Tax year dates 2026/27
The tax year does not follow the calendar. It runs from 6 April 2026 to 5 April 2027, and payroll numbers the weeks and months inside it from that start date, which is the numbering printed on your payslip.
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Key dates
Tax year dates 2026/27
| Date | What happens |
|---|---|
| 1 April 2026 | The minimum wage and National Living Wage rates change. |
| 5 April 2026 | Statutory maternity pay changes to the new weekly flat rate. |
| 6 April 2026 | The 2026/27 tax year starts. Allowances and thresholds reset. |
| 5 April 2027 | The 2026/27 tax year ends. |
The minimum wage changes on its own date, a few days before the tax year starts, so the first week of April can be paid at one rate and taxed under another year’s thresholds.
Pay periods
How payroll numbers the year
| Tax month | From | To |
|---|---|---|
| Month 1 | 6 April 2026 | 5 May 2026 |
| Month 2 | 6 May 2026 | 5 June 2026 |
| Month 3 | 6 June 2026 | 5 July 2026 |
| Month 4 | 6 July 2026 | 5 August 2026 |
| Month 5 | 6 August 2026 | 5 September 2026 |
| Month 6 | 6 September 2026 | 5 October 2026 |
| Month 7 | 6 October 2026 | 5 November 2026 |
| Month 8 | 6 November 2026 | 5 December 2026 |
| Month 9 | 6 December 2026 | 5 January 2027 |
| Month 10 | 6 January 2027 | 5 February 2027 |
| Month 11 | 6 February 2027 | 5 March 2027 |
| Month 12 | 6 March 2027 | 5 April 2027 |
A monthly payslip shows the tax month it belongs to, not the calendar month. A weekly payslip counts weeks the same way, from the same start date, and this tax year holds 52 whole weeks. Where a weekly payday falls on the last day of the tax year there is one more pay run than that, which payroll handles under a rule of its own.
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Rules v2026.10 · checked against GOV.UK on 18 September 2026Two independent checks on every rate · 83 hand-verified cases, all passing, beside 19,925 generated · How we calculate · Changelog
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