Tax Bands Sandbox

Drag the salary. Watch the bands.
Income tax bands
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The narrator

Income tax in the UK uses bands: the first slice of your earnings is tax-free, the next chunk is taxed at 20%, then 40%, then 45%. Most students can recite the rates. Many still picture it as if all your income gets taxed at one rate. This sim makes the band structure visible.

What you'll do

  • Drag a salary slider from £15,000 up to £200,000.
  • Watch a stacked bar grow. Each colour is a tax band.
  • See live numbers for total tax, take-home, and effective tax rate.
  • Read the insight panel: it explains what's happening at the salary you've set.
4Bands
1Slider
~5Minutes

Why this matters

A common misconception: "if I earn £55,000 I'm in the higher rate band, so all my income is taxed at 40%." Wrong. Only the slice above £50,270 is taxed at 40%. Everything below sits in lower bands. This sim makes that obvious in a way no textbook can.

Where the bands sit
Drag the slider. The bar and the numbers move with you.
£15k£200k
Total income tax this year
£0
Take home: £0
Effective rate
0%
Top band hit
Basic
Your salary, in tax bands
£0 £30,000
Personal allowance
£0 of salary
no tax
Basic rate 20%
£0 of salary
£0 tax
Higher rate 40%
£0 of salary
£0 tax
Additional rate 45%
£0 of salary
£0 tax
What the bar is telling you

The big idea

Tax bands are slices, not labels. Being "in the higher rate band" doesn't mean all your income is taxed at 40%. It means the last few pounds of your income are taxed at 40%. The slices below still pay basic rate or no tax at all.

That's why the effective tax rate is always lower than the top band. A £60,000 salary doesn't pay 40% of £60,000 in tax. It pays about 19% overall, because most of the income falls into lower bands. The bar above shows you why.