💰 UK Tax & Duty

Official HMRC Rates 2025 / 26

The government doesn't just take income tax and NI. It taxes your petrol, your beer, your cigarettes, your insurance and your flights. Here's exactly how much - and a calculator to work out your personal duty bill.

🧾 Salary Tax Receipt Standard PAYE employee - annual salary - shareable link
Enter gross yearly pay. This calculator works out income tax and employee National Insurance for 2026/27 and turns it into a black-and-white receipt you can share.
The first two buttons change the receipt. The tax-on-tax button opens a separate explainer underneath.
Assumes England, Wales or Northern Ireland PAYE bands, no pension salary sacrifice, no student loan deductions, and no other allowances.
The page URL stores the salary value. Share the link to reopen the same receipt.
UK DECLINE
YOUR 2026 TAX RECEIPT
ukdecline.co.uk
Printed--
Salary entered£0
What gets taken
Income tax£0
Employee NI£0
TOTAL DIRECT TAX£0
Take-home pay£0
Monthly take-home£0
Effective tax rate0.0%
Estimate only. Standard employee PAYE using current 2026/27 thresholds. Does not include pension, student loan, benefits in kind, Scottish rates or any specialist reliefs.
Thank you for shopping with the British state.
🔢 Your Personal Duty Calculator Adjust the sliders to match your habits - your total updates instantly

This calculator uses official 2025/26 HMRC duty rates to estimate how much you personally pay in indirect duties each year based on your consumption. It does not include income tax or NI - this is purely what the government takes on top of what you buy.

Based on average petrol car (40mpg). Fuel duty 57.95p/litre + VAT.
150 mi
Duty: £6.33/20 + 16.5% of retail + VAT. Based on avg pack price £15.
0 /day
Duty: ~48p/pint (4% ABV, 568ml). On-trade draught rate applied.
4 /wk
Duty: £3.17/bottle (75cl, 11.5-15% ABV) + 20% VAT.
1 /wk
Duty: ~£1.13 per 25ml measure (40% ABV) + VAT.
2 /wk
Short haul (£13x2), medium (£26x2), long haul (£88x2). Mixed estimate.
2 /yr
Road tax (VED) at average £200/car/year for petrol/diesel.
1 car
2025/26 average rates by band across England.
~34% of your electricity bill is green levies. Gas bills carry ~5% levies.
£137/mo
Car + home + contents etc. IPT at 12% added to all premiums.
£1,200
Your live personal duty receipt
£0
That's £0 per day in indirect duties & levies - before a single penny of income tax or NI. The receipt below updates live as you move each slider.
UK DECLINE
YOUR 2026 DUTY RECEIPT
ukdecline.co.uk
Printed--
ReceiptINDIRECT TAX ONLY
What you are paying
Fuel duty£0
Tobacco duty£0
Alcohol duty£0
Air passenger duty£0
Road tax£0
Council tax£0
Energy levies£0
Insurance tax£0
TOTAL ANNUAL TAKE£0
PER DAY£0.00
Before income tax or NI. Receipt based on your current slider settings and official 2025/26 duty rates.
Thank you for shopping with the British state.
📈 UK Duty Rates 2025/26 Calculator loading monthly snapshot rates...
⛽
Fuel Duty
57.95p/litre
Charged on every litre of petrol or diesel. Then 20% VAT is added on top of the price including duty - effectively a tax on a tax. Has been frozen since March 2022 but was previously 5p higher per litre before the "temporary" cut.
Raises: ~£24bn/yr Avg driver: ~£500/yr
🚪
Tobacco Duty - Cigarettes
£6.33 per 20
Plus 16.5% of the retail price, then 20% VAT on top. A pack of 20 cigarettes at £15 includes approximately £9.40 in tax. Duty rises by at least 2% above inflation every year under the escalator policy.
Raises: ~£9.9bn/yr 20/day: ~£3,430/yr in duty
🍺
Alcohol Duty - Beer
£21.01/hl per %ABV
Charged per unit of alcohol. A 440ml can of 5% lager carries approximately 46p in duty. A pint (568ml) at 4% ABV includes ~48p. Draught products sold in pubs have a reduced rate since Aug 2023 to support the hospitality sector.
All alcohol raises: ~£12.7bn/yr Avg: ~£180/yr in alcohol duty
🍷
Alcohol Duty - Wine
£3.17 per 75cl
Duty on a standard 75cl bottle of still wine (11.5-15% ABV) is £3.17 from August 2023. Plus 20% VAT. A £10 bottle of wine typically includes around £4.40 in total tax. Sparkling wine carries the same rate as still wine since reform.
Included in £12.7bn total 1 bottle/wk: ~£165/yr duty
🥂
Alcohol Duty - Spirits
£31.64/litre pure alcohol
A 70cl bottle of 40% ABV spirits contains 28cl of pure alcohol - carrying approximately £9.05 in duty before VAT. Whisky, vodka, gin all taxed at the same rate. That half-bottle of whisky you bought includes more tax than production cost.
Included in £12.7bn total 1 bottle/wk: ~£470/yr duty
✈
Air Passenger Duty
£13 - £202
Economy short-haul (within UK/Europe): £13. Economy long-haul (rest of world band A): £88. Business/first class long-haul: up to £202. Domestic UK flights attract £13 per leg. Rises above inflation most years since 1994.
Raises: ~£3.8bn/yr Avg: ~£54/yr
🚘
Vehicle Excise Duty (Road Tax)
£190 - £620/yr
Petrol/diesel cars registered after April 2017 pay a flat £190/yr after the first year. The first-year rate ranges from £0 (0g CO2/km) up to £2,745 for the highest emitters. EVs pay £10/yr from April 2025. Premium vehicles (over £40k) add a £620 supplement.
Raises: ~£7.8bn/yr Avg: ~£200/yr
📋
Insurance Premium Tax
12% standard
Added to most general insurance premiums - home, car, pet, travel. A higher rate of 20% applies to travel insurance, electrical/mechanical appliance insurance and some vehicle insurance sold with vehicles. Has doubled since 2015 (was 6%).
Raises: ~£7.5bn/yr Avg household: ~£90/yr
🏠
Stamp Duty Land Tax
0% - 12%
0% on first £125,000, 2% on £125k-£250k, 5% on £250k-£925k, 10% on £925k-£1.5m, 12% above £1.5m. First-time buyer relief: 0% up to £300k (then 5% on £300k-£500k). Second homes attract a 3% surcharge on top of all bands.
Raises: ~£11.6bn/yr Avg on £285k purchase: ~£4,250
🏭
Energy Levies (Green Duties)
£280+/yr per household
Not collected by HMRC but mandatory levies on all electricity bills. Includes Contracts for Difference, Renewable Obligation Certificates, Feed-in Tariffs, Capacity Market payments and the Warm Homes Discount scheme. Around 40% of your electricity unit rate is green policy levy.
Total levied: ~£25.8bn/yr Every household: £280-900/yr
🌍
Council Tax
£1,200 - £4,000+/yr
Band A (lowest): ~£1,200/yr. Band D (national average): £2,171/yr in 2025/26. Band H (highest): up to £4,342+/yr. Has risen 5% in April 2025 and is forecast to rise again. Up 80% since 2010 in cash terms. Some councils apply a 100-300% premium on empty properties.
Raises: ~£44bn/yr Average Band D: £2,171/yr
🎱
Betting & Gaming Duty
15% - 21%
General Betting Duty: 15% of net stake receipts. Pool Betting Duty: 15%. Online gaming (remote): 21%. Lottery duty: 12% on proceeds. Prize competition levy: 15%. The UK Gambling Commission collects on top of HMRC duties.
Raises: ~£3.2bn/yr Per regular gambler: varies widely
📉 Average UK Household Annual Duty Bill ONS / HMRC · Figures based on average consumption data
Where your money goes - average household per year
Council Tax
£2,171
Fuel Duty + VAT
£1,000
Energy Levies
£820
Alcohol Duty
£310
Insurance (IPT)
£240
Road Tax (VED)
£200
Air Passenger Duty
£108
Tobacco Duty
£175
Stamp Duty (amort.)
£150
Average Total Annual Duty Bill £5,174

This is before income tax (20-45%), National Insurance (8-12%), VAT on purchases (20%), Corporation Tax passed on in prices, and Capital Gains Tax. The average UK worker hands over roughly 40-50% of all money they earn or spend in some form of tax.

🤯 What Your Duty Money Buys The Government Total indirect tax receipts 2024/25

💵 Fuel duty alone: £24bn/yr

£24,000,000,000

The government collects £24bn a year just in fuel duty - enough to fund the entire Ministry of Defence budget twice over, or build 80 new hospitals. Yet roads are crumbling with a £16.7bn repair backlog.

🍺 Alcohol & Tobacco: £22.6bn/yr

£22,600,000,000

Combined duty from alcohol and tobacco raises £22.6bn a year. The UK has among the highest alcohol duty rates in Europe - a pint of beer attracts 3-5x more duty than in Germany or Spain.

🌍 Council Tax: £44bn/yr

£44,000,000,000

Council tax is now the biggest single indirect tax on most households. Up 80% since 2010 while local services have been cut. 14 councils have issued bankruptcy notices - yet residents keep paying more.

⛽ VAT on Duty: Double Tax

Tax on a Tax

20% VAT is charged on the final price including duty. This means you pay tax on the duty itself. On a litre of fuel: 57.95p duty + VAT calculated on that duty = approximately 68p total hidden tax per litre before the base fuel price.

📈 Total Tax Burden: 37.1% of GDP

Highest in 70 years

When you add income tax, NI, VAT, and all indirect duties together, the UK tax burden has reached 37.1% of GDP - the highest since the 1950s. Up from 32% in 2010, and forecast to hit 38% by 2028 under current OBR projections.

🌐 UK vs Europe

Above average on almost all

UK fuel duty is among the highest in Europe (57.95p/litre vs France 58p, Germany 46p, Spain 40p). UK alcohol duty is 2-5x higher than most EU states. UK IPT at 12% is double the EU average. Only tobacco duty is broadly comparable to EU peers.