What does the pledge mean? 

The UK government is responsible for setting income tax rates in England and Northern Ireland, so we’ve assumed this is the focus of Labour’s pledge. Some powers to vary income tax are devolved to Scotland and Wales.

Income tax is paid on earnings above £12,570. There are currently three different rates of income tax in England and Northern Ireland: a ‘basic rate’ of 20% paid on earnings between a threshold of £12,571 and £50,270; a ‘higher rate’ of 40% paid on earnings between £50,271 and £125,140; and an ‘additional rate’ of 45% paid on earnings above £125,140.

The pledge does not rule out changing the thresholds at which these rates take effect.

The pledge seems to commit the government to not increasing any of these rates throughout the parliament, so we won’t be able to say whether it’s met this commitment in full until the next election.

It’s also worth noting that the pledge appears to be part of a wider commitment to not increase taxes on “working people”, a term which isn’t explained in the manifesto and which Labour politicians have subsequently struggled to consistently define. This caveat has caused significant confusion with regards to Labour’s pledge not to increase National Insurance.

When we asked the Treasury for its definition of “working people” in November 2024, it told us this referred to not increasing taxes in people’s payslips.

It’s worth noting that ahead of the Budget it was widely reported Labour was considering extending an ongoing freeze to income tax thresholds. While this wouldn’t have involved changing income tax rates, extending the freeze would have resulted in more ‘working people’ paying income tax or paying a higher rate of income tax than otherwise would have (though ultimately the government confirmed it was not extending the freeze).

What progress has been made?

As things stand, this pledge appears to be on track. Labour has presented one Budget since it came into government, which did not introduce any changes to income tax rates.