What actually resets on 6 April 2026
The UK tax year runs 6 April to 5 April — an oddity dating back to the 1752 Gregorian calendar switch when 11 days were dropped. Every 6 April, a long list of allowances, thresholds and counters reset. Use the days immediately before and after to bank the year-just-gone and set up the new one cleanly.
Allowances that reset to zero on 6 April
The £20,000 ISA allowance resets — if you haven't used it by 5 April it's gone forever. The £3,000 Capital Gains Tax annual exempt amount resets too, so this is the natural moment for a Bed-and-ISA cycle. The £1,000 dividend allowance, £1,000 personal savings allowance (basic-rate), and the £3,000 gifting allowance for inheritance tax also reset. The £60,000 pension annual allowance resets, though up to three years of unused allowance can be carried forward.
Counters and bands that reset
New tax codes from HMRC arrive around early March — check yours by 6 April so any error gets corrected before the first payroll run. Marriage Allowance renews automatically but is worth re-checking if either partner's income has changed. Class 2 and Class 4 NI thresholds usually adjust on 6 April; if you're self-employed, check that your accounting software has the new figures. Student loan thresholds for Plans 1, 2, 4 and 5 (and Postgraduate) all adjust on 6 April based on RPI from the prior September.
What doesn't reset
Your Personal Allowance taper at £100,000 is fresh every year, but the £150,000 additional-rate threshold is part of total income for the year, not a counter that resets. Pension Lifetime Allowance (now retired) has been replaced by the Lump Sum Allowance (£268,275) and Lump Sum and Death Benefit Allowance (£1,073,100) — these are lifetime limits, not annual ones.
Authoritative reference: gov.uk Rates and Allowances and the annual Budget announcement.
Five good checks to do in April
- Open Tax Drag Calculator and rebuild your new-year baseline.
- Run Adjusted Net Income Calculator if HICBC, Tax-Free Childcare or the £100,000 taper matter.
- Check ISA vs GIA before new taxable investing leaks build up again.
- Use Pension Annual Allowance if contributions are large enough that carry forward or taper might matter.
- Re-open Self-employed Toolkit if the year change affects VAT, profit reserves or extraction.
Why April matters so much
April is when stale assumptions do the most damage. The page you last used in winter may still be useful, but the right move is to re-open it after 6 April and rebuild the baseline with the current-year figures rather than carrying forward an old scenario.
How UK Tax Drag holds itself to account
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