In the UK tax system, personal allowance is the threshold above which income tax is levied on an individual's income. A person who receives less than their own personal allowance in taxable income (such as earnings and some benefits) in a given tax year does not pay income tax; otherwise, tax must be paid according to how much is earned above this level. Certain residents are entitled to a larger personal allowance than others. Such groups include: the over-65s (followed by a further increased allowance for over-75s), blind people, and married couples where at least one person in the marriage (or civil partnership) was born before 6 April 1935. People earning over £100,000 a year have a smaller personal allowance. For every £2 earned above £100,000, £1 of the personal allowance is lost; meaning that incomes high enough will not have a personal allowance. Personal allowance tapering On 22 April 2009, the then Chancellor Alistair Darling announced in the 2009 Budget statement that starting in April 2010, those with annual incomes over £100,000 would see their Personal allowance reduced by £1 for every £2 earned over £100,000, until the Personal allowance was reduced to zero, which (in 2010-11) would occur at an income of £112,950. For every additional £100 earned, the Personal allowance was reduced by £50, meaning that an additional £50 would be taxed at the marginal rate (40%), resulting an additional tax liability of £20, resulting in an effective additional 20% marginal taxation over and above the 40% tax already due. This resulted in an anomalous effective 60% marginal tax rate in the income band between £100,000 and £112,950, with the marginal tax rate returning to 40% above £112,950. As the Personal allowance has grown over the years, this has resulted in a corresponding increase in the size of the effective marginal 60% tax band. As of 2022-23, the effective 60% marginal tax rate now arises for incomes between £100,000 and £125,140. History On 22 June 2010, the new Chancellor George Osborne, as part of the coalition deal which sought to increase the Personal Allowance to £10,000 from April 2015 as per Lib Dem policy, made the first increase of £1,000, making it £7,475 for the 2011-12 tax year. During the 2011 Budget, the allowance was raised by £630 to £8,105 from April 2012. In 2013, George Osborne revised the plans to increase the Personal Allowance and bring