Use this before you rely on a nationwide assumption

UK Rules by Nation

Most of the site is built for UK-wide personal finance, but not every rule is truly UK-wide. This page is the quick reference for the things on UK Tax Drag that change depending on whether you are in England, Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland.

The short version

Income tax on earnings is different in Scotland. Property transaction taxes differ between England and Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Tax-Free Childcare is UK-wide, but free-hours childcare support is not the same everywhere. Whenever a page on this site uses one nation's rules, the shared nation note now flags that at the top of the page.

Where the rules split most clearly

Property

Home-buying taxes are not one UK system

England and Northern Ireland use SDLT, Scotland uses LBTT, and Wales uses LTT. The rates, thresholds and reliefs are not interchangeable, so property pages need the right nation before they are useful.

Income tax

Scottish earnings bands are different

Scotland has its own non-savings, non-dividend earnings bands and rates. England, Wales and Northern Ireland usually share the same main earnings bands on the pages in this site.

Childcare

Tax-Free Childcare is UK-wide, free-hours support is not

The Tax-Free Childcare account is a UK-wide scheme, but the separate free-hours and funded-childcare routes depend on nation-specific policy.

Everything else

Many core tax rules still stay UK-wide

ISA limits, pension annual allowance, dividend allowance, most savings rules, CGT on shares and Shared Parental Pay are still usually UK-wide, even if related education or childcare support is not.

Best pages to use with this guide

Official nation-specific starting points

England & Northern Ireland

SDLT and most GOV.UK tax pages

Stamp Duty Land Tax rates and most standard GOV.UK tax guidance pages apply here.

Wales

LTT and devolved support routes

Land Transaction Tax is the home-buying tax to check for Welsh properties.

UK-wide childcare account

Tax-Free Childcare

Tax-Free Childcare is the shared UK-wide childcare account scheme, but the free-hours detail still varies by nation.