Budget Summary 2017/18

Income Tax Rates and Allowances

Income Tax Rates and Allowances (Table A)

Main allowances 2017/18 2016/17
Personal Allowance (PA)*† £11,500 £11,000
Blind Person's Allowance 2,320 2,290
Rent a room relief § 7,500 7,500
Trading income § 1,000 N/A
Property income § 1,000 N/A

*PA will be withdrawn at £1 for every £2 by which ‘adjusted income’ exceeds £100,000. There will therefore be no allowance given if adjusted income is £123,000 or more (2016/17: £122,000).

†10% of the PA (2017/18: £1,150; 2016/17: £1,100) can be transferred to a spouse or civil partner who is no more than a basic rate taxpayer, where both spouses were born after 5 April 1935.

§ If gross income exceeds it, the limit may be deducted instead of actual expenses.

Rate Bands 2017/18 2016/17
Basic rate band (BRB) £33,500 £32,000
Higher rate band (HRB) 33,501-150,000 32,001-150,000
Additional rate over 150,000 over 150,000
Scottish taxpayers
– BRB 31,500 32,000
– HRB 31,501-150,000 32,001-150,000
Personal Savings Allowance (PSA)*
– Basic rate taxpayer 1,000 1,000
– Higher rate taxpayer 500 500
Dividend Nil Rate Band (DNRB)† 5,000 5,000

BRB and additional rate threshold are increased by personal pension contributions (up to permitted limit) and Gift Aid donations.

Tax Rates 2017/18 and 2016/17
Rates differ for General, Savings and Dividend income within each band:
  G S D
Basic 20% 20% 7.5%
Higher 40% 40% 32.5%
Additional 45% 45% 38.1%

General income (salary, pensions, business profits, rent) usually uses personal allowance, basic rate and higher rate bands before savings income (interest). To the extent that savings income falls in the first £5,000 of the basic rate band, it is taxed at nil rather than 20%.

*The PSA will tax interest at nil, where it would otherwise be taxable at 20% or 40%.

†Dividends are normally taxed as the ‘top slice’ of income. The DNRB taxes the first £5,000 of dividend income at nil, rather than the rate that would otherwise apply.

High Income Child Benefit Charge (HICBC)

1% of child benefit for each £100 of adjusted net income between £50,000 and £60,000.

Remittance basis charge 2017/18 2016/17
For non-UK domiciled individuals who have been
UK resident in at least
   
7 of the preceding 9 tax years £30,000 £30,000
12 of the preceding 14 tax years 60,000 60,000
17 of the preceding 20 tax years N/A 90,000

Registered Pensions (Table B)

  2017/18 2016/17
Lifetime allowance (LA) £1m £1m
Annual allowance (AA)* 40,000 40,000

Annual relievable pension inputs are the higher of earnings (capped at AA) or £3,600.

*The AA is usually reduced by £1 for every £2 by which relevant income exceeds £150,000, down to a minimum AA of £10,000. The AA can be reduced to £4,000, where certain pension drawings have been made.

Car and Fuel Benefits (Table C)

Cars

Taxable benefit: Chargeable value multiplied by chargeable percentage.

Chargeable value: Initial list price of car (including most accessories), reduced by any capital contribution (maximum £5,000) by employee when the car is first made available.

Chargeable percentage:

CO2 emissions (g/km) Petrol Diesel
0-50 9% 12%
51-75 13% 16%
76-94 17% 20%
Above 94 Add 1% for every 5g/km
Above 189 (petrol)/ 174 (diesel) 37% maximum

Car Fuel

Where employer provides fuel for private motoring in an employer-owned car, CO2-based percentage from above table multiplied by £22,600 (2016/17 £22,200).

Employee contributions for fuel do not reduce taxable figure unless all private fuel is paid for by the employee (in which case there is no benefit charge).