What's your real take-home pay?
Free UK take-home pay calculator for the 2026/27 tax year (2025/26 included). See your salary after Income Tax, National Insurance, pension and student loan, yearly down to hourly, plus the one number most calculators skip: your marginal rate.
Your salary details
Enter your gross annual salary and adjust the deductions below. Results update as you go.
England, Wales and Northern Ireland rates. Standard tax code 1257L assumed. Estimates only.
After all deductions, your net pay is
Detailed deductions breakdown
| Item | Annual | Monthly |
|---|---|---|
| Gross salary | £0 | £0 |
| Pension contribution (0%) | £0 | £0 |
| Income Tax | £0 | £0 |
| Employee National Insurance | £0 | £0 |
| Student Loan | £0 | £0 |
| Take-home pay | £0 | £0 |
Could your take-home pay be higher?
Enter your salary to see where you stand.
Earning over £100,000? This is where the numbers get expensive.
Once your income crosses £100,000 you lose your Personal Allowance at £1 for every £2, childcare support disappears in one step, and bonuses, RSUs and share sales start to interact in ways payroll never explains. Most people in this band overpay by thousands a year without knowing it. We put the fix in writing.
Personal Tax Strategy Review
A written plan for your circumstances, reviewed by qualified accountants as part of our service before it reaches you. You complete a ten-minute form, we do the work, then we walk it through together on a call.
- Your personal advice page, password-protected, kept live for 12 months
- Pension and salary sacrifice modelling around the £100K taper and 60% band
- Bonus, RSU and share sale treatment, so you are not taxed twice
- Whether you need Self Assessment, and what to claim if you do
- Follow-up advice for 12 months as vests, bonuses or pay changes arrive
Typical outcome: a higher-rate earner who moves £10,000 of pay into pension through salary sacrifice gives up about £5,800 of take-home for £10,000 in the pension. In the £100K to £125K band the same £10,000 costs only about £3,800 of take-home.
Your take-home works differently.
If you run a limited company or work for yourself, salary and dividend mix, allowances, and timing decide what you keep, and dividend tax rose again in April 2026. We tell you in 15 minutes whether your current setup is costing you money.
- Salary versus dividend planning for 2026/27
- Fixed monthly fees, no hourly billing
- Named adviser, same-day replies Mon to Sat
UK PAYE rates and thresholds 2026/27
Figures from 6 April 2026. Personal Allowance and tax bands are frozen until April 2031, so pay rises keep pulling more of your income into higher bands.
Income tax and NIC (England, Wales, NI)
| Band | Range | Rate |
|---|---|---|
| Personal Allowance | £0 to £12,570 | 0% |
| Basic rate | £12,571 to £50,270 | 20% |
| Higher rate | £50,271 to £125,140 | 40% |
| Additional rate | above £125,140 | 45% |
| PA taper above | £100,000 | £1 per £2 |
| Marriage Allowance | £1,260 transfer | saves £252 |
| Employee NIC main | £12,570 to £50,270 | 8% |
| Employee NIC upper | above £50,270 | 2% |
| Child Benefit charge | £60,000 to £80,000 | 1% per £200 |
Student loan thresholds
| Plan | 2026/27 | 2025/26 | Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plan 1 (pre-Sep 2012) | £26,900 | £26,065 | 9% |
| Plan 2 (2012 to 2023) | £29,385 | £28,470 | 9% |
| Plan 4 (Scotland) | £33,795 | £32,745 | 9% |
| Plan 5 (from Aug 2023) | £25,000 | £25,000 | 9% |
| Postgraduate Loan | £21,000 | £21,000 | 6% |
Repayments are calculated on gross pay before pension. Plan 5 repayments started for the first time in April 2026.
Payslip lower than the calculator says?
The usual suspects are your tax code (anything other than 1257L needs a reason), benefits in kind such as a company car or private medical, or a pension taken after tax rather than through salary sacrifice. Wrong codes are common after a job change or a bonus month, and refunds can go back four tax years.
Free 15-minute call with your dedicated account manager, Mon to Sat 10am to 7pm. If you would like us to check your code and claim anything owed, you get a fixed quote in writing within 24 hours.
Frequently asked questions
How is take-home pay calculated in the UK? +
Take-home pay (net salary) is your gross salary minus Income Tax, National Insurance, pension contributions and any student loan deductions. Income Tax uses the £12,570 Personal Allowance, then 20% on income up to £50,270, 40% up to £125,140 and 45% above that. Employee National Insurance is 8% between £12,570 and £50,270 and 2% above. Student loans are 9% above the threshold for your plan (£29,385 for Plan 2 in 2026/27, 6% above £21,000 for postgraduate loans). Pension contributions made through salary sacrifice or a net pay arrangement reduce your taxable salary before any of this is worked out.
What is the take-home pay on £50,000 in 2026/27? +
On a £50,000 salary in 2026/27 with no pension or student loan, take-home pay is about £39,520 a year, or £3,293 a month. Income Tax is £7,486 and employee National Insurance is £2,994. A Plan 2 student loan would take a further £1,855, and a 5% salary sacrifice pension (£2,500) reduces cash take-home to about £37,720 while the full £2,500 goes into your pension, because you save the tax and National Insurance on it.
What is the take-home pay on £100,000 in 2026/27? +
On £100,000 in 2026/27 with no pension or student loan, take-home pay is about £68,557 a year (£5,713 a month). Income Tax is £27,432 and employee National Insurance £4,011. Above £100,000 the Personal Allowance is withdrawn at £1 for every £2 of income, so between £100,000 and £125,140 the effective marginal rate is 60% (62% including National Insurance). Adjusted net income above £100,000 also removes 30 hours free childcare and Tax-Free Childcare, which is why pension contributions are so valuable in this band.
How does a pension contribution affect take-home pay? +
Salary sacrifice and net pay pension contributions come off your salary before tax and National Insurance. For a basic-rate taxpayer, £1,000 into pension costs about £720 of take-home. For a higher-rate taxpayer it costs about £580. Between £100,000 and £125,140 it costs only about £380, because the contribution also restores part of your Personal Allowance. The calculator shows this as your marginal rate.
What changed for take-home pay in April 2026? +
For 2026/27 the Personal Allowance and tax bands stay frozen, and the freeze now runs to April 2031, so pay rises keep pulling more income into higher bands. Employee National Insurance stays at 8% and 2%. Student loan thresholds rose to £26,900 (Plan 1), £29,385 (Plan 2) and £33,795 (Plan 4); Plan 5 stays at £25,000 and postgraduate loans at £21,000. Dividend tax rose by 2 percentage points for basic and higher rate taxpayers, which matters if you are a director paid partly in dividends. Use the tax year toggle to compare both years.
Do I need to file a Self Assessment tax return if I earn over £100,000? +
Not automatically. HMRC no longer requires a return purely because PAYE income is high, but you will usually need one if you have untaxed income such as dividends, savings interest above your allowance, rental income, capital gains from selling shares or crypto, share scheme income not fully taxed through payroll, or if you need to claim higher-rate relief on personal pension contributions or Gift Aid. Many people earning over £100,000 fall into at least one of these. If you are unsure, a quick call will settle it.
Is the calculator accurate for high earners and complex pay? +
It handles the Personal Allowance taper above £100,000, the 60% effective band to £125,140, the additional rate and the 2% National Insurance rate correctly. It does not model company cars, private medical insurance, share awards or RSUs, bonuses taxed in a different period, Scottish income tax rates, or non-cash benefits. If your pay includes any of these, the Personal Tax Strategy Review covers the full picture in writing for a fixed fee.
Now you know your take-home pay. Want to keep more of it?
Salary sacrifice, marriage allowance, pension timing, share schemes and the £100K taper are where most employees leave money behind. Book a free 15-minute call with Kris, your named adviser, and find out what applies to you.
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