Take-Home Pay Calculator
Work out your net pay after Income Tax, National Insurance, pension contributions, and student loan repayments.
| Annual | Monthly | Weekly | Per working day | Hourly | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gross pay | £35,000.00 | £2,916.67 | £673.08 | £134.62 | £17.95 |
| Income Tax | £4,486.00 | £373.83 | £86.27 | £17.25 | £2.30 |
| National Insurance | £1,794.40 | £149.53 | £34.51 | £6.90 | £0.92 |
| Net pay | £28,719.60 | £2,393.30 | £552.30 | £110.46 | £14.73 |
Income Tax breakdown
- 20% band £22,430.00 taxed → £4,486.00
How UK take-home pay is worked out
Take-home pay is what's left of your salary after three things are taken off: Income Tax, National Insurance, and — if you're enrolled in one — your pension contribution and any student loan repayments. Each of these is worked out differently, and this calculator applies the same rules HMRC uses for the 2026/27 tax year.
Income Tax
Everyone gets a tax-free Personal Allowance — £12,570 for most people in 2026/27, shown on your payslip as tax code 1257L. Above that, Income Tax is charged in bands: 20% on a salary up to £50,270, 40% up to £125,140, and 45% above that. Only the slice of income inside each band is taxed at that band's rate, so moving into a higher band doesn't increase the tax on income you've already earned. If you earn over £100,000, your Personal Allowance is gradually withdrawn — £1 for every £2 you earn above that threshold — which is what creates the well-known "60% tax trap" between £100,000 and £125,140.
National Insurance
National Insurance is separate from Income Tax and uses its own threshold: 8% on earnings between £12,570 and £50,270 a year, and 2% above that. It's the same across the whole UK, regardless of whether your Income Tax is calculated under rUK or Scottish rates.
Pension contributions
How a pension contribution affects your take-home pay depends on the scheme your employer uses. Net pay arrangements — the most common type of workplace auto-enrolment scheme — take your contribution out of your pay before Income Tax is calculated, so you get full tax relief immediately, but National Insurance is unaffected. Salary sacrifice works similarly for tax, but your contractual salary itself is reduced, which also lowers your National Insurance. Relief at source schemes take your contribution from your pay after both tax and National Insurance; your pension provider then adds basic-rate tax relief to your pension pot automatically, but if you're a higher or additional rate taxpayer, you may need to claim the rest back from HMRC yourself — usually via Self Assessment. Pick the mechanism that matches your own pension scheme in the calculator to see the real effect on your take-home pay.
Student loan repayments
If you have a student loan, repayments are calculated separately from Income Tax, at a fixed percentage of income above your plan's repayment threshold — 9% for Plan 1, 2, 4, and 5 loans, and 6% for a Postgraduate Loan. If you have more than one loan (for example, an undergraduate Plan 2 loan and a Postgraduate Loan from a master's degree), both are repaid at the same time, each calculated independently against its own threshold.
Why the numbers might not match your payslip exactly
This calculator gives an annual estimate based on a steady salary throughout the year. Real payslips use cumulative, period-by-period calculations that can differ slightly if your pay varies month to month, if you've changed jobs partway through the tax year, or if HMRC has applied an adjustment to your tax code that isn't the standard 1257L. For an exact figure, always check your payslip or HMRC's own online services.
Frequently asked questions
How is my Income Tax calculated?
Your Personal Allowance (£12,570 for most people in 2026/27) is tax-free. Everything above that is taxed in bands: 20% up to £50,270, 40% up to £125,140, and 45% above that. Only the portion of your income inside each band is taxed at that band's rate — moving into a higher band doesn't increase the tax on income you've already earned in a lower one.
How is my National Insurance calculated?
Class 1 employee National Insurance is charged at 8% on earnings between £12,570 and £50,270 a year, and 2% on anything above £50,270. Unlike Income Tax, NI is worked out per pay period rather than as a single annual allowance, but the annual total works out the same way.
What does tax code 1257L mean?
The numbers in a tax code (1257) show your tax-free Personal Allowance with the last digit dropped — 1257 means £12,570. The letter L means you get the standard tax-free Personal Allowance. If your tax code is different, enter it into the calculator and we'll use it instead of the default.
What's the difference between gross and net pay?
Gross pay is your salary before any deductions. Net pay (take-home pay) is what actually lands in your bank account after Income Tax, National Insurance, pension contributions, and student loan repayments have been taken off.
Why is take-home pay different in Scotland?
Scotland sets its own Income Tax rates and bands, separate from the rest of the UK, using the same UK-wide Personal Allowance. Scotland has six bands instead of three, and the rates diverge from basic rate upward — so two people on the same salary can take home different amounts depending on whether they're a Scottish taxpayer. Try our dedicated Scotland calculator to see the difference.
What's the difference between salary sacrifice, net pay, and relief-at-source pensions?
All three reduce your take-home pay by roughly the same pension contribution, but they're taxed differently. Salary sacrifice and net pay arrangements both reduce your taxable pay directly, so you get full tax relief straight away — but only salary sacrifice also reduces your National Insurance. Relief at source contributions are taken from your pay after tax and NI, with basic-rate relief added to your pension pot by the provider; if you pay higher-rate tax, you may need to claim the rest back from HMRC yourself.