Adjusted net income and the Personal Allowance taper
Adjusted net income—not headline salary alone—determines whether the standard Personal Allowance starts to disappear.
The short answer
The standard Personal Allowance is £12,570. It starts to fall when adjusted net income exceeds £100,000, losing £1 for every £2 above that point. It reaches zero at £125,140.
A simplified calculation path
- Add taxable income from relevant sources before Personal Allowances.
- Subtract specified gross pension contributions where the rules permit.
- Subtract grossed-up Gift Aid donations and other qualifying adjustments.
- Apply the £100,000 test to the resulting adjusted net income.
Relief-at-source pension and Gift Aid payments are commonly made net of basic-rate relief, so HMRC’s ANI steps use the grossed-up amount. For example, an £8,000 net payment may correspond to £10,000 gross when basic-rate relief is added. Other pension methods can enter the calculation differently because taxable pay may already have been reduced.
A £110,000 example
With ANI of £110,000 and no other adjustment, income is £10,000 above the taper start. Half of that—£5,000—is removed from the £12,570 allowance, leaving £7,570.
For England, Wales and Northern Ireland, an extra pound within the taper can both be taxed at 40% and expose another 50 pence to 40% tax. That creates the familiar 60% marginal Income Tax effect in this zone before considering NI, student loans, benefits or other interactions. Scottish rates make the pattern different.
Why reducing ANI is not a one-step recommendation
Gross pension contributions and Gift Aid can reduce ANI when the rules apply, but neither should be chosen from a tax percentage alone. Cash accessibility, pension limits, employer scheme mechanics, contribution timing and the actual recipient of a donation all matter.
Other reasons ANI matters
Adjusted net income is also used in several tax rules and benefit tests. Those rules have their own thresholds and definitions, so the taper calculator intentionally focuses on Personal Allowance rather than claiming to model childcare, Child Benefit or every allowance.
Official sources
Estimate your taper position.
Combine employment income, bonuses or benefits and gross eligible adjustments to estimate the allowance remaining.