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United Kingdom Income Tax Rates and Personal Allowances in 2023

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

On 23 March, 2022,Rishi Sunak announced changes to the national insurance contributions threshold in response to the squeeze on the standard of living due to escalating cost of living caused by the impact of the War in Ukraine. The war has seen spiralling fuel prices as countries distance themselves from Russian oil supplies, partly due to sanctions and partly due to companies taking an ethical stance against Russia in response to their attack on the Ukraine.

The National Insurance contributions threshold, already planned to increase by £300.00 in the 2022-23 tax year will now increase by £3,000.00 and bring the threshold in line with the personal exemption amount (the amount of money you earn each year before taxes are applied).

Rishi Sunak also pledged to reduce the basic rate of tax from 20% to 19% in the 2024 tax year though that does little to affect those struggling with the increased price of fuel at the petrol pumps and those struggling to heat their homes.

In iCalculator view, reducing the tax burden is always beneficial for the personal finances of working families and increasing the cash flows in local and national economies BUT this reduction in National Insurance payments is unlikely to see any growth benefits in the short term, it will simply reduce the impact of squeezed wages. The planned reduction of 1% on income tax is a purely political move in preparation for a General Election, the small, planned reduction will have little impact on true take home incomes and a reduction of 5% would me more effective for increasing cash flows in the UK economy. Realistically, the UK government needs to revisit income tax rates holistically as far too many individuals are trapped in earning brackets where they suddenly find themselves losing specific allowances and/or paying a significantly higher rates of tax for earning what is barely a living wage. Is the time right perhaps for several rates and thresholds, 10%, 15%, 20%, 30%, 40%, 50%? With fairer thresholds that allow more workers to retain more of their income, cash flows would increase in local economies and growth would ensue. For now, we must be content with the system we have and trust that the markets will stabilise before too many suffer.

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 2023 which is designed for salary calculation and comparison.

2023 Personal Allowance

The personal allowance in 2023 is £ 12,570.00. The Personal allowance is the amount you can earn in 2023 before paying any tax so is also referred to as an individual's tax free allowance.

2023 Personal Income Tax Rates and Thresholds

United Kingdom Residents Income Tax Tables in 2023: 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 2023: 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

2023 National Insurance Contributions Rates and Thresholds

Class 1 NICs: 2023 Employee and employer rates and thresholds (£ per week)
£ 123.00Weekly Lower Earnings Limit (LEL)
£ 242.00Weekly 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)
2023 Employee's (primary) Class 1 contribution rates
0%Below LEL
0%LEL - PT
13.25%PT- UEL
3.25%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 2023

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 2023 tax rates and thresholds used within the 2023 United Kingdom Salary Calculator. This means that if you are aware of a 2023 tax exemption or 2023 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 2023 and to compare your salary taxes in 2023 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.