Every UK salary threshold that matters in 2026/27

The UK tax system has a lot of thresholds, and each one bends the marginal rate in a different direction. Below is every salary-related threshold that meaningfully changes take-home in the 2026/27 tax year, in the order they are crossed as income rises.

Numbers below are for England, Wales, and Northern Ireland for the 2026/27 tax year. Scotland has its own income tax bands and slightly different cliffs, mainly at ~£29.5k (intermediate 21%), £43.7k (higher 42%), and £75k (advanced 45%). UK-wide thresholds (NI, personal allowance, student loans, HICBC) apply to Scottish taxpayers too.

£12,570: Personal Allowance & NI Primary Threshold

The amount you can earn before any income tax or employee NI is due. Below this, there is nothing to calculate.

• Above £12,570: 20% income tax starts. Employee NI also kicks in at 8%.
• Gotcha: The personal allowance is not fixed: it tapers away between £100k and £125,140 (see below).

£21,000: Postgraduate Loan threshold

Separate from undergrad plans. Repayments start here at 6% of income above the threshold, stacked on top of any undergrad repayments. Frozen at £21,000 since this loan launched in 2016.

If you have both a postgrad loan and a Plan 2 loan, the combined rate becomes 15% on every pound above £29,385, before income tax and NI are applied.

£25,000: Plan 5 Student Loan threshold

Newest plan (English/Welsh students starting from August 2023). 9% of income above this. Frozen at £25,000.

Not everyone has a student loan, but if you do, this is a stealth tax most calculators forget.

£26,900: Plan 1 Student Loan threshold

If you are on Plan 1 (most undergrads who started before September 2012, or Scottish/Northern Irish loans from certain years), repayments start here at 9% of income above the threshold.

£29,385: Plan 2 Student Loan threshold

Most English/Welsh undergrads who started from 2012 onward. 9% of income above this. Frozen at £29,385 from April 2027 for three years (per the 2025 Budget).

£33,795: Plan 4 Student Loan threshold

Scottish loans started from 2021. 9% above threshold.

£50,270: Higher Rate threshold + NI Upper Earnings Limit

This is the big first cliff. Three things happen on the same pound:

1. Income tax jumps from 20% to 40% on every pound above £50,270.
2. NI drops from 8% to 2% on the same pound.
3. Net marginal rate climbs from ~28% to ~42%.

Because NI falls while income tax rises, the cliff is not as sharp as you would expect, but the 42% marginal rate bites for a long stretch above this line.

Any undergrad-plan borrower is already past their threshold by this point, so the marginal rate above £50,270 stacks 40% tax + 2% NI + 9% loan = 51% on each marginal pound. Postgrad-loan borrowers add 6% on top of any plan they hold.

£60,000: High Income Child Benefit Charge starts

If you or your partner claim Child Benefit and either of you earns above £60k, a new tax starts: 1% of your Child Benefit for every £200 you earn above £60,000.

• At £60k → £80k your Child Benefit is gradually “clawed back” through tax.
• At £80,000 you lose 100% of it.
• Only the higher earner’s income matters, whichever partner crosses the threshold.

Effective rate in this band can exceed 50% for families with multiple children.

£80,000: Child Benefit fully withdrawn

Cliff here is softened by the taper above, but for a family with two children it is roughly £2,337/year of benefit fully gone by this point (£27.05/week for the first child + £17.90/week for the second, in 2026/27). Some families choose not to claim Child Benefit at all once they are certain they will be above £80k, but this can cost them National Insurance credits for the claiming parent, which matter for state pension later.

£100,000: The Personal Allowance taper begins

This is the big one. For every £2 earned above £100k, you lose £1 of your personal allowance.

• Effective marginal rate between £100,000 and £125,140: ~62%.
• Also at £100k: loss of Tax-Free Childcare (up to £2,000/child/year) and funded childcare hours (up to 30 hours/week for under-5s).
• For families with small children, the real effective rate in this band can be 80%+.

For full treatment, see our dedicated piece: The £100k trap.

£125,140: Personal Allowance fully tapered + Additional Rate starts

Two things at once:

1. Your personal allowance hits zero. Every pound of income is now taxable.
2. The additional rate (45%) kicks in on income above this level.

Effective marginal rate here is 47% (45% tax + 2% NI). Note that this is lower than the 62% you were paying between £100k and £125k. The trap zone is the most expensive band you will ever be in.

£150,000: Old additional-rate threshold (now historical)

Before 2023, the 45% additional rate started at £150,000. The threshold moved to £125,140 in April 2023. The £150k line is still referenced in older guides and some workplace policies (bonus deferral, bonus clawback, share vesting tiers). If you see it mentioned as a live tax threshold, that information is out of date.

Quick reference: cumulative marginal rate by salary

Salary band	Income tax	NI	Student loan (Plan 2 example)	Combined
£12,570–£29,385	20%	8%	0%	28%
£29,385–£50,270	20%	8%	9%	37%
£50,270–£100,000	40%	2%	9%	51%
£100,000–£125,140	40% + PA taper	2%	9%	~71%
£125,140+	45%	2%	9%	56%

(Plan 2 example chosen because it applies to most post-2012 English and Welsh graduates. Drop the 9% column if you have no student loan.)

For your specific combination of plan, region, and income, the calculator stacks every applicable threshold automatically.

A note on Scotland

Scotland operates its own income tax bands. The student loan thresholds and NI rules above still apply, but Scotland’s intermediate (21%), higher (42%), advanced (45%), and top (48%) rate cliffs sit at different income points: ~£29.5k, £43.7k, £75k, and £125.1k for 2026/27. NI primary threshold and personal allowance are UK-wide.

These bands apply to PAYE income. If you take income through a limited company, as many contractors do, the same thresholds reshape around corporation tax, dividend allowances, and IR35.