Skip to content
Calcenta

UK Take-Home Pay Calculator

See exactly what lands in your bank account each month after income tax, National Insurance, pension and student loan - for England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland.

UK Take-Home Pay Calculator

These figures are for the 2025/26 tax year

The current tax year is 2026/27, and the rates and thresholds below have not yet been updated for it. Treat the result as an approximation: bands are usually indexed each year, so your real figure will differ. Confirm against HMRC before relying on it.

Scotland sets its own income tax bands. National Insurance is the same UK-wide.

Modelled as salary sacrifice, so it reduces National Insurance as well as income tax.

No National Insurance is due if so.

Take-home · monthly

£2,288.30

£27,460 a year from £35,000 gross · effective rate 16.5%
Take home78%
  • Take-home pay£27,46078%
  • Income tax£4,13612%
  • National Insurance£1,6545%
  • Pension£1,7505%
Where your gross salary goes

Income tax

£4,136

National Insurance

£1,654

Marginal rate

20%

On your next pound

Effective rate

16.5%

On all income

Annual deductions

  • Gross salary£35,000
  • Pension contribution− £1,750
  • Personal allowance£12,570
  • Taxable income£20,680
  • Income tax− £4,136
  • National Insurance− £1,654
  • Take-home pay£27,460

Income tax, band by band

Only the income inside each band is taxed at that band’s rate, which is why your effective rate is lower than your marginal one.

BandRateIncome in bandTax
Basic rate20%£20,680£4,136

Based on published 2025/26 rates and thresholds. Assumes the standard tax code with no other allowances or benefits in kind.

The link carries the values you entered, so whoever opens it sees the same result. Nothing is stored on our side — the numbers travel in the link itself.

How the uk take-home pay calculation works

Your gross salary is a number in a contract. Your take-home pay is the number that arrives in your account, and between the two sit four separate deductions that work in completely different ways. This calculator applies all four using published 2025/26 rates.

Income tax: bands, not a single rate

Everyone starts with a personal allowance of £12,570 that is taxed at 0%. Above it, England, Wales and Northern Ireland charge 20% on the next £37,700, 40% up to £125,140, and 45% beyond. Crucially, only the income inside each band is taxed at that band's rate. Someone earning £55,000 is a "higher-rate taxpayer", but almost all of their income is still taxed at 20% or not at all — the income tax they actually pay is about 17% of their salary, not 40%, and about 23% once National Insurance is added. The band-by-band table above shows this directly.

Scotland sets its own bands and has six of them rather than three: a 19% starter rate, 20% basic, 21% intermediate, 42% higher, 45% advanced and 48% top. The crossover sits near £30,300: below it a Scottish taxpayer pays slightly less, and above it steadily more. At £60,000 the difference is around £1,780 a year. National Insurance is unchanged either way, because it is not devolved.

National Insurance: a second, different tax

NI is charged on your earnings, not your taxable income, and its thresholds do not match income tax. You pay 8% between £12,570 and £50,270, then 2% above that. The rate going down at the higher earnings limit is why the jump from basic to higher rate feels less severe than 20 percentage points. If you are over State Pension age you pay no employee NI at all, whatever you earn.

The 60% trap between £100,000 and £125,140

Above £100,000 your personal allowance is withdrawn by £1 for every £2 you earn. Each extra pound is taxed at 40%, and it drags 50p of allowance into the 40% band. The result is a 60% effective marginal rate on that £25,140 slice — higher than the 45% additional rate above it. A £5,000 pay rise at £105,000 leaves you just £1,900 better off after tax and National Insurance. Pension contributions reduce the income used for the taper, which is why increasing them is the standard response.

Pension: why salary sacrifice wins

This calculator models pension contributions as salary sacrifice, where you formally give up salary in exchange for an employer contribution. That reduces income tax and National Insurance, unlike a US 401(k), which cuts federal tax but not FICA. On a £50,000 salary, sacrificing 5% saves £16.67 a month in National Insurance alone, on top of the income tax relief you would get either way — money that simply does not exist under a net-pay arrangement.

Student loans

Repayments are 9% of income above your plan's threshold (6% for postgraduate loans), calculated separately from tax and rounded down to whole pounds. Plan 1, Plan 2, Plan 4 (Scotland) and Plan 5 all use different thresholds, so selecting the right one matters more than most people assume — the gap between Plan 1 and Plan 2 is over £2,000 of threshold.

Change the salary above and watch which deduction actually moves. For most people below £50,270 it is National Insurance, not income tax, that eats the marginal pound.

Disclaimer: This calculator provides estimates for informational purposes only and is not tax advice. It uses published 2025/26 rates for England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland, and assumes the standard tax code (1257L) with no benefits in kind, other income, or adjustments. Your real payslip depends on your tax code and your employer’s payroll. Confirm figures with HMRC or an accountant.

Frequently asked questions

How much is take-home pay on a £30,000 salary in the UK?

On £30,000 with no pension or student loan, you pay about £3,486 in income tax and £1,394 in National Insurance, leaving roughly £25,120 a year or about £2,093 a month. Adding a 5% salary-sacrifice pension raises your take-home percentage but lowers the cash figure, because £1,500 goes into your pension instead.

Why is my take-home pay lower than this calculator says?

The most common cause is your tax code. This calculator assumes the standard 1257L code with a full personal allowance. If you have an emergency code, underpaid tax in a previous year, a company car, private medical insurance, or a second job, HMRC adjusts your code and your payslip will differ. Check the code on your payslip against your HMRC personal tax account.

Do Scottish taxpayers pay more?

It depends on income. Scotland has six bands rather than three. Below roughly £30,300 a Scottish taxpayer pays slightly less, thanks to the 19% starter rate. Above that they pay more, and the gap widens sharply once the 42% higher rate begins at £43,663 - well below the £50,270 threshold used in the rest of the UK. At £60,000 a Scottish taxpayer pays about £1,780 a year more in income tax. National Insurance is identical across the UK.

What is the 60% tax trap?

Between £100,000 and £125,140 your £12,570 personal allowance is withdrawn at £1 for every £2 earned. Each extra pound is taxed at 40% and also pushes 50p of previously untaxed allowance into the 40% band, producing a 60% effective marginal rate on that slice - higher than the 45% rate above it. Pension contributions reduce the income the taper is based on, which is the usual way out.

Does a pension contribution reduce National Insurance?

Under salary sacrifice, yes. You contractually give up salary, so both income tax and National Insurance are calculated on the reduced figure, and many employers pass on their own NI saving too. Under a net-pay or relief-at-source arrangement you get income tax relief but still pay NI on the full salary. This calculator models salary sacrifice.

When do student loan repayments start?

Repayments begin the April after you graduate, and only once your income passes your plan threshold. You then repay 9% of everything above it (6% for a postgraduate loan). The thresholds differ significantly by plan, so the same salary can produce very different repayments. Any remaining balance is written off after the plan term, which is 30 or 40 years depending on the plan.

Related finance calculators