Income and Corporation Taxes Act 1988

1 The charge to income tax

(1) Income tax shall be charged in accordance with the provisions of the Income Tax Acts in respect of all property, profits or gains respectively described or comprised in the Schedules, A, B, C, D, E and F, set out in sections 15 to 20 or which in accordance with the Income Tax Acts are to be brought into charge to tax under any of those Schedules or otherwise.

(2) Where any Act enacts that income tax shall be charged for any year, income tax shall be charged for that year—

(a) in respect of any income which does not fall within paragraph (b) below, at such rate as Parliament may determine to be the basic rate for that year;

(b) in respect of so much of an individual’s total income as exceeds £17,900, at such higher rates respectively as Parliament may determine in relation to the first £2,500, the next £5,000, the next £7,900, the next £7,900 and the remainder;

but this subsection has effect subject to any provision of the Income Tax Acts providing for income tax to be charged at a different rate in certain cases.

(3) The amount up to which an individual’s income is by virtue of subsection (2) above chargeable for any year at the basic rate shall be known as the basic rate limit; and the parts of income in excess of the basic rate limit which are specified in paragraph (b) of that subsection shall be known respectively as the first, second, third, fourth and fifth higher rate bands.

(4) If the retail prices index for the month of December preceding a year of assessment is higher than it was for the previous December, then, unless Parliament otherwise determines, subsection (2) above shall apply for that year as if for each of the amounts specified in that subsection as it applied for the previous year (whether by virtue of this subsection or otherwise) there were substituted an amount arrived at by increasing the amount for the previous year by the same percentage as the percentage increase in the retail prices index and, if the result is not a multiple of £100, rounding it up to the nearest amount which is such a multiple.

(5) Subsection (4) above shall not require any change to be made in the amounts deductible or repayable under section 203 between the beginning of a year of assessment and 5th May in that year.

(6) The Treasury shall before each year of assessment make an order specifying the amounts which by virtue of subsection (4) above will be treated as specified for that year in subsection (2) above.

(7) Part VII contains general provisions relating to the taxation of income of individuals.