Reference

2026 Tax Brackets: UK, US, and Canada

A quick reference for income tax rates in all three countries. The UK figures cover the 2026/27 tax year that runs from 6 April 2026 to 5 April 2027. The US and Canada figures cover the 2026 calendar tax year. Each section names the band, the rate, and the threshold that triggers the next slice of tax.

UK income tax bands 2026/27

England, Wales, and Northern Ireland share the same income tax bands. Scotland runs a separate set of five bands. The Personal Allowance is frozen at £12,570 through to April 2028, and the higher-rate threshold is frozen at £50,270 over the same period. The Personal Allowance tapers by £1 for every £2 of earnings above £100,000 and is fully removed at £125,140.

Frozen thresholds in a period of inflation create fiscal drag. As wages rise with inflation, more taxpayers cross into higher bands without any change to headline rates. The Office for Budget Responsibility expects the freeze to add roughly four million people to the higher-rate band and a further million to the additional-rate band by the time it ends in 2028.

US federal tax brackets 2026

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act brackets were set to expire at the end of 2025, which would have reverted federal rates to the pre-2017 schedule. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, signed in July 2025, made the TCJA bracket structure permanent. The 10, 12, 22, 24, 32, 35, and 37 percent brackets remain in place, with the thresholds adjusted for inflation each year. Verify the exact 2026 thresholds at IRS.gov, which publishes them in the annual revenue procedure.

Approximate single-filer brackets for tax year 2026 after the standard inflation adjustment from the 2025 figures:

The 2026 standard deduction is approximately $16,100 for single filers and $32,200 for joint filers, indexed up from the 2025 figures of $15,000 and $30,000. Pre-OBBBA legislation would have reverted the standard deduction to roughly half these amounts, with personal exemptions reinstated. That scenario no longer applies because the law made the higher standard deduction permanent.

Canada federal brackets 2026

The Canada Revenue Agency indexes federal brackets and the Basic Personal Amount (BPA) to inflation each year. The five federal rates are 15, 20.5, 26, 29, and 33 percent. The BPA for 2026 is approximately $16,400, indexed from $16,129 in 2025. Provincial income tax is layered on top with its own bands; check the CRA tables for your province.

The CPP contribution rate stays at 5.95% employee on pensionable earnings between the basic exemption and the year's maximum pensionable earnings. EI premiums for 2026 sit near 1.66% on insurable earnings, with separate Quebec rates. Both apply

How to pay less tax in 2026

The biggest single lever in each country is the tax-sheltered retirement account. In the UK that is the workplace pension with salary sacrifice; in the US the 401(k) and Roth IRA; in Canada the RRSP for high-income earners and the TFSA for everyone. Each shelter takes income off the top of your marginal bracket, which is where fiscal drag and the higher US bands bite hardest.

A second lever is timing. Pension and RRSP contributions are deductible against income earned in the same tax year. If a one-off bonus or stock vest pushes you into the next bracket, a contribution sized to bring taxable income back below the threshold can be the difference between paying 40% or 20% (UK), 22% or 12% (US), or 26% or 20.5% (Canada) on the marginal slice.