A petition has called for a major change in tax policy
A petition that wants the UK Government to raise the personal tax allowance to £20,000 from its current level of £12,570 has one week left to gather enough signatures to be considered for Parliamentary debate. The petition, set up on the UK Government’s petition website by Shannon Keene, has a deadline of Saturday, February 28, 2026.
Entitled ‘Raise the income tax personal allowance from £12,570 to £20,000’, it says: “This would help with increasing rent, mortgages, Council tax, and Gas and Electric bills. Some families can’t afford to go back to work after children due to childcare costs wiping their whole income!
“We think that we are currently paying ridiculous amounts of tax, and that minimum wage isn’t even enough to support an average family. We believe that this would lead to a massive increase on people willing to look for work, instead of people not wanting to, due to it being too expensive to now live.”
Currently, workers can earn £12,570 per year before they start paying income tax – a threshold known as the personal tax allowance. Income above this level is then subject to 20 per cent tax on earnings up to £50,270. Above that level, income is taxed at 40 per cent. Earnings above £125,140 attract 45 per cent.
In last November’s budget, Chancellor Rachel Reeves chose to extend the current income tax freeze, which has been in place since a Conservative government Budget in 2021, beyond its original 2028 deadline until 2031, meaning there will be no change as it stands for another five years. This can increase the Government’s income because it drags more people into paying tax, or a higher level of tax, as wages increase but the allowance does not.
At the time of writing on Saturday afternoon, the petition’s total stood at 73,106 signatures. To be considered for a debate in Parliament it needs to hit 100,000 before the deadline next Saturday.
However, because the petition has passed 10,000 signatures, the Government is required to respond, which it did ahead of the November 2025 Budget.
An HM Treasury spokesperson responded: “The Government is committed to keeping taxes for working people as low as possible while investing in public services and not taking risks with the economy. The Government currently has no plans to increase the Personal Allowance to £20,000.
“Increasing the Personal Allowance to £20,000 would come at a significant fiscal cost of more than £50 billion per annum. This would reduce tax receipts substantially, decreasing funds available for the UK’s hospitals, schools, and other essential public services that we all rely on. A £50 billion cut in public services is equivalent to slashing roughly a quarter of the NHS Budget, or around 80% of defence spending.
“To support the lowest-paid workers in our economy, the Government asked the Low Pay Commission to account for the cost of living when making their recommendations on the minimum wage rates to apply from April 2025, for the first time. The government is also supporting families through the universal offer of 15 hours of government-funded childcare for all parents of 3- and 4-year-olds and eligible working parents of children aged 9 months and above can access 30 hours a week in free childcare.
“The Government keeps all taxes under review as part of the policy making process. The Chancellor will announce any changes to the tax system at the Budget on the 26th November in the usual way.”
