Fresh tax-free Personal Allowance plea as Andy Burnham 'sideswipes' 86,000 workers

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EXCLUSIVE: An Express reader who launched a petition to end the 'unfair' freeze on the tax-free Personal Allowance is now chasing Andy Burnham with a fresh call ...

A new petition is urgently calling on the Andy Burmham to reverse the "biggest tax raise in recent history" after he "sideswiped" more than 86,000 workers who signed a petition against the tax-free Personal Allowance threshold freeze.

Express reader Mike Haynes, 64, from Axminster in Devon, launched a petition to get the tax-free Personal Allowance increased and it hit 86,000 signatures after being shared by the Express. Now, he's launched a new push to get Prime Minister Andy Burnham to take notice and end a stealth tax rise on working people.

In the Autumn Budget, the government declined to raise the £12,570 tax-free Personal Allowance threshold. It means that more and more people will be pulled into paying more tax as wages and income rise but the tax allowance remains the same. However, state pensioners were given a higher £13,037 limit with a special exemption.

Mr Haynes, who works as a warehouse forklift instructor, told the Express that the freeze is "unfair" and hurts working people.

He said: "Before he became Prime Minister, the PM has previously hinted at increasing the tax thresholds which have been frozen since 2021.

"These are currently due to continue to be frozen for the next five years. We want the Government to raise the thresholds to £18,000 as we believe millions of people are hurting financially.

"The Prime Minister previously hinted at raising the allowances. We believe he is now apparently back tracking.

The tax-free Personal Allowance is the amount of money an individual is allowed to earn in a single tax year before they have to pay Income Tax to HMRC.

As of the 2026-27 tax year, workers can earn £12,570 tax-free, then must pay 20% tax on all earnings above that figure, and 40% on earnings above £50,270, and finally, 45% on earnings over £125,140. This thresholds will remain the same next tax year, April 2027-28.

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