UK Take-Home Pay Calculator

The UK Take-Home Pay Calculator shows the money that actually reaches your bank account from a UK salary. It takes off Income Tax, National Insurance, your pension and any student loan, then shows your pay per month, week, year and hour. Use it to check a payslip, weigh up a job offer or pay rise, see what a bonus is worth after tax, or find out what an NHS Pension or salary sacrifice does to your pay. It covers the 2026/27 tax year for England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland.

How to Use the UK Take-Home Pay Calculator

1. Enter your salary and choose per year, month, week, day or hour. For an hourly wage, enter your weekly hours.
2. Pick where you pay tax: Scotland has its own Income Tax bands.
3. Add your pension: choose the pension type from your payslip and enter your percentage. For the NHS Pension the rate is picked for you.
4. Choose your student loan plan, and tick the box if you also have a Postgraduate Loan.
5. Open More options to enter your tax code, a bonus, or a second salary to compare.
6. Press Calculate Take-Home Pay. Compare the monthly row with your payslip: gross, Income Tax, NI, pension, student loan and net pay are all listed.

UK Income Tax Bands for 2026/27

The Personal Allowance and the bands for England, Wales and Northern Ireland are frozen until April 2031, so 2026/27 is the same as 2025/26:

Scottish Income Tax Bands for 2026/27

Scotland sets its own rates. For 2026/27 the starter and basic bands rose by 7.4%, so most Scottish taxpayers pay a little less than last year:

National Insurance is the same across the UK: 8% on pay between £12,570 and £50,270 a year and 2% above that. Over State Pension age you pay none.

Which Pension Type Is on Your Payslip?

The same 5% pension can cost you different amounts, depending on how your employer takes it:

Auto-enrolment minimums are often worked out on qualifying earnings, the part of your pay between £6,240 and £50,270. If your payslip pension looks smaller than your percentage of salary, choose “of qualifying earnings”.

NHS Pension Contribution Rates 2026/27

Part-time staff are placed in a tier by their whole-time equivalent pay, so enter your whole-time salary to check the tier, or use the net pay type with your payslip percentage.

What Your Tax Code Means

Student Loan Repayment Thresholds 2026/27

The £100,000 “60% Tax Trap”

From £100,000 your £12,570 Personal Allowance shrinks by £1 for every £2 you earn, and it is gone at £125,140. In that range the next pound of pay is taxed at about 60%, plus 2% NI. Try the “£110k + £10k bonus” example: the bonus keeps only about 38%. Putting the bonus or part of your salary into a salary sacrifice pension brings your income back under £100,000 and restores the allowance.

Frequently Asked Questions

How is UK take-home pay calculated?

Take-home pay is your gross pay minus Income Tax, National Insurance, your pension contribution and any student loan repayment. Income Tax is charged band by band on pay above your tax-free Personal Allowance of £12,570. National Insurance is 8% on pay between £12,570 and £50,270 and 2% above that. On a £30,000 salary in England with no pension, that leaves about £25,120 a year, or £2,093 a month.

What is the Personal Allowance for 2026/27?

The Personal Allowance is £12,570 for 2026/27, the same as every year since 2021. The government has frozen it until April 2031. Above £100,000 of income it shrinks by £1 for every £2 you earn, and it is gone completely at £125,140.

What are the Scottish income tax bands for 2026/27?

For 2026/27 Scottish taxpayers pay 19% from £12,571 to £16,537, 20% to £29,526, 21% to £43,662, 42% to £75,000, 45% to £125,140 and 48% above that. The starter and basic bands rose by 7.4% this year. National Insurance is the same everywhere in the UK.

Which pension type should I choose?

Check your payslip. If the pension comes off before tax and NI and your employer calls it salary sacrifice or salary exchange, choose salary sacrifice: it saves both tax and NI. If it comes off before tax only, which is how the NHS, teachers’ and many council schemes work, choose net pay. If it comes off after tax and your pension provider adds 20% tax relief, which is how many auto-enrolment schemes such as NEST work, choose relief at source.

How much NHS Pension will I pay in 2026/27?

The NHS Pension rate depends on your whole-time pensionable pay: 5.2% up to £13,259, 6.5% up to £28,854, 8.3% up to £35,155, 9.8% up to £52,778, 10.7% up to £67,668 and 12.5% above that. The rate applies to all of your pensionable pay, and the contribution comes off before Income Tax but not before National Insurance. Choose NHS Pension in this calculator and the tier is picked for you.

What does my tax code mean?

The number in your tax code is your tax-free allowance divided by 10, so 1257L means £12,570. An S at the start means Scottish rates and a C means Welsh rates. BR taxes everything at 20%, D0 at 40% and D1 at 45%, which is usual for a second job. 0T gives no allowance, NT means no tax, and a K code adds an amount to your taxable pay to collect tax owed elsewhere. Enter your code in More options to see its effect.

How much of my bonus will I take home?

A bonus is taxed at your marginal rate, the rate on your next pound of pay. A basic-rate payer usually keeps about 72% of a bonus after 20% tax and 8% NI, and a higher-rate payer keeps about 58%. Between £100,000 and £125,140 you can keep as little as 38%, because the bonus also removes part of your Personal Allowance. Enter the bonus in More options to see the exact figure.

What is the 60% tax trap?

Between £100,000 and £125,140 every £2 you earn removes £1 of your Personal Allowance, and that pound is then taxed at 40%. Together with the 40% higher rate, the next pound of pay is taxed at about 60%, plus 2% NI. Paying more into a pension through salary sacrifice brings your income back under £100,000 and restores the allowance.

What are the student loan repayment thresholds for 2026/27?

For 2026/27 you repay 9% of pay above £26,900 on Plan 1, £29,385 on Plan 2, £33,795 on Plan 4 and £25,000 on Plan 5, and 6% above £21,000 on a Postgraduate Loan. A Postgraduate Loan is repaid alongside any undergraduate plan.

This calculator gives a yearly estimate for one job. Your payslip can differ slightly month to month, for example in the month a bonus is paid or when your tax code changes. It is a guide, not tax advice.

Additional Resources

• Income Tax rates and Personal Allowances - GOV.UK
• Scottish Income Tax 2026 to 2027 - gov.scot
• Repaying your student loan - GOV.UK
• NHS Pension Scheme member contributions - NHS Employers
• Tax codes - GOV.UK