Kenneth Carmichael Petitions UK to Unfreeze Personal Allowance

Campaigner Kenneth Carmichael launched a petition calling on the Government of the United Kingdom to unfreeze the £12,570 Personal Allowance. The tax-free threshold has remained static since 2021 and is currently scheduled to stay at that level until April 2031.

Carmichael argues that the freeze creates a "stealth tax" through fiscal drag. He claims that as wages rise while thresholds remain unchanged, millions of people could be pulled into poverty. The petition, which was published on May 6, 2026, seeks a one-off increase in 2031 to recover the real value lost during the freeze period.

Beyond the one-off adjustment, the campaign demands that the Personal Allowance and other income tax thresholds automatically increase annually starting in April 2031. These increases would be indexed to either average wages or Consumer Prices Index inflation, whichever is higher. The petition requires 10,000 signatures to trigger a government response and 100,000 signatures for a parliamentary debate. It is scheduled to close on November 6, 2026.