The ICAEW tax tables are a concise annual reference that pulls every headline UK tax rate, threshold, allowance, and band into a single document, published by ICAEW after each Finance Act for use by accounting professionals and ACA students. They cover income tax (including Scottish rates), National Insurance across all classes, capital gains tax, inheritance tax, corporation tax, VAT, stamp duty land tax, and pension contribution limits. The tables are built for fast lookup rather than teaching: no worked examples, no commentary, just the figures you need to apply the rules you already know.
What Sits Inside the Tables
Each section of the tables gives the rates, the thresholds at which those rates apply, and any annual exempt amounts or allowances. Because they strip out narrative, you use them alongside your own knowledge of the underlying rules. The tables pair with practice; they don’t replace it.
For ACA students, the equivalent publication is Hardman’s Tax Rates and Tables, which ICAEW designates as the permitted text for the relevant exam modules.1ICAEW. Permitted Texts
Key Figures for 2025/26
Income Tax
The personal allowance stays at £12,570, frozen at that level and now legislated to remain there through April 2031.2GOV.UK. Income Tax – Maintaining the Personal Allowance and the Basic Rate Limit Until April 2031 It tapers by £1 for every £2 of income above £100,000, disappearing entirely at £125,140.3GOV.UK. Income Tax Rates and Allowances for Current and Previous Tax Years
In England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, taxable income up to £37,700 is charged at the basic rate of 20%, income from £37,701 to £125,140 at the higher rate of 40%, and anything above £125,140 at the additional rate of 45%. These bands apply after the personal allowance is deducted.3GOV.UK. Income Tax Rates and Allowances for Current and Previous Tax Years
Scotland sets its own rates, and the tables list them separately. For 2025/26 Scotland runs six bands, starting at a 19% starter rate on the first £2,827 of taxable income and reaching a 48% top rate on income above £125,140, with intermediate (21%) and advanced (45%) rates sitting in between.4Scottish Government. Scottish Income Tax 2025 to 2026 Factsheet
National Insurance
Class 1 employee contributions run at 8% on weekly earnings between the primary threshold of £242 and the upper earnings limit of £967, then 2% above that. Employer contributions changed materially in April 2025: 15% on earnings above a secondary threshold of just £96 per week, up from the previous 13.8%.5GOV.UK. Rates and Allowances – National Insurance Contributions
Self-employed Class 4 rates are 6% on profits between £12,570 and £50,270, and 2% above £50,270.5GOV.UK. Rates and Allowances – National Insurance Contributions Class 2 contributions are now treated as paid automatically for anyone with profits of £7,105 or more, preserving the NI record without a separate charge.6GOV.UK. National Insurance – National Insurance Classes
Capital Gains Tax
CGT was restructured from April 2025. Individuals pay 18% on gains within their remaining basic rate band and 24% on gains above it, regardless of asset type. The old split between residential property gains and other gains has effectively gone for most individuals. Business Asset Disposal Relief gains are now taxed at 14%, up from 10%.7HM Revenue & Customs. Capital Gains Tax Rates and Allowances
The annual exempt amount is £3,000 for 2025/26, down from £12,300 in 2022/23.7HM Revenue & Customs. Capital Gains Tax Rates and Allowances That collapse has turned a rarely referenced number into one of the most-consulted lines in the CGT section.
Inheritance Tax
The nil rate band is £325,000, unchanged since April 2009 and now frozen until at least April 2030.8HM Revenue & Customs. Inheritance Tax Thresholds and Interest Rates The residence nil rate band adds a further £175,000 where a qualifying home passes to direct descendants, also frozen until April 2030.9GOV.UK. Inheritance Tax Nil-Rate Band, Residence Nil-Rate Band From 6 April 2028 A surviving spouse can potentially shelter up to £1 million by combining both partners’ transferred bands.
Corporation Tax
The main rate is 25% for companies with profits above £250,000, and the small profits rate is 19% for profits of £50,000 or less.10HM Revenue & Customs. Corporation Tax Rates and Allowances Profits between those thresholds attract marginal relief, tapering the effective rate from 19% up to 25%.11GOV.UK. Marginal Relief for Corporation Tax The Finance Act 2025 confirms the same figures for the financial year 2026.12Legislation.gov.uk. Finance Act 2025
VAT
The standard rate is 20%, with reduced rates of 5% and 0% applying to specified goods and services. The registration threshold is £90,000 of taxable turnover over any rolling twelve-month period, and the deregistration threshold is £88,000.13GOV.UK. Increasing the VAT Registration Threshold No changes have been announced for 2026.14House of Commons Library. VAT Registration
Which Edition You Need
The UK tax year runs from 6 April to 5 April.15GOV.UK. Self Assessment Tax Returns – Deadlines ICAEW updates the tables annually after the government’s Budget statement and the passage of the corresponding Finance Act, and each edition states its tax year on the front page. Always check that the edition matches the period you’re working on before relying on a figure.
With so many thresholds now frozen across multiple years, last year’s table can look interchangeable with this year’s. It isn’t. Recent editions carry material changes to CGT rates, the CGT annual exempt amount, employer NIC, and Business Asset Disposal Relief while the headline thresholds have stood still. Verify the year on the cover before you copy a number across.
What the Latest Edition Reflects
The Finance Act 2025 drove several substantial updates to the tables.12Legislation.gov.uk. Finance Act 2025 The most consequential:
- Employer NIC increased to 15% with a lowered £96-per-week secondary threshold
- CGT rates unified across property and non-property gains at 18% and 24%
- Business Asset Disposal Relief moved from 10% to 14%
- The remittance basis for non-domiciled individuals ended from 2025/26
The personal allowance and basic rate limit freeze now runs through April 2031. Because wages continue to rise while the thresholds stay put, more income is pulled into higher bands each year through fiscal drag. The static numbers on the page understate their real-world effect.
How To Get the Tables
The ICAEW Tax Faculty area of the ICAEW website is the primary source for members. Practitioners typically receive the tables through Tax Faculty membership or as supplements to professional publications, and they are also available as a PDF download to keep on hand during client work.
ACA students access Hardman’s Tax Rates and Tables through the ICAEW digital bookshelf and, during exams, within the exam software itself.1ICAEW. Permitted Texts Whichever route you use, check the edition date matches the tax year you’re working in.
Using the Tables in ACA Exams
Two Professional Level modules use tax tables as permitted texts: Tax Compliance and Business Planning: Taxation. Both provide Hardman’s inside the exam software as a searchable, blank copy accessible through a tab alongside the question and answer area.16ICAEW. How To Prepare for Open Book Exams You cannot bring a hard copy or annotated version into the exam room. Notes you made in your personal copy beforehand won’t appear.
The Tax Fundamentals module at Certificate Level also provides tax tables through the exam interface, but shown through an exhibit button that displays only the section relevant to the question you’re answering.17ICAEW. Exam Guide – Tax Fundamentals
Students who practise with the digital tables before sitting the exam navigate them faster on the day. Knowing the layout, the section headings, and the search terms that pull up specific thresholds means exam time goes on analysis rather than scrolling. The tables remove memorisation as a barrier; they don’t remove the need to know which rate applies.