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United Kingdom Income Tax Rates and Personal Allowances in 2021

iCalculator™ has launched distinct applications for each UK member country in December 2023 to enhance support for ongoing devolution. These apps, tailored for England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales, offer comprehensive tax, salary, and payroll calculators. They provide in-depth support and enable users to compare tax policies and rates across the UK member countries. To explore these new Free Tax Apps, simply select the relevant country from the provided options.

England Tax Tables Northern Ireland Tax Tables Scotland Tax Tables Wales Tax Tables

The personal income tax rates and personal allowances in the United Kingdom are updated annually with new tax tables published by HMRC. The Tax tables below include the tax rates, thresholds and allowances included in the United Kingdom Salary Calculator 2021 which is designed for salary calculation and comparison.

2021 Personal Allowance

The personal allowance in 2021 is £ 12,570.00. The Personal allowance is the amount you can earn in 2021 before paying any tax so is also referred to as an individual's tax free allowance.

2021 Personal Income Tax Rates and Thresholds

United Kingdom Residents Income Tax Tables in 2021: Income Tax Rates and Thresholds (Annual)
Tax RateTaxable Income Threshold
20%Income from £0.00 to £ 37,700.00
40%Income from £ 37,700.01 to £ 150,000.00
45%Income from £ 150,000.01 and above
United Kingdom Non-Residents Income Tax Tables in 2021: Income Tax Rates and Thresholds (Annual)
Tax RateTaxable Income Threshold
20%Income from £0.00 to £ 37,700.00
40%Income from £ 37,700.01 to £ 150,000.00
45%Income from £ 150,000.01 and above

2021 National Insurance Contributions Rates and Thresholds

Class 1 NICs: 2021 Employee and employer rates and thresholds (£ per week)
£ 120.00Weekly Lower Earnings Limit (LEL)
£ 184.00Weekly Primary Threshold (PT)
£ 170.00Weekly Secondary Threshold (ST)
£ 967.00Weekly Upper Earnings Limit (UEL)
£ 967.00Weekly Upper Secondary Threshold for under 21s
£ 967.00Weekly Apprentice Upper Secondary Threshold (AUST) for under 25s
£ 3,000.00Employment Allowance (Annual per employer)
2021 Employee's (primary) Class 1 contribution rates
0%Below LEL
0%LEL - PT
12%PT- UEL
2%Above UEL

Please note that UK Non-residents only pay tax on their UK income - they do not pay UK tax on their foreign income though this may be subject to tax on their foreign income in the country in which the taxpayer is classed as a resident or in the country where the foreign income was earned / paid.

Streamlined Personal Income Tax Rates, Personal Allowances and Tax thresholds

In order to support comparison of salaries across jobs, roles, markets and between countries, we use a streamlined set of Personal Income Tax Rates and Thresholds (illustrated below) based on a single individual with standard 2024 personal allowance paying class 1 NIC's in 2024 with no special circumstances, tax exemptions, salary sacrifice or other wage deductions. In addition to the streamlined 2024 personal income tax rates and thresholds, we also provide comprehensive 2024 tax tables which include all relevent tax metrics including 2024 VAT rates, 2024 Corporation tax rates etc. as well as complete personal income tar rates and allowances for the 2024 tax year. The comprehensive tax tables are used in support of our Comprehensive Salary Tax Calculator which provides comprehensive salary tax calculations, including pensions, different tax codes, salary sacrifice, NIC' calculation, empoyer NICS Calculation, special allowances and tax credits and PAYE/Dividend Salary Offset Calculation.

Income Tax in the United Kingdom in 2021

Taxes, including personal income tax, expenses and limitations are reviewed by the Government in the United Kingdom periodically and typically updated each year. Note that not all tax rates and thresholds in the United Kingdom change annually, alterations to tax policy to support strategic economic growth in the United Kingdom mean that the certain areas may be focused on to provide specific tax relief in the United Kingdom or support growth in certain areas (overseas invstment in the United Kingdom for example may mean reduced non-resident income tax rates in the United Kingdom for a period).

When tax policy in the United Kingdom changes, the resultant tax tables also change. Tax tables in the United Kingdom are simply a list of the relevent tax rates, fixed amounts and / or threholds used in the computation of tax in the United Kingdom, the the United Kingdom tax tables also include specific notes and guidance on the validity of scenarios (for example, qualifying criterea for specific tax relief / allowances) and notes of the calculation of phaseout of specific tax elements within each taxation group (dividends and corporation tax thresholds in the United Kingdom for example).

The United Kingdom Tax Tables may also be referred to as the United Kingdom Tax Slabs, United Kingdom personal allowances and tax thresholds or United Kingdom business tax rates. They all refer to the tax tables, whether in whole or as specific sections/categories of the tax tables therein. In the section, we publish all 2021 tax rates and thresholds used within the 2021 United Kingdom Salary Calculator. This means that if you are aware of a 2021 tax exemption or 2021 tax allowance in the United Kingdom that you are entitled too BUT it isn't listed here, that we don't allow for it in this version of the United Kingdom Salary Calculator. This is simply because we use a streamlined version of the annual tax tables to provide salary comparison and calculation across different employment sectors, job markets and between countries in 2021 and to compare your salary taxes in 2021 to your current salary in 2024. Our aim is to keep saalry calculations and salary comparisons in the United Kingdom simple, we achieve this my making the United Kingdom salary calculator relevent to UK jobseekers our expat community's needs (when comparing salaries between different countries for example). In addition to our simple salary calculators and salary comparison calculators, we also provide detailed tax calculators which use the full tax tables and allowances so you have the choice of tools to suit your tax calculation needs, whether an employee, an employer, contractor or expat, we have a payroll and tax calculator to suit your needs.

Choose a specific income tax year to see the United Kingdom income tax rates and personal allowances used in the associated income tax calculator for the same tax year.