As it does every year, the start of the 2022-23 tax year on 6th April brings with it some changes to tax rates and allowances.

It’s really important to understand how this might affect you, so we’ve put together a brief guide to help explain how it all works.

 

Personal allowance – what is it?

The personal tax allowance is the amount of money you can earn before income tax becomes payable, and applies to anything you earn, whether it’s from an employer, from self-employed earning, or even a mix of both.

For 2022-23 the allowance is the same as the previous year – £12,570. As you only pay tax on earnings above that amount, if your salary is (for instance) £20000, your taxable income would be worked out as follows:

Salary: £20000

Minus £12570 (personal allowance)

= £7430 taxable income

If you’re a high earner, you should be aware that for every £2 you earn above £10000, your Personal Allowance is reduced by £1. So if you earn £125000, you have a Personal Allowance of zero.

 

Income tax – how’s it worked out?

Your income tax is worked out depending on what you earn and how you’ve earned it. It’s broken into tax bands, which are segments representing a salary range, and the amount of income tax you pay depends on the percentage payable within each salary band. Some people may think that if your wages increase and you move into a new tax band, your new tax rate applies to all your earnings: this is a common misconception!

Income tax rates for 2022-23 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland are as follows

Tax rate2022-23 Threshold
Personal allowance£0 – £12,570
Basic rate income tax (20%)£12,571 – £50,270
Higher rate income tax (40%)£50,271 – £150,000
Additional rate income tax (45%)£150,000 upwards

 

So this means that if your salary is £75,000, for 2022-23 you’ll pay the following income tax over three tax bands:

AmountTax rateAmount taxable at this rate
£12,5700%£12,570
£12,571 – £50,27020%£37,700
£50,271 – £75,00040%£24,730

 

Scotland has a different set of tax rates, as detailed below:

Tax rate2022-23 Threshold
Personal allowance£0 – £12,570
Starter rate income tax (19%)£12,571 – £14.667
Basic rate income tax (20%)£14,668 – £25,296
Intermediate rate income tax (21%)£25,297 – £43,662
Higher rate income tax (41%)£43,663 – £150,000
Top rate income tax (46%)Over £150,000

 

So using the same £75,000 salary example, the taxable incomes would be as follows:

AmountTax rateAmount taxable at this rate
£12,5700%£12,570
£12,571 – £14,66719%£2097
£14,668 – £25,29620%£10,629
£25,297 – £43, 66221%£18,366
£43,663 – £75,00041%£31,338

 

National Living Wage and National Minimum Wage

If you’re paid on an hourly rate, then depending on your age, your basic minimum wages are going to be changing for 2022-23, to the below rates.

Employee Age2022-3 National Minimum Wage (per hour)
Apprentices£4.81
16 – 17£4.81
18 – 20£6.83
21 – 22£9.18

 

If you’re 23 and over you are paid the National Living Wage, which goes up from £8.91 in 2021-22 to £9.50 per hour for 2022-23.

A quick note on National Insurance

As we mentioned in a previous blog, there are going to be some changes to National Insurance for 2022-23, due to the Health and Social Care Levy. If you make Class 1 or Class 4 NI contributions, expect to see a 1.25% increase in your contributions.

 

If this is all a bit overwhelming and you need some advice on your tax matters – get in touch! We’re here to simplify your tax matters and make your life easier!