11 hours ago
New call to cut income tax rate in half for people earning under £50,000
An online petition is also urging the UK Government to increase the Personal Allowance to £15,000.
Income tax rises for Scots in April - how the changes affect you
A new online petition is calling for the basic rate of tax to be cut from 20 per cent to 10 per cent for all workers earning less than £50,000 per year. Petition creator Holly Millar is also urging the UK Government to increase the Personal Allowance from £12,500 to £15,000.
The petition, posted on the Petitions Parliament website, states: 'We believe many are struggling financially. In our view, prices are too high, food and basic necessities cost too much, bills are increasing, people are having to choose between having a warm house or food.
'We believe young people can't afford to live independently as this could due to the current Personal Allowance. We believe the government needs to start thinking about the public and their needs.'
The Personal Allowance has been frozen at £12,570 since the start of the 2021/22 financial year, however, earlier this year the UK Government announced it will rise with inflation from April 2028.
A recent online petition calling for an increase to £20,000 received 281,792 signatures of support from across the UK and was debated by MPs in Parliament last month.
It's also important to be aware there are different tax banding rates in Scotland and England. The Scottish Government now has six tax bands while there are four south of the border.
Scottish tax bands 2025/26
Personal Allowance - up to £12,570, 0%
Starter rate - £12,571 to £15,397, 19%
Basic rate - £14,877 to £27,491, 20%
Intermediate rate - £26,562 to £43,662, 21%
Higher rate - £43,663 to £75,000, 42%
Advanced rate - £75,001 to £125,140, 45%
Top rate - over £125,140, 48%
Tax thresholds in England and Wales 2025/26
Personal Allowance - up to £12,570, 0%
Basic Rate - £12,571 to £50,270, 20%
Higher Rate - £50,271 to £125,140, 40%
Additional Rate - over £125,140, 45%
At 10,000 signatures of support the petition will be entitled to a written response from the UK Government. At 100,000 it would be considered by the Petitions Committee for debate in Parliament.
National Insurance deductions
A separate online petition is calling on the UK Government to scrap National Insurance contribution deductions for workers over the age of 60.
People automatically stop seeing NICs deducted from payslips when they reach State Pension age, which is currently 66, but set to rise to 67 over 2026 and 2028.
However, petition creator Mike Haynes argues making workers over 60 exempt from paying National Insurance would 'make it easier financially for older people to survive'.
He added: 'We are calling for this as many over-60s are struggling to survive due to what we believe has been incompetent government spending over the past 30 years.'
The 'exempt workers over 60 from National Insurance payments' petition has been posted on the UK Government's Petitions Parliament website. At 10,000 signatures of support, it would be entitled to a written response from the UK Government, most-likely The Treasury.
At 100,000 signatures, it would be considered by the Petitions Committee for debate in Parliament - you can read it in full here.
