Quick Start
From sign-up to your first API call in under 2 minutes.
1.Create an account
Head to console.govdata.dev/register and create a free account. You can sign up with email or via GitHub/Google.
2.Get your API key
After signing in, go to your dashboard. You'll see your test API key, which looks like:
gd_test_abc123def456...
Test keys are rate-limited but free to use. Upgrade for higher limits and a live key.
3.Make your first request
Pass your API key as a Bearer token in the Authorization header.
Let's fetch current UK income tax bands:
curl -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \ https://api.govdata.dev/v1/tax/income/bands
require "net/http" require "json" uri = URI("https://api.govdata.dev/v1/tax/income/bands") req = Net::HTTP::Get.new(uri) req["Authorization"] = "Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" res = Net::HTTP.start(uri.hostname, uri.port, use_ssl: true) { |http| http.request(req) } data = JSON.parse(res.body) puts data["data"]["tax_year"]
import requests response = requests.get( "https://api.govdata.dev/v1/tax/income/bands", headers={"Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"} ) data = response.json() print(data["data"]["tax_year"])
const response = await fetch( "https://api.govdata.dev/v1/tax/income/bands", { headers: { "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" } } ); const { data } = await response.json(); console.log(data.tax_year);
Example response
All responses use a consistent envelope with data
and meta fields:
{ "data": { "tax_year": "2025-26", "personal_allowance": 12570, "regions": { "england_wales_ni": { "bands": [ { "name": "basic_rate", "rate": 0.20, "from": 12570, "to": 50270 }, { "name": "higher_rate", "rate": 0.40, "from": 50270, "to": 125140 }, { "name": "additional_rate", "rate": 0.45, "from": 125140, "to": null } ] } } }, "meta": { "api_version": "v1", "licence": "Open Government Licence v3.0", "source": "HMRC", "source_url": "https://www.gov.uk/income-tax-rates" } }
What's next?
- Authentication guide — learn about test vs live keys and error handling
- Tax API reference — full documentation for all tax endpoints
- Calendar API reference — bank holidays by region and year
- Rate limits — understand rate limits and credit usage