Tax year 2026/27
Guides
Plain-English explanations of the rules behind our calculators. Every figure comes from GOV.UK.
- How UK income tax worksThe Personal Allowance, tax bands and rates, and how your income tax is worked out, explained in plain English.
- How National Insurance works for employeesWho pays Class 1 National Insurance, the thresholds and rates, and why it is worked out each pay period.
- Student loan plans explainedPlan 1, 2, 4, 5 and Postgraduate Loans compared, with repayment thresholds, rates and how repayments are taken.
- What is a tax code?What the numbers and letters in your tax code mean, and why HMRC might change it.
- Stamp duty for first-time buyersHow first-time buyer relief works, who qualifies, and what happens above the price cap.
- Stamp duty on second homes and buy-to-letHow the higher rates of stamp duty work for additional properties, and when they do not apply.
- How dividend tax worksThe dividend allowance, dividend tax rates, and how dividends sit on top of your other income.
- The £100,000 tax trapWhy income between £100,000 and the point where your Personal Allowance runs out is taxed so heavily, and what reduces it.
- The Child Benefit £60,000 ruleHow the High Income Child Benefit Charge works, who pays it, and your options.
- Salary sacrifice or net pay pensionsThe difference between salary sacrifice and net pay pensions for income tax, National Insurance and student loans.
- Scottish income tax explainedScotland's income tax bands, who pays them, and how they compare with the rest of the UK.
- How bonuses are taxedWhy there is no special bonus tax rate, and why a bonus can still feel heavily taxed.
- Self-employed National Insurance explainedClass 4 and Class 2 National Insurance for the self-employed, and how they are paid.
- Why your payslip differs from a calculatorPay periods, tax codes and rounding explain most of the gap between a yearly estimate and your payslip.