UK Take-Home Pay Calculator

Find out exactly how much of your salary you keep after income tax, National Insurance, student loan repayments, and pension contributions.

Learn how this calculator works

Your details

Mode

Annual gross salary

Income type

Sole traders pay Class 4 National Insurance (6% main rate) instead of Class 1 Employee NI (8%).

Tax region

Scottish income tax has six bands (19% / 20% / 21% / 42% / 45% / 48%); rUK has three (20% / 40% / 45%).

Student loan plan

Pension contribution: 0%

0%20%

Apply to qualifying earnings only (£6,240 - £50,270 band). This mirrors the legal-minimum auto-enrolment calculation. Off by default - most salary-sacrifice schemes use full gross.

What happens to my data?

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Your monthly take-home pay

£2,393

£28,720 per year

Annual breakdown

Gross salary£35,000

Income tax-£4,486

National Insurance-£1,794

Net take-home£28,720

Tax rates

Effective tax rate

17.9%

Total deductions as a share of gross pay

Marginal rate

28%

Income tax on your next pound earned

UK marginal rate bands (2026/27)

England / Wales / NI · PAYE

Gross earnings	Band	Income tax	NI	Marginal
£0 - £12,570	Personal allowance	0%	0%	0%
£12,570 - £50,270	Basic rate	20%	8%	28%
£50,270 - £100,000	Higher rate	40%	2%	42%
£100,000 - £125,140	60% trap (PA taper)	60%	2%	62%
£125,140 - +	Additional rate	45%	2%	47%

The highlighted row the band each extra pound of your salary falls into. Pension salary sacrifice reduces your taxable gross, which can move you down a band. Add a Plan 1/2/4/5 student loan to add 9% on top above its threshold.

National Insurance: employee vs sole trader (2026/27)

Earnings band	Employee (Class 1)	Sole trader (Class 4)	Difference
Up to £12,570	0%	0%	-
£12,570 - £50,270	8%	6%	2pp less
Above £50,270	2%	2%	-

Sole traders pay 2 percentage points less personal NI on profits up to £50,270, which compensates for the absence of employer NI contributions (15% above £5,000). The trade-off: no statutory sick / holiday / redundancy pay, and no workplace pension match. Above £50,270 the rates are identical at 2%.

Monthly breakdown

Gross monthly£2,917

Income tax-£374

National Insurance-£150

Net monthly£2,393

This calculator uses 2026/27 UK tax year rates and thresholds. Scotland income tax bands and sole-trader Class 4 NI are handled via the toggles above. It assumes a standard 1257L tax code and does not model benefits in kind, marriage allowance, non-pension salary sacrifice, Welsh devolved rates, IR35 deemed payments, or limited-company salary-plus-dividends setups. Pension contributions are treated as salary sacrifice (deducted before tax and NI). Student loan repayments are calculated on gross salary. Results are estimates - for exact figures, check your payslip or speak to a qualified accountant.

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What is take-home pay?

Take-home pay is what actually lands in your bank account on payday. It is your gross salary minus every compulsory and elective deduction made by your employer before they transfer the money to you. For a standard UK PAYE employee that means four deductions: income tax, National Insurance, student loan repayments (if applicable), and pension contributions.

The gap between gross and net is bigger than most people realise. A £50,000 salary turns into roughly £36,000 of take-home for a basic 5% pension contributor with no student loan, and closer to £33,000 once a Plan 2 student loan is in the picture. That is a 28% to 34% drop from the headline figure on your offer letter. Budgeting against gross is the most common UK personal-finance mistake and the reason so many households earning comfortable money still feel poor at month-end.

How each deduction works in 2026/27

Income tax

The first £12,570 of your salary is your personal allowance and is untaxed. The next £37,700 (up to £50,270) is taxed at the basic rate of 20%. From £50,270 to £125,140 is the higher rate at 40%. Above £125,140 is the additional rate at 45%. HMRC publishes the full bands. Scottish residents use a different six-band schedule (19% / 20% / 21% / 42% / 45% / 48%). Use the region toggle above to switch.

Between £100,000 and £125,140 your personal allowance is withdrawn at £1 for every £2 earned. The marginal rate inside that band is effectively 60% (62% with NI), which produces the well-known "60% tax trap". Salary sacrifice into a pension is the only clean way to escape it.

National Insurance

Employee NI is 8% on earnings between £12,570 and £50,270, then 2% on anything above £50,270. Self-employed sole traders pay Class 4 NI of 6% on the same band plus 2% above, which is two percentage points lower in the main band. Switch the income-type toggle to see the difference. NI is UK-wide; Scottish devolution does not apply.

Student loan repayments

You repay 9% of every pound earned above your plan's threshold. The five UK plans:

Plan 1: pre-2012 English/Welsh, all NI, all Scottish - threshold ~£24,990.
Plan 2: 2012-2022 English/Welsh - threshold ~£27,295.
Plan 4: Scottish from 2007 onwards - threshold ~£31,395.
Plan 5: English/Welsh from August 2023 - threshold £25,000.
Postgraduate: 6% on earnings above £21,000 (stacks with Plan 1/2/5).

Mechanically it is a debt, but in practice it works as an extra ~9% income tax that disappears after 25 to 40 years depending on plan. For most graduates, overpaying it early is mathematically wasteful because the loan is written off whether you pay it down or not.

Pension contributions

UK auto-enrolment minimum is 5% from you plus 3% from your employer, on qualifying earnings. Most schemes let you contribute more. The calculator assumes salary sacrifice, where the contribution comes off your gross before income tax AND National Insurance are calculated. That makes pension contributions cheaper than they look in net-pay terms - a topic worth its own section below.

The full marginal rate picture (England, Wales, NI)

Your marginal rate is what the next pound of gross salary gets taxed at, combining income tax and NI. It is the number that actually matters when you are deciding whether to ask for a pay rise, take a bonus in cash or in pension, or sacrifice more into your pension. It is also the number most people don't know.

Gross earnings band	Description	Income tax	NI	Marginal
£0 - £12,570	Personal allowance	0%	0%	0%
£12,570 - £50,270	Basic rate	20%	8%	28%
£50,270 - £100,000	Higher rate	40%	2%	42%
£100,000 - £125,140	60% trap (PA taper)	60%	2%	62%
£125,140+	Additional rate	45%	2%	47%

The £100k to £125,140 window is the one place where the marginal rate is higher than the band above it. That is because the personal allowance is being withdrawn at 50p for every extra £1 earned, and the lost allowance gets taxed at 40%. A sacrifice into a pension here returns 62p for every £1 - the single highest-leverage tax move in UK personal finance. The 60% tax trap calculator sizes that for your specific salary.

Why pension contributions cost less than they look

A £100 pension contribution made through salary sacrifice never appears in your gross pay, so neither income tax nor NI is charged on it. The cost to your take-home depends on which marginal band you would have been in:

Your marginal band	Net cost of £100 into pension	Effective return on net £1
Basic rate (28% marginal)	£72	£1.39
Higher rate (42% marginal)	£58	£1.72
60% trap (62% marginal)	£38	£2.63
Additional rate (47% marginal)	£53	£1.89

Add an employer match on top of that and the numbers swing further. Most workplace schemes will match 3% to 6% of salary if you contribute the same. Walking away from employer match is the most expensive thing a UK employee can do with their pay packet, which is why the pension match calculator sizes that lost ground over a working life. Default-saving 5% with no employer top-up is not a strategy.

Worked examples

£35,000 gross, PAYE, England, Plan 2 student loan, 5% pension

Pension (salary sacrifice): -£1,750 (gross pay drops to £33,250)
Income tax (on £33,250 - £12,570 at 20%): -£4,136
National Insurance (on £33,250 - £12,570 at 8%): -£1,654
Student loan (Plan 2, on £35,000 - £27,295 at 9%): -£693
Net annual: ~£26,766 (£2,231/month)

£75,000 gross, PAYE, England, no student loan, 10% pension

Pension (salary sacrifice): -£7,500 (gross pay drops to £67,500)
Income tax: £7,540 (basic) + £6,892 (higher) = -£14,432
National Insurance: -£3,360
Net annual: ~£49,708 (£4,142/month)
The 10% pension contribution costs ~£4,350 in net pay (£7,500 minus tax and NI saved) and adds £7,500 to your pension. You're 73% better off versus taking the cash.

£110,000 gross, PAYE, England - escaping the 60% trap

Without pension sacrifice: net annual ~£70,500. Marginal rate on every pound above £100k is 62%.
Sacrifice £10,000 into pension (down to £100k gross): net annual ~£66,700, pension gains £10,000. You give up £3,800 of take-home to add £10,000 to your pension. The effective rate of return is 163%.
Anyone earning between £100,000 and £125,140 who isn't maxing pension sacrifice is leaving money on the table.

What this calculator is actually good for

Four use cases earn the calculator its keep:

Comparing two job offers properly. A £55,000 role with a 3% pension match against a £52,000 role with an 8% match looks like a £3,000 gap on the offer letter. After NI savings on the higher pension contribution, the higher employer match, and the income tax that would have hit the higher salary anyway, the real comparison can flip entirely. Run both through the calculator's compare mode.
Sizing a pay rise in real money. "I want £200/month more take-home" translates to roughly £2,400/year net which, for a basic-rate taxpayer, needs ~£3,400 extra gross. Knowing that before you walk into the meeting changes the conversation.
Building a budget against the right denominator. Rent, groceries, savings, holidays - all of it comes out of net pay, not gross. The monthly breakdown card on the calculator is the figure your spending plan should be anchored to.
Computing a savings rate that means something. "I save 30% of my income" against gross is not the same as against net. The savings rate conversation only works when everyone is using the same denominator.

Frequently asked questions

How is take-home pay calculated in the UK?

Take-home pay equals gross salary minus income tax, employee National Insurance, student loan repayment (if applicable), and pension contributions. For 2026/27 the first £12,570 is income-tax-free, 20% applies to £12,570-£50,270, 40% to £50,270-£125,140 and 45% above. NI is 8% on £12,570-£50,270 and 2% above. Student loan is 9% above the plan threshold. Pension contributions through salary sacrifice come off before tax and NI are calculated.

Why is my take-home pay different from the calculator?

The calculator assumes a standard 1257L tax code, no benefits in kind (company car, private medical), no marriage allowance, and a salary-sacrifice pension. If any of those don't match your payslip, your actual figure will differ. It also doesn't yet model IR35 deemed payments, umbrella-company employer NI, or limited-company salary-plus-dividends - those need a more specialised tool.

Does the calculator handle Scottish income tax?

Yes. Switch the region toggle to Scotland and the calculator applies the six Scottish bands (19% / 20% / 21% / 42% / 45% / 48%) instead of the rUK bands. National Insurance and student loans are UK-wide so those lines do not change. The marginal-rate trap at £100k-£125,140 is 67.5% in Scotland rather than 62% because the advanced rate is 45% instead of 40%.

How does pension contribution affect my tax?

A pension contribution through salary sacrifice reduces the salary on which both income tax and National Insurance are calculated. A basic-rate taxpayer keeps roughly 28p of every £1 sacrificed (the tax and NI they would have paid). A higher-rate payer keeps 42p. Someone in the 60% trap between £100k and £125,140 keeps 62p, which is the biggest pension-contribution leverage in the UK system.

What is the 60% tax trap?

Between £100,000 and £125,140 your personal allowance is withdrawn at £1 for every £2 you earn over £100,000. The lost allowance gets taxed at 40%, which combines with the 40% income tax on the new earnings to give an effective 60% marginal rate (62% with NI, 67.5% in Scotland). Salary sacrifice into a pension brings you back below £100,000 and avoids the trap entirely.

Does the calculator handle sole traders and the self-employed?

Switch the income type to Sole trader and the calculator uses Class 4 NI rates (6% / 2%) instead of employee Class 1 (8% / 2%). Income tax bands are identical. That's correct for most sole traders. It does not yet handle Class 2 voluntary NI, IR35 contractors, limited-company directors taking salary plus dividends, or umbrella-PAYE umbrella deductions - all of which have meaningfully different mechanics.

Should I include bonus and overtime in the salary box?

Use your contracted base. If your bonus is guaranteed or contractual, add it. If it's variable, leave it out and run the calculator twice - once with and once without - to see the swing. Bonus pushes you up the marginal-rate ladder so the difference is usually larger than people expect, especially around the £50k and £100k thresholds.

What if I am paid weekly or fortnightly?

Enter your annual gross salary regardless of pay frequency. The calculator returns annual and monthly figures. Divide the monthly number by 4.33 for a weekly equivalent or 2.17 for a fortnightly one.