Tax allowances and amounts

This fact sheet tells you about the current tax rates and allowances. Use this fact sheet to find out about:

• personal allowances for income tax;
• income tax rates and bands;
• National Insurance contributions for sole traders;
• National Insurance contributions for directors of limited companies and employees;
• corporation tax; and
• value added tax (VAT).

Income tax allowances

Personal allowances	2019/20	2020/21
Personal allowance (1)	£12,500	£12,500
Income limit for personal allowance (2)	£100,000	£100,000
Income limit for married couple's allowance (3)	£29,600	£30,200
Married couple's allowance (maximum amount) (4)	£8,915	£9,075
Married couple's allowance (minimum amount) (5)	£3,450	£3,510
Blind person's allowance	£2,450	£2,500

Notes

(1) and (2) Since 2016/17 everyone is entitled to the same personal allowance and income limit, no matter when they were born.

(3) Where income is above this figure, the allowance is reduced by £1 for every £2 above the limit.

(4) and (5) The relief for married couple's allowance is given at 10%.

Income tax rates and bands

	2019/20	2020/21
Basic rate 20%	Personal allowance - £37,500	Personal allowance - £37,500
Higher rate 40%	£37,501 - £150,000	£37,501 - £150,000
Additional rate 45%	Over £150,000	Over £150,000

• Your personal allowance goes down by £1 for every £2 that your adjusted net income is above £100,000. This means that your personal allowance is zero if your income is £125,000 or above for 2020/21.

• From 2017/18 tax relief for finance costs for landlords of residential properties will be restricted to the basic rate only. See HM Revenue and Customs guidance on Changes to tax relief for residential landlords for more information.

National Insurance contributions

	2019/20	2020/21
Class 2	£3.00pw	£3.05pw
Class 2 - Small profits threshold	£6,365pa	£6,475pa
Class 4 - Lower profits limit	£8,632pa	£9,500pa
Class 4 - Upper profits limit	£50,000pa	£50,000pa
Class 4 - Rate between upper and lower profits limit	9%	9%
Class 4 - Rate above upper profits limit	2%	2%

Example calculation of estimated monthly income tax and National Insurance contributions 2020/21

• If you are under retirement age and either a sole trader or a partner in a partnership, this example will help you work out the monthly income tax and National Insurance you should pay on your profit from your business.
• You will then be able to work out your Available drawings from your business. This will help you work out your household budget to show you what you have available to pay your creditors.
• In this example, the figure worked out on the business budget sheet for Drawings (what your profit is before tax and National Insurance) is £4,250 per month.
• This example should not be used for income from residential properties.

Estimated monthly income tax

1.	Insert the monthly Available drawings figure from Your business and household budget sheet	£4,250	A
2.	Multiply Figure A by 12 to get your yearly drawings figure	£51,000	B
3.	Insert your Personal allowance for income tax figure	£12,500	C
4.	Take Figure C (your Personal allowance for income tax) away from Figure B (your yearly drawings) to work out what part of your drawings you pay tax on	£38,500	D
5.	Multiply the first £37,500 of Figure D by 20% to work out how much Basic rate tax you need to pay	£7,500	E
6.	Take £37,500 away from Figure D and multiply the answer by 40% to work out how much Higher rate tax you need to pay (you only need to do this step if Figure D is more than £37,500)	£400	F
7.	Add together Figure E and Figure F to get an estimate of your yearly tax liability	£7,900	G
8.	Divide Figure G by 12 to get an estimate of your monthly tax liability	£658.33	H

Use H £658.33 as the Estimated tax figure on Your business and household budget sheet.

Estimated National Insurance contributions

Class 2 National Insurance contributions

Use a flat-rate of £13.22 per month (£3.05 per week) as the National Insurance class 2 figure on Your business and household budget sheet. 

Class 4 National Insurance contributions

1.	Use Figure B from above (unless Figure B is more than the upper profits limit of £50,000, then insert £50,000)	£50,000	I
2.	Figure I minus £9,500 (the lower profits limit)	£40,500	J
3.	Figure J multiplied by 9% (the rate payable between the lower and upper limits)	£3,645	K
4.	Figure B from above minus £50,000 (if the answer is less than 0, insert 0)	£1,000	L
5.	Figure L multiplied by 2% (the rate payable above upper limit)	£20.00	M
6.	Add together Figure K and Figure M to get your estimated yearly amount of class 4 contribution	£3,665	N
7.	Divide Figure N by 12 to get your estimated monthly class 4 contribution	£305.42	O

Use O £305.42 as the National Insurance class 4 figure on Your business and household budget sheet.

Corporation tax

	2019/20	2020/21
Main rate	19%	19%

From 1 April 2015, there is a single corporation tax rate for non-ring fence profits. 

Value added tax (VAT)

	2019/20	2020/21
Standard rate	20%	20%
Reduced rate	5%	5%
Zero rate	0%	0%
Registration level	£85,000	£85,000
De-registration level	£83,000	£83,000

Making Tax Digital for VAT was introduced on 1 April 2019 for businesses with a taxable turnover above the VAT threshold of £85,000. For more information, go to www.gov.uk.

National Insurance contributions class 1

Directors and employees	2019/20	2020/21
Lower earnings limit primary class 1	£118pw	£120pw
Upper earnings limit primary class 1	£962pw	£962pw
Primary threshold	£166pw	£183pw
Secondary threshold	£166pw	£169pw

Rates	2019/20	2020/21
Class 1 rate between primary threshold and upper earnings limit	12%	12%
Class 1 rate above upper earnings limit	2%	2%
Class 1A rate on employer provided benefits	13.8%	13.8%

Employers' rates	2019/20	2020/21
Secondary class 1 rate above second threshold	13.8%	13.8%