£30,000 salary in 2026/27
With pay and prices both rising 3.5% a year, pay reaches £34,425.69 in 2030/31. The freeze costs £123.20 in 2028/29, £250.60 in 2029/30 and £382.76 in 2030/31: £756.56 in all (£540.40 income tax, £216.16 NI).
Money · Autumn Budget 2026
Tax threshold freeze calculator: what the freeze to 2031 costs you
The Personal Allowance stays at £12,570 and the higher-rate threshold at £50,270 until 5 April 2031 instead of rising with inflation from April 2028 (GOV.UK), so if your pay keeps up with ONS’s latest CPI rate of 3.5% a £30,000 salary pays £382.76 more income tax and National Insurance in 2030/31 and £756.56 more over the three years.
£12,570 / £50,270Frozen until 5 April 2031 (GOV.UK)
What the threshold freeze costs you, year by year
Runs in your browser, with no run limit
Employees in England, Wales or Northern Ireland on tax code 1257L, National Insurance category A, no pension or other income. The inflation rate starts at ONS’s latest CPI (September 2026, 3.5%); change it to try other rates. Pay rises each April by the pay rise you enter.
Result
The freeze costs you £756.56 over 2028/29 to 2030/31: £540.40 income tax and £216.16 National Insurance.
| Tax year | Your pay | Allowance / higher-rate threshold if indexed | Extra income tax | Extra NI | Extra in total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026/27 | £30,000.00 | £12,570 / £50,270 | £0.00 | £0.00 | £0.00 |
| 2027/28 | £31,050.00 | £12,570 / £50,270 | £0.00 | £0.00 | £0.00 |
| 2028/29 | £32,136.75 | £13,010 / £52,030 | £88.00 | £35.20 | £123.20 |
| 2029/30 | £33,261.54 | £13,465 / £53,850 | £179.00 | £71.60 | £250.60 |
| 2030/31 | £34,425.69 | £13,937 / £55,736 | £273.40 | £109.36 | £382.76 |
| Total to 2030/31 | – | – | £540.40 | £216.16 | £756.56 |
“If indexed” is the legislative default before Budget 2025: the allowance and basic rate limit rising with CPI from 6 April 2028, with the NI thresholds kept in line. Indexed figures are illustrative and rounded to the nearest pound. 2027/28 to 2030/31 use 2026/27 tax and NI rates, which GOV.UK has not published for those years.
Worked answers
Three worked answers from this calculator
Each uses ONS’s latest CPI rate, 3.5%, for both pay rises and inflation. The button loads it into the calculator above.
£45,000 salary in 2026/27
With pay and prices both rising 3.5% a year, pay reaches £51,638.54 in 2030/31. The freeze costs £123.20 in 2028/29, £250.60 in 2029/30 and £574.36 in 2030/31: £948.16 in all (£814.11 income tax, £134.05 NI). In 2030/31 your pay is over the frozen £50,270 higher-rate threshold but would be under the indexed £55,736, so part of it is taxed at 40%.
£60,000 salary in 2026/27
With pay and prices both rising 3.5% a year, pay reaches £68,851.38 in 2030/31. The freeze costs £369.60 in 2028/29, £751.80 in 2029/30 and £1,148.00 in 2030/31: £2,269.40 in all (£2,701.60 more income tax, offset by £432.20 less NI because more of your pay is above the frozen £50,270 Upper Earnings Limit, where NI is 2% instead of 8%).
GOV.UK rules
What is frozen, and until when
HMRC, Budget 2025: “The Personal Allowance (PA) and basic rate limit will be maintained at their current levels until 5 April 2031.” “The current legislative default is for the PA and the basic rate limit to increase in line with the Consumer Price Index (CPI) from 6 April 2028 onwards.”
| Threshold | Amount | Applies to |
|---|---|---|
| Personal Allowance | £12,570 | Whole UK |
| Basic rate limit | £37,700 | England, Wales and Northern Ireland (and savings and dividend income UK-wide) |
| Higher rate threshold | £50,270 | England, Wales and Northern Ireland |
| NI Primary Threshold | £12,570 (aligned with the Personal Allowance) | Whole UK |
| NI Upper Earnings Limit | £50,270 (aligned with the higher rate threshold) | Whole UK |
- The thresholds were first fixed at their 2021 levels to April 2026 (Finance Act 2021), then to April 2028 (Finance Act 2023). Budget 2025 added 2028/29, 2029/30 and 2030/31. After that the default is for them to rise with CPI again.
- Why it costs more: when pay rises but thresholds don’t, more of your pay is taxed, and more people move into the 40% band. This is sometimes called fiscal drag.
- Above £50,270 the NI effect runs the other way: employee NI is 8% up to the Upper Earnings Limit and 2% above it, so a frozen limit means more of your pay is charged at 2%. The calculator shows this as negative extra NI, which offsets part of the extra income tax.
- Scotland: the Personal Allowance and National Insurance parts apply, but the Scottish Parliament sets Scottish income tax bands, so this calculator’s income tax figures are for England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
HMRC: Maintaining the Personal Allowance and basic rate limit until 5 April 2031; GOV.UK: Income Tax rates; GOV.UK: National Insurance rates.
ONS
The inflation rate used
ONS, 21 October 2026: “The Consumer Prices Index (CPI) rose by 3.5% in the 12 months to September 2026, up from 3.1% the previous month.” The calculator uses 3.5% for every year by default. Nobody knows future inflation, so try a lower and a higher rate too. ONS: Consumer price inflation, UK: September 2026.
Before you rely on it
If the 28 October 2026 Budget changes this
The Autumn Budget is on Wednesday 28 October 2026. If it changes the Personal Allowance, the tax bands or how long they are frozen, an “Announced on 28 October” section is added to this page that day from GOV.UK’s Budget documents, and the page’s updated date changes. Until then the page uses the rules GOV.UK published before the Budget.
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Helpful answers
Threshold freeze FAQs.
How long are income tax thresholds frozen?
Until 5 April 2031. Budget 2025 kept the £12,570 Personal Allowance and £37,700 basic rate limit (so the £50,270 higher rate threshold) for 2028/29, 2029/30 and 2030/31. They had already been frozen to April 2028.
How much will the threshold freeze cost me?
It depends on your pay. If pay and prices rise 3.5% a year (ONS’s latest CPI), the extra income tax and NI over 2028/29 to 2030/31 compared with indexed thresholds is £756.56 on a £30,000 salary, £948.16 on £45,000 and £2,269.40 on £60,000.
Are National Insurance thresholds frozen too?
Yes. The NI Primary Threshold stays aligned with the Personal Allowance (£12,570) and the Upper Earnings Limit with the higher rate threshold (£50,270) until the 2030/31 tax year.
What happens to thresholds after April 2031?
HMRC says “the legislative default is that they would rise in line with CPI thereafter”. A later Budget could change that.
What inflation rate should I use?
The calculator starts at 3.5%, the CPI rate for the 12 months to September 2026 published by ONS on 21 October 2026. Future inflation is unknown, so try a lower and a higher rate to see the range.
Sources, opened 22 October 2026: HMRC, Income Tax: maintaining the Personal Allowance and basic rate limit … until 5 April 2031; GOV.UK, Income Tax rates and Personal Allowances; GOV.UK, National Insurance rates and categories; ONS, Consumer price inflation, UK: September 2026. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. An estimate, not tax advice.