Website of the UK government

Personal allowances

Personal allowances – the amount of income you can receive before paying tax on it – have risen for most people.

For most people their personal allowance has gone up from £6,035 to £6,475. For people aged 65 – 74 it has increased from £9,030 to £9,490. People aged 75 and over have seen their personal allowance go up from £9,180 to £9,640.

• Introduction to tax allowances and reliefs

• Personal Allowance

Income tax

The amount you can earn before you start paying the higher rate of income tax has also increased.

To find out more about income tax follow the links below.

• Income Tax

• Check Income Tax rates and allowances on HMRC website Opens new window

National Insurance

The amount you can earn before you start paying National Insurance (NI) has also increased.

For more information on how much National Insurance you will pay, follow the links below.

• National Insurance

• Applying for a National Insurance number

• Do you need to top up your National Insurance contributions?

• Claiming back overpaid National Insurance contributions

Pensions and benefits

The weekly full basic State Pension has risen by five per cent from £90.70 to £95.25. Around 12 million pensioners will benefit from this increase in their State Pension, the biggest percentage increase since 2001.

Minister for Pensions,Rosie Winterton, said: "The increase in the basic State Pension will put extra cash in pensioners' pockets every week, to help them through these tough times.

"In 1997 our pensioners' income was well below the European average. Today their income is nearly ten per cent higher than the European average. Even the poorest pensioners in the UK are better off than the poorest pensioners in France or Germany."

Other benefits such as Maternity Allowance, Incapacity Benefit, Statutory Sick Pay and Child Benefit have also increased.

For more information on how much you may be able to receive, follow the link below.

• Money, tax and benefits