Articles
Explanations, guides and things worth knowing — some next to a calculator, some standing entirely on their own.
The £20,000 ISA allowance for 2025/26, and what changes after it
The headline number has not moved in years, but two things around it have: a UK-shares top-up was proposed and then dropped, and from 2027 the cash portion of the allowance shrinks for most savers. Here is where things actually stand.
The state pension for 2026/27, and how the triple lock set it
Earnings growth beat inflation this year, so the triple lock used the earnings figure. That single comparison, repeated every autumn, is the entire mechanism behind one o...
The personal allowance freeze, and what fiscal drag actually costs you
Nobody raised your tax rate. Nobody needed to. Freezing the personal allowance and the higher rate threshold while wages rise does the same job more quietly, and it has j...
How much can I borrow, and what does a lender actually count?
The number a lender will give you is not your salary times four. It is a payment they think you can still afford if rates rise, worked backwards into a loan — which is wh...
Fixed or variable: how to choose the way your rate is set
The choice is not a forecast about rates. It is a question about how much a known payment is worth to your household, and how far the variable rate would have to move bef...
What a rate change does to your mortgage payment
Central banks move rates in quarter points, and lenders pass them on in steps that look small on paper. Here is what each step is actually worth on a monthly payment, and...
The Lifetime ISA 25% penalty, and why it costs more than just the bonus
A Lifetime ISA pays a generous 25% government bonus, up to £1,000 a year. Take the money out for the wrong reason, though, and the 25% penalty applies to the whole pot, b...
UK business rates in 2026/27: five multipliers, one revaluation, and a relief scheme that just changed shape
A 2026 revaluation, a permanent split into five multipliers, and the end of the old retail relief scheme have all landed on business rates bills at once. Here is how the...
Pension Credit in 2025/26: the weekly minimum it guarantees, and why even a small award matters
Pension Credit tops up a low income in retirement to a guaranteed weekly floor — and getting even a few pence of it opens the door to other help worth far more. Here is t...
UK student loan repayment thresholds in 2026/27, plan by plan
Five different student loan plans run in parallel in the UK, each with its own threshold, repayment rate, and interest formula. Here is exactly what applies for 2026/27,...
UK Corporation Tax rates in 2026: 19%, 25%, and the 26.5% marginal band
The 2026 Corporation Tax rates are unchanged from the last three years, but the marginal relief band between them is where most small companies actually sit — and where t...
UK National Insurance thresholds for 2026/27: where it starts and what you pay
Nothing has moved on employee National Insurance for 2026/27 — the thresholds and rates are exactly where they were the year before, and now frozen for years to come. Her...
The UK ISA allowance in 2026/27: still £20,000, with a change coming next year
Nothing moved on the headline ISA number for 2026/27 — it has not moved since 2017/18. What is worth knowing is how the Lifetime and Junior ISA limits sit inside it, and...
The UK VAT registration threshold in 2026: still £90,000, with an £88,000 exit
No Budget has moved the VAT threshold since it rose from £85,000 to £90,000 in April 2024, so it carries straight through into 2026 unchanged — but the rolling 12-month t...
The UK Personal Allowance and income tax bands in 2026/27: frozen again, now until 2031
Nothing about the personal allowance or the basic, higher and additional rate thresholds has changed for 2026/27 — but the freeze that keeps them still has, extended at t...
Marriage Allowance in 2026/27: transfer £1,260, save up to £252
One partner earning below the Personal Allowance can hand a slice of it to the other, cutting their tax bill directly. Here is the exact amount for 2026/27 and who actual...
The UK state pension in 2026/27: a 4.8% triple lock rise to £241.30
For the 2026/27 tax year the triple lock delivered a 4.8% rise, again on earnings growth rather than prices. Here is the confirmed weekly rate, verified against DWP, and...
UK stamp duty in 2026: the lower thresholds, and a higher surcharge
The higher stamp duty thresholds introduced in 2022 expired on schedule in April 2025, and the surcharge on second homes went up separately. Here is exactly what a purcha...
The UK National Living Wage in 2026: a 4.1% rise to £12.71
April 2026 brings a smaller percentage rise than recent years for the over-21 rate, but a considerably larger one for 18-20-year-olds. Here is what full-time work is wort...
Council Tax premiums in 2025/26: why some homes now pay double, triple or quadruple
A second home or a long-empty property can now cost its owner two, three or even four times the standard Council Tax bill. Here is exactly how the premiums introduced in...
UK stamp duty in 2025/26: the Budget didn't touch it — a new property tax did
Stamp duty reform was one of the most widely tipped measures ahead of the Autumn Budget 2025. It didn't happen. Here are the thresholds actually in force for the rest of...
UK Capital Gains Tax after the Autumn Budget: the rates held, two reliefs didn't
The Autumn Budget 2025 was widely expected to raise Capital Gains Tax again. It didn't — but it didn't leave CGT alone either. Here is exactly what changed on 26 November...
How Council Tax bands work, and what a typical bill looks like for 2025/26
A property's Council Tax band was fixed by its 1991 value, not today's. Here is how the eight bands work, what the average Band D bill looks like for 2025/26, and who get...
The UK dividend allowance in 2025/26: £500 tax-free, then 8.75% to 39.35%
The dividend allowance has been cut by three-quarters since 2022/23 and now sits at £500. Here is what is taxed above it for 2025/26, and what a small shareholder or dire...
The UK pension annual allowance for 2025/26, and who gets less than £60,000
Most people can pay £60,000 into a pension with tax relief in 2025/26 — but a taper for high earners and a separate money purchase allowance can cut that down to just £10...
The UK Inheritance Tax threshold in 2025: £325,000, plus £175,000 for a home
Two thresholds, not one, decide whether an estate owes Inheritance Tax — and both are frozen until 2031. Here is how they combine, and what is actually owed on a real est...
The Universal Credit standard allowance for 2025/26, and how earnings reduce it
The standard allowance is the base of every Universal Credit award, before any extra elements are added. Here are the 2025/26 monthly amounts by age and household type, a...
Non-dom status ended on 6 April 2025 — here is the residence-based regime that replaced it
The remittance basis that let UK residents shield foreign income from tax indefinitely no longer exists. A four-year exemption for genuinely new arrivals replaced it — an...
UK Capital Gains Tax rates for 2025/26: 18% and 24%, one set of rates for everything
Since October 2024, shares and other assets are taxed at the same Capital Gains Tax rates as residential property — 18% or 24%, depending on your income. Here is what tha...
The UK Personal Allowance and income tax bands for 2025/26
The £12,570 Personal Allowance and the income tax bands built on it have not moved for 2025/26 — but the taper above £100,000 quietly pushes the marginal rate to 60% for...
The UK state pension in 2025/26: a 4.1% rise, and why earnings set it this time
For the 2025/26 tax year the triple lock delivered a 4.1% rise — this time because earnings grew faster than prices, not the other way round. Here is exactly what that is...
How the euro, dollar and pound moved against each other in 2024
10,000 euros converted to dollars in January 2024 and again in December would have produced two noticeably different amounts. Here is the shape of the year, and why the d...
UK minimum wage in 2024: a 9.8% rise and a lower age threshold, both at once
April 2024 brought one of the largest single-year rises to the UK minimum wage on record, plus a change to who qualifies for it. Here is what full-time work at each rate...
The state pension and National Insurance in 2024: two rate cuts and an 8.5% rise
Employee National Insurance fell from 12% to 10% in January 2024, then to 8% in April — two cuts in one year. Meanwhile the full state pension rose to £221.20 a week. Her...
UK stamp duty in 2024, and what a first-time buyer skips
A first-time buyer and a home mover pay very different stamp duty on the same house in 2024 — and the gap disappears completely above a certain price. Here is exactly whe...
What these articles are for
Some explain a question behind a calculator: which number belongs where, which rule applies to you, what the answer means. Others stand on their own and have nothing to do with a calculator. Either way, the arithmetic itself stays on the calculator pages — an article only ever explains, it never computes.