UK Tax Changes 2026/27: What's New from April
UK tax changes from 6 April 2026 - Scottish bands widened, Class 2 NI £3.65/wk, SMP £194.32/wk, redundancy cap £751. What stays frozen in 2026/27.
The 2026/27 tax year started on 6 April 2026 and runs through 5 April 2027. This guide covers every change that matters vs 2025/26, using HMRC’s published rates for employers and the Scottish Budget 2026-27.
The short version
What’s frozen (no change from 2025/26):
- Personal Allowance — £12,570
- UK Income Tax bands — 20% / 40% / 45%, thresholds unchanged
- National Insurance Class 1 employee rates and thresholds
- National Insurance Class 4 self-employed rates and limits
- Dividend Allowance (£500) and savings allowances
- Student loan Plan 5 and Postgraduate thresholds
- HICBC thresholds (£60,000 — £80,000, set in April 2024)
What changed:
- Scottish Income Tax — Starter rate band widened; Scottish Basic rate band end lifted
- Class 2 NI weekly rate — £3.50 → £3.65; Small Profits Threshold £6,845 → £7,105
- Student loan Plan 1, 2, 4 thresholds — uprated in line with policy
- Statutory Maternity Pay weekly rate — £187.18 → £194.32
- Statutory redundancy weekly cap — £719 → £751
- Blind Person’s Allowance — £3,130 → £3,250
UK Income Tax — still frozen through 2027/28
The £12,570 Personal Allowance and the three UK-wide tax bands stay exactly where they were in April 2025:
| Band | Rate | 2026/27 range |
|---|---|---|
| Personal Allowance | 0% | £0 – £12,570 |
| Basic rate | 20% | £12,571 – £50,270 |
| Higher rate | 40% | £50,271 – £125,140 |
| Additional rate | 45% | £125,141 and above |
This is the result of the Autumn Statement 2022 policy to freeze the PA and higher-rate threshold through to April 2028. In practice it’s “fiscal drag” — a stealth tax increase, because wages rise but the bands don’t move.
The Personal Allowance still tapers by £1 for every £2 of adjusted net income above £100,000, reaching zero at £125,140.
Impact: a salary that was “just under the higher-rate threshold” in 2024/25 is more likely to cross it in 2026/27, pulling a portion of your income into the 40% band for the first time.
Scottish Income Tax — the only band change this year
Scotland has its own six-band system. The 2026/27 Scottish Budget (published 13 January 2026) widened two bands:
| Band | 2025/26 range | 2026/27 range | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starter rate (19%) | £0 – £2,827 | £0 – £3,967 | +£1,140 wider |
| Scottish Basic rate (20%) | £2,828 – £14,921 | £3,968 – £16,956 | End lifted |
| Intermediate rate (21%) | £14,922 – £31,092 | £16,957 – £31,092 | End unchanged |
| Higher rate (42%) | £31,093 – £62,430 | £31,093 – £62,430 | Unchanged |
| Advanced rate (45%) | £62,431 – £125,140 | £62,431 – £125,140 | Unchanged |
| Top rate (48%) | £125,141+ | £125,141+ | Unchanged |
Net effect for a Scottish employee on around £30,000: a small take-home increase (a few hundred pounds a year) from more income falling in the cheaper Starter/Basic bands before hitting Intermediate rate.
The Scottish bands are applied on income above the £12,570 UK Personal Allowance, which is set at Westminster level and identical across the UK.
Walk through your own numbers with the salary calculator — tick the Scotland toggle.
National Insurance — only Class 2 moved
Class 1 (employees) — unchanged from 2025/26:
- Primary Threshold: £12,570
- Upper Earnings Limit: £50,270
- Main rate: 8%
- Upper rate (above UEL): 2%
Class 4 (self-employed profits) — unchanged:
- Lower Profits Limit: £12,570
- Upper Profits Limit: £50,270
- Main rate: 6%
- Upper rate: 2%
Class 2 (self-employed flat weekly charge) — uprated:
| 2025/26 | 2026/27 |
|---|---|
| £3.50/week | £3.65/week |
The Small Profits Threshold (SPT) — below which you’re exempt from the Class 2 flat rate but can voluntarily pay to protect your state-pension qualifying years — rose from £6,845 → £7,105.
Since April 2024, Class 2 is no longer mandatory above the SPT for most sole traders; HMRC treats profits above the SPT as if you’d paid the flat charge, free of cost. The weekly rate still matters for voluntary Class 2 below the SPT.
Student loans — three thresholds uprated
Repayments kick in on gross income (PAYE) or profits (self-employed) above the threshold for your plan, at 9% (6% for Postgraduate).
| Plan | 2025/26 threshold | 2026/27 threshold |
|---|---|---|
| Plan 1 (pre-2012 E&W, any NI) | £26,065 | £26,900 |
| Plan 2 (Sep 2012 E&W) | £28,470 | £29,385 |
| Plan 4 (Scotland) | £32,745 | £33,795 |
| Plan 5 (Aug 2023 E&W) | £25,000 | £25,000 (frozen) |
| Postgraduate (UK-wide) | £21,000 | £21,000 (frozen) |
Plan 5 and Postgraduate are intentionally held flat by policy — those thresholds are designed to collect repayments earlier in a graduate’s career.
If you’re unsure which plan applies, see our student loan plans guide.
Statutory Maternity Pay — £7.14/week uprate
The SMP weekly rate applies to the lower-earnings portion of the payment (weeks 7–39, and the weekly cap for weeks 1–6 if 90% of your Average Weekly Earnings exceeds it).
| 2025/26 | 2026/27 |
|---|---|
| £187.18/week | £194.32/week |
Over the full 39-week entitlement that’s roughly £278 extra for someone on the minimum statutory rate — before Income Tax and NI deductions.
The same uprated weekly rate applies to:
- Statutory Paternity Pay
- Statutory Adoption Pay (weeks 7–39)
- Statutory Shared Parental Pay
- Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay
Full numbers for your case: maternity pay calculator.
Statutory redundancy — weekly cap raised to £751
When calculating statutory redundancy pay, weekly earnings are capped — any excess is ignored. The cap rose from April 2026:
| 2025/26 | 2026/27 |
|---|---|
| £719/week | £751/week |
For a dismissal on or after 6 April 2026, the 2026/27 cap applies. Pay periods fully before that date fall under the old £719 cap — HMRC uses the actual redundancy date to determine the cap, not the tax year of the earning.
The statutory multiplier hasn’t changed — 1.5 × weekly cap per year of service aged 41+, 1.0 × per year aged 22–40, 0.5 × per year under 22, up to 20 years counted.
At the new £751 cap, the theoretical maximum statutory redundancy pay is £22,530 (£751 × 1.5 × 20).
More detail + your own numbers: redundancy calculator.
Blind Person’s Allowance — £120 bump
Claimable on top of your Personal Allowance if you’re registered blind or severely sight-impaired in England/Wales, or deemed unable to do work for which eyesight is essential (Scotland/Northern Ireland).
| 2025/26 | 2026/27 |
|---|---|
| £3,130 | £3,250 |
The allowance is transferable between spouses/civil partners, just like the Marriage Allowance — so a non-earning eligible partner can pass it to the higher-earner. On the salary calculator it’s under “More options → Blind”.
What to check on your own payslip from April 2026
- Tax code — still 1257L for most people. If it changed, see the tax code explainer.
- Scottish taxpayers — expect a modest take-home rise if income is in the Starter/Basic bands.
- Self-employed — small profits: the £7,105 SPT means a slightly higher zero-NI zone.
- Student loan on Plan 1/2/4 — monthly repayment drops slightly because the threshold rose.
- Redundancy offered — if your dismissal date is on or after 6 April 2026, the £751 cap applies.
Every figure in this guide comes from HMRC’s Rates and thresholds for employers 2026 to 2027 and the Scottish Budget 2026-27. We rebuild our calculators off the same official sources — see our methodology page for the full provenance chain.
Frequently asked questions
- What changed in UK tax from 6 April 2026?
- The headline changes are: Scottish Starter and Basic rate bands widened, Class 2 NI weekly rate £3.50 to £3.65, Class 2 Small Profits Threshold £6,845 to £7,105, Statutory Maternity Pay £187.18/wk to £194.32/wk, Statutory Redundancy weekly cap £719 to £751, Blind Person's Allowance £3,130 to £3,250, and three of the four student loan thresholds uprated. UK Income Tax bands, NI Class 1 rates, dividend allowance and HICBC thresholds all stayed frozen.
- Has the Personal Allowance changed for 2026/27?
- No - the UK Personal Allowance is still £12,570 for 2026/27, unchanged since April 2021 and frozen by policy through to at least April 2028. The 1257L tax code stays as the standard. Frozen thresholds in a wage-growing economy pull more people into higher tax bands each year - this is fiscal drag, sometimes called a 'stealth tax'.
- What is the new Class 2 NI rate for 2026/27?
- Class 2 self-employed NI rises from £3.50/week to £3.65/week from 6 April 2026 - so £190 a year if you pay it for the full tax year. The Small Profits Threshold (the level above which Class 2 becomes mandatory rather than voluntary) rises from £6,845 to £7,105. Class 4 NI rates and thresholds did not change for 2026/27.
- How much is Statutory Maternity Pay in 2026/27?
- SMP is £194.32/week from 6 April 2026, up from £187.18 in 2025/26 - a 3.8% uprate. The first 6 weeks remain at 90% of average weekly earnings (uncapped); weeks 7-39 take the lower of £194.32 or 90% of AWE. Statutory Paternity Pay, Shared Parental Pay, Adoption Pay and Parental Bereavement Pay all uprate to the same £194.32/wk rate.
- Did Scottish income tax bands change for 2026/27?
- Yes - the Scottish Starter rate band widened so the Basic rate (20%) starts higher than in 2025/26, and the Basic rate band end was lifted, pushing the entry point of the Intermediate rate (21%) up by inflation. The Higher (42%), Advanced (45%) and Top (48%) thresholds were left unchanged. Net effect: Scottish basic and intermediate earners pay slightly less; Higher and Top rate earners gain nothing.
- What is the redundancy weekly cap for 2026/27?
- The statutory redundancy weekly pay cap is £751 from 6 April 2026, up from £719. With the maximum 30 weeks of statutory redundancy and 20 years of service factor, the absolute statutory cap reaches £22,530 (£751 × 30). Most employers pay statutory only - some sectors offer enhanced contractual schemes that ignore the cap and use full salary, but those are now relatively rare outside legacy public-sector or unionised contracts.
- Are UK tax thresholds frozen again for 2026/27?
- Yes - the Personal Allowance (£12,570), basic-rate band end (£50,270), higher-rate threshold (£100,000 PA taper start, £125,140 additional rate), HICBC thresholds (£60k/£80k), dividend allowance (£500) and Student Loan Plan 5/Postgraduate thresholds all stayed flat. Only Class 2 NI and statutory benefit weekly rates moved on the rest-of-UK side. Scotland is the only part of the UK with a real income-tax band shift this year.