More than seven million people in the UK are set to see a rise in their tax bill. Recent data released by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) reveals a significant increase in the number of people subject to higher-rate income tax.
In the 2025-26 financial year, an estimated 7.08 million people will fall into this category. This represents a rise of nearly two-fifths compared to the 2022-23 period, which had 5.10 million people in this tax bracket.
Furthermore, this also marks an increase of 2.65 million from the 2021-22 figure of 4.43 million.
Additionally, the number of additional-rate income tax payers is projected to be 1.23 million in 2025-26, up from approximately 570,000 in 2022-23 and 520,000 in 2021-22.
As reported by the Daily Record, the total number of income tax payers is expected to reach 39.10 million in 2025-26, an increase from 34.50 million in the 2022-23 tax year and 33.00 million in 2021-22. This surge can be attributed to frozen tax thresholds pushing people into higher tax brackets as their salaries rise.
Sarah Coles, head of personal finance at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: "Fiscal drag has hauled over six million more people into paying income tax, and 3.36m more into paying higher or additional rate tax."
She added: "We've had to hand over an extra £89 billion in income tax this year - compared to 2021/22 - as a result."
Ms Coles continued: "It has had a devastating impact on the tax we pay on our earnings, but that's not the end of it, because it also takes a huge chunk out of our savings and investments. It reveals just how much damage is being done to our finances by this horrible stealth tax - and there's plenty more to come.
"Income tax thresholds are set to stay frozen until April 2028, but as the debate around the UK Government finances intensifies, the risk that the freeze remains for even longer can't be ruled out."
Laura Suter, director of personal finance at AJ Bell, commented to say on Tuesday: "The figures published today show that in just the past year alone, from 2024-25 to the current 2025/26 tax year, a further half a million people are estimated to move into the higher rate taxpayer bracket.
"They now account for almost a fifth (18.1% in 2025-26) of all taxpayers, illustrating that the higher rate of tax, once reserved for those on healthy salaries, is now pretty commonplace."
She continued: "It's not just working age people who have faced this rising tax tide, pensioners are being hit too. The frozen tax bands combined with chunky increases in the state pension mean that more pensioners are becoming taxpayers."
A Treasury spokesperson stated: "This Government inherited the previous government's policy of frozen tax thresholds.
"At the budget and the spring statement, the Chancellor announced that we would not extend that freeze. We are also protecting payslips for working people by keeping our promise to not raise the basic, higher or additional rates of income tax, employee national insurance or VAT.
"That's the plan for change - protecting people's incomes and putting money into people's pockets."
Tax thresholds in England and Wales 2025/26
Scottish tax bands 2025/26
