Overview
- The latest petition on the UK Parliament website calls for lifting the Personal Allowance to £18,000 and is gathering support under rules that trigger a government reply at 10,000 signatures and a debate at 100,000.
- HM Treasury rejected the proposed rise in a new response, pointing instead to Budget moves such as higher minimum wage, a £150 energy bill credit, and freezes on prescription charges, rail fares, and fuel duty.
- The Personal Allowance has been fixed at £12,570 since 2021 and was extended to 2031 by Chancellor Rachel Reeves, a freeze that pulls more low-paid workers into tax as wages and prices rise.
- The OBR says the freezes will add about 600,000 pensioners to the tax rolls in 2026/27 and one million by 2030/31, with the full New State Pension set to surpass the allowance in 2027/28 under the triple lock.
- The Resolution Foundation estimates working-age households will be about £500 worse off on average this year because frozen thresholds raise tax bills, with the lowest earners hit hardest.