UK salary calculator 2026/27
Enter your annual salary to see your exact take-home pay after income tax, National Insurance, pension and student loan. Covers all UK regions with 2026/27 HMRC rates.
Updated April 2026 · Not tax advice · Results match HMRC PAYE methodology
What this calculator includes
Income tax
Calculated using cumulative PAYE — the same method HMRC uses. Applies the correct Personal Allowance (£12,570 in 2026/27), then 20% basic rate, 40% higher rate and 45% additional rate. Scottish and Welsh rates are applied when selected.
National Insurance
Employee Class 1 NI at 8% on earnings between £12,570 and £50,270 (the Primary and Upper Earnings Limits). Above £50,270, the rate drops to 2%. Employer NI is shown separately for reference but is not deducted from your take-home pay.
Pension contributions
Supports relief-at-source, net pay arrangement and salary sacrifice. Salary sacrifice reduces gross pay before tax and NI — giving the biggest saving. Relief-at-source adds 20% basic-rate top-up automatically. Net pay deducts before PAYE but after NI.
Student loan
All six plans: Plan 1 (threshold £24,990), Plan 2 (£27,295), Plan 4 Scotland (£31,395), Postgraduate Loan (£21,000 at 6%), Plan 5 (£25,000 at 9% for 40 years), and combinations. Repayments are deducted after tax and NI.
- Take-home pay£27,628
- Income tax£4,486
- National Insurance£2,886
- Gross salary£35,000
Illustrative figures for a standard 1257L tax code — use our salary calculator for your exact take-home.
Last updated 6 April 2026
How UK take-home pay is calculated
Your take-home pay is what remains after your employer deducts Income Tax, National Insurance (NI), workplace pension contributions, student loan repayments, and any other payroll items. TaxHelper models each of these using the same published HMRC thresholds and bands for the tax year you select.
For most employees, the calculation runs in this order: start with gross pay, subtract salary-sacrifice pension (if applicable) to get taxable pay, apply your tax code to work out Income Tax, then calculate NI on earnings above the Primary Threshold, then deduct any student loan and net-pay pension contributions.
- Income Tax — charged in bands (20%, 40%, 45% in England/Wales/NI; Scotland uses its own bands)
- Class 1 NI — employees pay 8% between the Primary Threshold and Upper Earnings Limit, then 2% above
- Pension — relief-at-source or salary sacrifice both reduce take-home differently
- Student loan — Plan 1, 2, 4, 5 and Postgraduate loans each have their own threshold and rate
Worked example: £35,000 salary in England
Suppose you earn £35,000 per year with tax code 1257L, no pension, no student loan, paid monthly in England. Your Personal Allowance is £12,570, so you pay Income Tax on £22,430 — roughly £4,486 for the year. Class 1 NI on £35,000 is about £1,994. That leaves approximately £28,520 take-home, or around £2,377 per month.
Change one variable — add a 5% salary-sacrifice pension — and taxable pay drops, reducing both tax and NI. That is why comparing scenarios matters: a higher headline salary is not always better once pension, region, and loan repayments are included.
Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
Scottish taxpayers use different income tax bands above the basic rate. Welsh taxpayers currently follow the same rates as England but may see a C prefix in their tax code. Northern Ireland follows England/Wales rates for income tax; NI thresholds are UK-wide.
Select the correct region in the calculator before comparing job offers — a £45,000 salary in Edinburgh can produce a noticeably different net figure than the same salary in Manchester.
What this calculator cannot cover
Our calculator handles standard PAYE employment. It does not model complex benefits in kind, share schemes, foreign income, trusts, or bespoke HMRC adjustments. If your tax code includes a K suffix or large reductions, use our tax code checker and read the matching guide on your code.
Frequently asked questions
How is take-home pay calculated in the UK?
Take-home pay equals gross salary minus Income Tax, National Insurance, pension contributions, student loan repayments, and other payroll deductions. Employers use your tax code and HMRC-published rates each pay period.
Is gross salary before or after tax?
Gross salary is before any deductions — it is the headline figure in your contract. Net or take-home pay is what lands in your bank account after tax, NI, pension, and other items.
Why does my payslip not match this calculator?
Common reasons include an emergency or incorrect tax code, benefits in kind built into your code, arrears collection, multiple jobs, or mid-year pay changes. Compare your payslip line by line with our payslip guide and tax code checker.
Does a bonus get taxed differently?
Bonuses are taxed through PAYE like normal pay, but because they are often paid in a single period they can push you into a higher effective rate temporarily. See our bonus tax guide for examples.
How often are the rates updated?
We update our database when HMRC publishes new tax year figures, typically each April. Select the relevant tax year in the calculator to compare year-on-year changes.
Related guides
TaxHelper provides general information based on published HMRC rates and guidance. It is not regulated financial or tax advice. For decisions involving significant sums, complex circumstances, or if you are unsure, speak to a qualified accountant or HMRC directly.