Your details
Your take-home pay
Figures are for the 2026/27 tax year and apply to England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Scotland has different income tax bands not covered here. This calculator assumes a standard personal allowance, that your pension contribution reduces the income your income tax is based on, and that National Insurance is charged on your full salary (a salary-sacrifice pension would also lower NI). It excludes things like benefits in kind, multiple incomes, and the marriage allowance. It is a general guide only and does not constitute financial or tax advice.
Explanation
How your take-home pay is worked out
Your gross salary is the headline figure your employer agrees to pay you, but several deductions come out before the money reaches your bank account.
The main ones are Income Tax and National Insurance, both collected automatically through PAYE, along with any pension contributions and student loan repayments. What’s left is your take-home, or net, pay.
Income tax bands (2026/27)
For England, Wales and Northern Ireland you pay no tax on the first £12,570 (your personal allowance), 20% on income up to £50,270, 40% up to £125,140, and 45% above that.
Importantly, these rates apply only to the portion of income within each band.
Moving into a higher band never reduces your overall take-home pay (but can reduce your benefits leavening you worse off).
Scotland sets its own income tax bands, so if you live there these figures will not apply to you.
National Insurance
Employees pay Class 1 National Insurance at 8% on earnings between £12,570 and £50,270, then just 2% on anything above that.
Unlike income tax, it is generally worked out on each pay packet rather than your annual total.
The £100,000 trap
This is the cliff edge that catches many higher earners by surprise.
Once your income passes £100,000, your personal allowance is reduced by £1 for every £2 you earn, disappearing entirely at £125,140.
Because you start paying tax on income that was previously tax-free, every extra pound in this band is effectively taxed at around 60%.
In England you also lose access to free childcare hours and tax-free childcare once you cross £100,000.
Paying more into a pension lowers the income these thresholds are measured against, and is the most common way people step back below the line.
Pensions
Contributing to a pension reduces the income your tax is calculated on, so you effectively receive tax relief at your highest rate.
The calculator assumes your contribution lowers your taxable income; the exact mechanism depends on whether your scheme uses salary sacrifice, net pay, or relief at source.
A salary-sacrifice arrangement would also reduce your National Insurance, which this tool does not assume by default.
Student loans
Repayments are a fixed percentage of income above your plan’s threshold: 9% for Plans 1, 2, 4 and 5, and 6% for Postgraduate loans.
You only repay on the portion above the threshold, and any remaining balance is eventually written off, so it behaves more like a graduate tax than a conventional debt.
Important: This calculator is a general guide for the 2026/27 tax year and covers the most common situations only. It does not account for things like company benefits, multiple jobs, the marriage allowance, or Scottish income tax. Always check your payslip and speak to a qualified adviser or accountant for anything affecting a financial decision.