UK Take-Home Pay (PAYE)
Calculator
Enter your salary below. Expand the sections to add pension, bonus, overtime, tax codes, student loans and other PAYE deductions. The calculator uses official published rates and shows where payroll timing or HMRC records can still make your payslip differ.
| Item | Annual | Monthly | 4-Weekly | Weekly | Daily |
|---|
Bonus Month Comparison
| Item | Normal Month | Bonus Month | Difference |
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UK Income Tax Rates 2026/27
England, Wales & Northern Ireland
| Band | Income | Rate |
|---|---|---|
| Personal Allowance | Up to £12,570 | 0% |
| Basic Rate | £12,571–£50,270 | 20% |
| Higher Rate | £50,271–£125,140 | 40% |
| Additional Rate | Over £125,140 | 45% |
Scotland 2026/27
| Band | Income | Rate |
|---|---|---|
| Starter | £12,571–£16,537 | 19% |
| Basic | £16,538–£29,526 | 20% |
| Intermediate | £29,527–£43,662 | 21% |
| Higher | £43,663–£75,000 | 42% |
| Advanced | £75,001–£125,140 | 45% |
| Top | Over £125,140 | 48% |
National Insurance 2026/27: category A employees pay 8% NI on earnings between £12,570 and £50,270, and 2% above. Employers pay 15% on earnings above £5,000. The Personal Allowance tapers by £1 for every £2 of adjusted net income above £100,000, reaching zero at £125,140.
Understanding Your Tax Code
Your tax code is issued by HMRC and tells your employer how much Income Tax to deduct. You'll find it on your payslip, P60, or P45.
| Code | What it means | Typical reason |
|---|---|---|
| 1257L | Standard personal allowance of £12,570 | Most employees — one job, no benefits in kind |
| L suffix | Entitled to the standard personal allowance (number × 10 = your allowance) | e.g. 1100L = £11,000 allowance |
| M suffix | Increased personal allowance — received 10% of partner's allowance via Marriage Allowance | Married / civil partnership |
| N suffix | Decreased personal allowance — transferred 10% to partner via Marriage Allowance | Married / civil partnership |
| T suffix | HMRC is reviewing items in this tax code | Complex circumstances under review |
| BR | All income taxed at 20% basic rate — no personal allowance applied | Second job or pension; allowance used elsewhere |
| D0 | All income taxed at 40% higher rate | Second job where main job is already higher rate |
| D1 | All income taxed at 45% additional rate | Additional rate taxpayer with multiple jobs |
| NT | No tax deducted at all | Non-UK resident or HMRC-instructed exemption |
| 0T | No personal allowance; tax at each band from £0 | Emergency tax or allowance fully used by another source |
| K prefix | Negative allowance — benefits exceed personal allowance; taxable pay is increased | Company car, private medical, or large underpaid tax |
Source: HMRC PAYE guidance. If your tax code looks wrong, contact HMRC on 0300 200 3300 or update it via your Personal Tax Account.
⚠️ Personal Allowance Taper — Earners Over £100,000
If your adjusted net income exceeds £100,000, your Personal Allowance reduces by £1 for every £2 earned above that threshold. At £125,140, the allowance reaches zero. This creates an effective marginal tax rate of 60% on income between £100,000 and £125,140 — one of the highest effective rates in the UK tax system. Making pension contributions or Gift Aid donations can bring your income below this threshold and restore your allowance.
Salary Sacrifice vs. Other Pension Types
How you contribute to a pension significantly affects your take-home pay.
Salary Sacrifice
Your gross salary is reduced before tax and NI are calculated. You save Income Tax and National Insurance on the contribution. This is the most tax-efficient method — both you and your employer pay less NI.
Net Pay Arrangement
Your contribution is deducted before Income Tax but after National Insurance. Income Tax relief is given through payroll, so higher and additional rate relief is usually automatic. No employee NI saving applies.
Relief at Source
You pay from taxed income and the provider normally claims 20% basic rate relief from HMRC. Higher and additional rate taxpayers usually claim extra relief separately. No employee NI saving applies.
Student Loan Repayment Plans 2026/27
Repayments are deducted automatically through PAYE once your income exceeds the threshold for your plan. You repay 9% (or 6% for Postgraduate) of earnings above the threshold — not of your total income.
| Plan | Who it applies to | Threshold 2026/27 | Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plan 1 | Started before Sep 2012 (England/Wales) or any time in Northern Ireland | £26,900 | 9% |
| Plan 2 | Started Sep 2012 - Jul 2023 in England or Wales | £29,385 | 9% |
| Plan 4 | Scottish student loan (any start date in Scotland) | £33,795 | 9% |
| Plan 5 | Started Aug 2023 or later in England | £25,000 | 9% |
| Postgraduate | Postgraduate Master's or Doctoral loan (England/Wales) | £21,000 | 6% |
If you have more than one undergraduate plan, payroll normally applies the plan with the lowest repayment threshold rather than stacking several 9% deductions. A Postgraduate Loan can be deducted as well as an undergraduate plan. Check your plan type at gov.uk.
Why Your Payslip May Not Match a Salary Calculator
A salary calculator is usually an annual estimate. A payslip is a payroll-period calculation, so small differences can be completely normal.
Use annual estimate when...
- You want to compare jobs, salaries or pension percentages.
- Your pay is steady and you are not trying to match one exact payslip.
- You want a clean yearly, monthly and weekly take-home view.
Use Match a Payslip when...
- Your monthly or weekly deduction is slightly different from the annual estimate.
- You are on an NI category such as C, J, M, H or Z.
- Your student loan deduction is being checked against a monthly, weekly or four-weekly payslip.
The pay-period mode uses period thresholds for PAYE, National Insurance and student loans. It still cannot know your full year-to-date payroll history, so it should be treated as a payslip-matching estimate rather than a replacement for your employer's payroll system.
Example Take-Home Pay Figures
These examples use 2026/27 England, Wales and Northern Ireland rates, tax code 1257L, NI category A, no pension and no student loan. They are useful benchmarks before adding your own pension, loan or payslip settings.
| Gross salary | Income Tax | NI | Annual take-home | Monthly take-home |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| £25,000 | £2,486 | £994 | £21,520 | £1,793 |
| £35,000 | £4,486 | £1,794 | £28,720 | £2,393 |
| £50,000 | £7,486 | £2,994 | £39,520 | £3,293 |
| £100,000 | £27,432 | £4,011 | £68,557 | £5,713 |
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between gross pay and net pay?
Why does my take-home pay decrease so sharply between £100,000 and £125,140?
What does my tax code mean and how do I change it?
Does salary sacrifice affect my state pension or mortgage applications?
I have two jobs — how is my tax code applied?
When do I start repaying my student loan?
Are all the rates on this calculator official HMRC rates?
How this take-home pay calculator works
Inputs used
- Gross income and pay period, including hourly, daily, weekly, four-weekly, monthly and annual pay.
- Tax year, tax code, Scottish residence, pension method, student loan plan, bonus, overtime and optional deductions.
- Optional payslip-matching settings: payroll frequency, PAYE basis, National Insurance category and student loan threshold basis.
Calculation method
- Converts your entered pay to an annual figure, then adds bonus and estimated overtime where entered.
- Applies salary sacrifice before Income Tax and National Insurance, then applies net pay pension contributions before Income Tax only.
- Calculates Personal Allowance, including the £100,000 taper, Blind Person's Allowance and supported tax codes such as 1257L, BR, D0, D1, 0T, NT and K codes.
- Applies England, Wales and Northern Ireland bands or Scottish bands to taxable income, then calculates employee Class 1 National Insurance using the selected NI category.
- In annual mode, uses annual thresholds. In payslip-matching mode, periodises PAYE, National Insurance and student loan thresholds for the selected payroll frequency.
- Calculates student loan deductions using the selected threshold basis. If several undergraduate plans are selected, it uses the lowest selected threshold once; a Postgraduate Loan can be added separately.
- Shows annual, monthly, four-weekly, weekly and daily results plus effective tax rates and a bonus-month comparison where relevant.
Assumptions
- National Insurance defaults to category A. Categories B, C, H, J, M and Z are included for common payslip-matching cases.
- The calculator estimates annualised PAYE. Actual payroll can vary by pay frequency, cumulative tax position, Week 1/Month 1 codes, employer rounding and previous taxable pay in the year.
- Relief at source pension entries show the employee net cost after basic-rate provider relief, while net pay and salary sacrifice entries show the amount deducted from payroll.
- Bonus and overtime are annual estimates; the bonus-month panel is a practical illustration rather than a full payroll-period PAYE recalculation.
What this does not cover
- It does not replace HMRC PAYE records, your employer payroll system or payslip advice.
- It does not model director annual earnings periods, exact cumulative year-to-date PAYE history, benefits collected through coding notices, court orders, attachment of earnings, Scottish savings or dividend tax, or full Self Assessment reconciliation.
- K-code results are approximate because payroll rules can cap PAYE deductions in a pay period. Use HMRC or payroll guidance if a K code materially affects your pay.
- For related planning, use the Marriage Allowance calculator where a spouse transfer may affect your tax code, or the pension and dividend tools for income outside ordinary PAYE.
Official sources
Last verified: May 10 2026. Calculations are estimates based on the published rules and assumptions shown on this page.
- GOV.UK Income Tax rates and Personal Allowances - Personal Allowance, tapering and England/Wales/Northern Ireland Income Tax rates
- HMRC rates and thresholds for employers 2026 to 2027 - PAYE tax bands, Class 1 National Insurance thresholds and employer rates
- GOV.UK National Insurance rates and categories - employee Class 1 National Insurance rates by category letter
- GOV.UK student loan repayment thresholds - Plan 1, Plan 2, Plan 4, Plan 5 and Postgraduate Loan repayment thresholds and rates
- Scottish Government Income Tax rates and bands - Scottish starter, basic, intermediate, higher, advanced and top rates