Domesday Live

Income tax: how the rate has changed

Earnings and savings. Income tax is charged on wages, pensions, the profits of the self-employed and most other income. These are the rates and bands for England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Scotland has set its own rates and bands since 2017, and Wales can vary the rates too.

Worth knowing

• Before 1973 the basic rate was called the standard rate. The top rate before 1973 is the standard rate plus the highest band of surtax, a separate tax on high incomes that was folded into income tax in 1973. HMRC's table shows a surtax scale about a tenth higher for 1965 to 66 and 1972 to 73, and we show the main scale.
• From 1973 to 1984 an investment income surcharge of up to 15 points sat on top, so the top rate on investment income was 90% in 1973 and 98% from 1974. It was abolished in 1985.
• The 1979 changes were made in the June Budget and counted for the whole 1979 to 80 tax year.
• The higher rate start is the pay level at which the higher rate begins: the personal allowance plus the basic rate band. Since 2010 the personal allowance is withdrawn by £1 for every £2 of income above £100,000.
• Thresholds have been frozen since April 2021, and the freeze is set to run until April 2031.
• In September 2022 the government announced a cut in the basic rate to 19% and the end of the 45% rate. Both were cancelled within weeks, so neither appears here.
• Coming up: from April 2027 the tax on savings income and on property income goes up by two points, to 22%, 42% and 47%. Both were set at the Autumn Budget 2025.