Thousands of people have signed an online petition calling for the UK Government to unfreeze the income tax threshold.
More than 10,000 people have signed an online petition urging the UK Government to increase the Personal Allowance tax threshold from £12,570 to £20,000. The e-petition is now entitled to a written response from the UK Government, which could come before the Autumn Budget on November 26.
Petition creator Shannon Keene argues that raising the income tax limit would “help with increasing rent, mortgages, Council Tax, and gas and electric bills”.
The campaigner also argues that families are “currently paying ridiculous amounts of tax” and that the minimum wage “isn’t even enough to support an average family”. She believes that increasing the Personal Allowance would “lead to a massive increase in people willing to look for work”.
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The Labour Government announced earlier this year that the Personal Tax Allowance will remain frozen at £12,570 until April 2028, it has been frozen since April 2021.
The ‘raise the income tax personal allowance from £12,570 to £20,000’ petition has been posted on the Petitions Parliament website. At 100,000 signatures of support it would be considered by the Petitions Committee for debate in Parliament.
The petition states: “This would help with increasing rent, mortgages, Council tax, and Gas and Electric bills. Some families can’t afford to go back to work after children due to childcare costs wiping their whole income!
“We think that we are currently paying ridiculous amounts of tax, and that minimum wage isn’t even enough to support an average family.
“We believe that this would lead to a massive increase in people willing to look for work, instead of people not wanting to, due to it being too expensive to now live.”
It’s important to be aware there are different tax banding rates in Scotland and England. The Scottish Government now has six tax bands while there are four south of the border.
Scottish tax bands 2025/26
- Personal Allowance (0%)- up to £12,570
- Starter rate (19%) – £12,571 to £15,397
- Basic rate (20%) – £14,877 to £27,491
- Intermediate rate (21%) – £26,562 to £43,662
- Higher rate (42%) – £43,663 to £75,000
- Advanced rate (45%) – £75,001 to £125,140
- Top rate (48%) – over £125,140
Tax thresholds in England and Wales 2025/26
- Personal Allowance (0%) – up to £12,570
- Basic Rate (20%) – £12,571 to £50,270
- Higher Rate (40%) – £50,271 to £125,140
- Additional Rate (45%) – over £125,140
