Allowances page, retrieved on 5 November 2026, says: “Income tax bands are different if you live in Scotland.” It does not give a different Personal Allowance for Scotland, and section 35 of the Income Tax Act 2007 is marked “U.K.” on legislation.gov.uk. GOV.UK’s Marriage Allowance page gives separate partner income figures for Scotland.