UK Take-Home Pay Calculator
This UK take home pay calculator turns your gross salary into net pay after income tax, National Insurance, pension and student loan.
Formula & worked example
Formula: Take-home = salary − pension − Income Tax − National Insurance − student loan. Tax: 20% on the first £37,700 above the £12,570 allowance, 40% up to £125,140, then 45%. NI: 8% between £12,570 and £50,270, 2% above.
Example: £35,000 with a 5% pension (net pay): tax £4,136, NI £1,794.40, pension £1,750, take-home £27,319.60 a year (£2,276.63 a month).
Method & source: GOV.UK: Income Tax rates and Personal Allowances; Rates and thresholds for employers 2026 to 2027 (England, Wales and Northern Ireland). See how we test our calculators.
Next step: try hourly pay to salary or mortgage payments.
What Is a UK Take-Home Pay Calculator?
A UK take-home pay calculator turns your gross salary – the figure in your job offer – into the money that actually reaches your bank account. Between the two sit Income Tax, National Insurance, any workplace pension contribution and, for many people, a student loan repayment.
This UK take home pay calculator uses the rates for the 2026/27 tax year for England, Wales and Northern Ireland, shows every deduction line by line and lets you compare how a pension or student loan changes your net pay. Scottish Income Tax has different bands and is not included yet.
How Our UK Take-Home Pay Calculator Works
Enter your gross annual salary and, if they apply, your pension contribution and student loan plan. The calculator works through the deductions in the same order as payroll.
- Income Tax: a Personal Allowance of £12,570, then 20% on the next £37,700, 40% above that, and 45% on taxable income over £125,140.
- Allowance taper: the Personal Allowance falls by £1 for every £2 of income above £100,000 and is gone by £125,140.
- National Insurance: 8% on earnings between £12,570 and £50,270, and 2% above £50,270.
- Pension: choose a net pay arrangement (reduces tax only) or salary sacrifice (reduces tax and National Insurance).
- Student loans: 9% of earnings above the threshold for Plans 1, 2, 4 and 5, plus 6% above £21,000 for a Postgraduate Loan.
Figures are held in a single tax-year file and checked against GOV.UK, and the tax year is shown next to every result so you always know which rules were used.
Why Knowing Your Take-Home Pay Matters
Gross salary is what you are offered, but take-home pay is what you can spend. Working it out before you accept a job or plan a budget avoids unpleasant surprises.
- Compare job offers on the pay you would really receive each month.
- Plan rent, a mortgage or a car loan from your true monthly income.
- See how much a pension contribution really costs after tax relief.
- Understand the effect of a pay rise, including the tax it triggers.
- Check your payslip against an independent estimate.
A UK take-home pay calculator will not replace your payslip, but it gives you a fast, transparent estimate you can trust for planning.
Worked walkthrough: a £35,000 salary
Take a salary of £35,000 with a 5% pension contribution through a net pay arrangement and no student loan. The pension is £1,750, so taxable income is £33,250. The Personal Allowance of £12,570 leaves £20,680 to be taxed at 20%, which is £4,136. National Insurance is charged on the full £35,000: 8% of (£35,000 − £12,570) = £1,794.40. Take-home pay is £35,000 − £1,750 − £4,136 − £1,794.40 = £27,319.60 a year, or about £2,276.63 a month. Adding a Plan 2 student loan takes a further £505.35 a year, and choosing salary sacrifice instead of net pay saves £140 of National Insurance.
Practical tips for uk take-home pay calculations
- Use your gross salary from the job offer, not a figure that has already had tax or pension taken off.
- Choose the pension method your employer actually uses – ask payroll if you are unsure whether it is net pay, salary sacrifice or relief at source.
- Relief-at-source pensions work differently: tax relief is added to your pension pot. This tool does not model them, so treat pension results as approximate in that case.
- Between £100,000 and £125,140 the Personal Allowance is withdrawn, which creates an effective 60% rate on that slice of income. Pension contributions can reduce it.
- Your tax code can differ from the standard one because of benefits, underpaid tax or other jobs. If your payslip is very different, check your code on GOV.UK.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Start with your gross salary, subtract pension contributions made before tax, then deduct Income Tax, National Insurance and any student loan repayment. What remains is your take-home pay.
The 2026/27 tax year, which runs from 6 April 2026 to 5 April 2027. The tax year is shown on the page and in the result, and the figures were checked against GOV.UK.
Not yet. Scotland sets its own Income Tax rates and bands, so choosing Scotland shows a message instead of a wrong answer. National Insurance and student loan rules are UK-wide.
With a net pay arrangement the pension is taken before Income Tax but National Insurance is still charged on the full salary. With salary sacrifice your contractual pay is reduced, so both tax and National Insurance are lower.
Payroll uses your tax code, weekly or monthly thresholds, rounding, benefits in kind and any other income. This calculator gives an annual estimate, so small differences are normal.
Estimate only – not tax advice. Figures use the 2026/27 UK rates for England, Wales and Northern Ireland and simplified assumptions (standard tax code, no other income or benefits). Your payslip may differ. This is not tax, legal or financial advice; check GOV.UK or ask a qualified adviser. See our full disclaimer.