United Kingdom · 2026/27 tax year
What will you actually take home?
Enter a salary and see your pay after income tax, National Insurance, pension and student loan, monthly, weekly or yearly. Every rate is read from GOV.UK and dated.
Your 2026/27 take-home pay
Enter your salary before tax. Everything updates as you type, and the link in your address bar keeps your answers.
5% is the legal minimum for you under automatic enrolment (your employer adds at least 3%).
More options: tax code, Marriage Allowance, benefits, Child Benefit
Leave blank for the standard 1257L. Supported: a number with L, M, N or T (for example 1100L), 0T, BR, D0, D1, NT, and the S (Scotland) and C (Wales) prefixes. K codes and emergency codes are not modelled.
The taxable value of non-cash benefits such as a company car or private medical insurance, from your P11D or payslip. They are taxed but carry no National Insurance for you.
Only matters above £60,000. This assumes you are the higher earner in your household, who pays the High Income Child Benefit Charge.
Estimated take-home pay
£3,126.63
a month, after tax and deductions
- Income tax
- National Insurance
- Pension
- Take-home
| Item | Per month | Per year |
|---|---|---|
| Gross pay | £4,166.67 | £50,000.00 |
| Workplace pension | −£208.33 | −£2,500.00 |
| Income tax | −£582.17 | −£6,986.00 |
| National Insurance | −£249.53 | −£2,994.40 |
| Take-home pay | £3,126.63 | £37,519.60 |
| Tax and NI as a share of pay | 20% | |
| Taken from your next £1,000 (tax, NI, loans) | 22.6% | |
How the income tax is worked out
Personal Allowance £12,570. Taxable income £34,930.
| Band | Rate | Income in band | Tax |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic rate | 20% | £34,930.00 | £6,986.00 |
Assumes tax code 1257L, National Insurance category A, one job and no other income, for the 2026/27 tax year. Rates read from GOV.UK on 2026-10-02. This is an estimate, not payroll or tax advice; your payslip may differ by a few pounds.
- Nothing you enter leaves your browser
- 6 April 2026 to 5 April 2027
- Scotland included
Worked example
£50,000 a year, step by step
In England, Wales or Northern Ireland, with no pension or student loan, £50,000 becomes £39,519.60 a year, or £3,293.30 a month.
| Step | Working | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Taxable income | £50,000 − £12,570 Personal Allowance | £37,430.00 |
| Income tax | £37,430 × 20% | −£7,486.00 |
| National Insurance | (£50,000 − £12,570) × 8% | −£2,994.40 |
| Take-home | per year | £39,519.60 |
With a 5% workplace pension (£2,500) taken before tax, take-home is £37,519.60 a year, or £3,126.63 a month. The pension costs you less than £2,500 because it also reduces your income tax.
The 2026/27 rates
What the calculator applies
England, Wales, Northern Ireland
| Band | Rate | Taxable income |
|---|---|---|
| Personal Allowance | 0% | Up to £12,570 |
| Basic rate | 20% | £12,571 to £50,270 |
| Higher rate | 40% | £50,271 to £125,140 |
| Additional rate | 45% | Over £125,140 |
Scotland
| Band | Rate | Income |
|---|---|---|
| Personal Allowance | 0% | Up to £12,570 |
| Starter rate | 19% | £12,571 to £16,537 |
| Basic rate | 20% | £16,538 to £29,526 |
| Intermediate rate | 21% | £29,527 to £43,662 |
| Higher rate | 42% | £43,663 to £75,000 |
| Advanced rate | 45% | £75,001 to £125,140 |
| Top rate | 48% | Over £125,140 |
Bands are shown on total income, as GOV.UK prints them; the Personal Allowance is withdrawn by £1 for every £2 over £100,000. National Insurance is 8% between £12,570 and £50,270 and 2% above. Student loans: Plan 1 £26,900, Plan 2 £29,385, Plan 4 £33,795, Plan 5 £25,000, each at 9%, plus a Postgraduate Loan at 6% above £21,000. The automatic-enrolment minimum is 5% from you and 3% from your employer.
Salary pages
Take-home pay at popular salaries
Each page breaks one salary down: tax, National Insurance, Scotland, a pension and every student loan plan.
Sources
Every figure is traced to an official source
Each rate and threshold below was read from the page named beside it on 2026-10-02. If HMRC changes a figure, the date tells you how old ours is.
- GOV.UK: Income Tax rates and Personal Allowances
£12,570 Personal Allowance, 20% / 40% / 45% bands, the £100,000 taper to zero at £125,140
- GOV.UK: Income Tax in Scotland
The six Scottish bands and rates for 2026 to 2027
- GOV.UK: National Insurance rates and categories
Category A employee thresholds (£242 / £967 a week, £1,048 / £4,189 a month) and the 8% and 2% rates
- GOV.UK: Rates and thresholds for employers 2026 to 2027
The ANNUAL National Insurance figures (primary threshold £12,570 and upper earnings limit £50,270 a year), the category A rates, every student loan threshold at weekly, monthly and annual precision, and the PAYE bands on taxable pay: England/Wales/NI £37,700 and £125,140; Scotland £3,967, £16,956, £31,092, £62,430 and £125,140
- The Pensions Regulator: Automatic enrolment earnings thresholds
2026 to 2027: qualifying earnings from £6,240 to £50,270 and a £10,000 earnings trigger (the DWP's unchanged thresholds)
- GOV.UK: Collection of student loans from 6 April 2026
Plan 1, 2, 4, 5 and Postgraduate thresholds, the 9% and 6% rates, and the rule that a deduction is rounded down to the pound
- GOV.UK: Which repayment plan you are on
Plan 1 (before 1 Sept 2012), Plan 2 (England 1 Sept 2012 to 31 July 2023), Plan 4 (Scotland), Plan 5 (England from 1 Aug 2023), Postgraduate Loan
- GOV.UK: Workplace pensions, what you, your employer and the government pay
5% employee and 3% employer minimums on earnings between £6,240 and £50,270
- GOV.UK: Marriage Allowance
A £1,260 transfer worth up to £252; the recipient pays basic rate (income £12,571 to £50,270, Scotland £12,571 to £43,662); the giver's income must be below the Personal Allowance
- GOV.UK: What your tax code means
1257L as the standard code; what L, M, N, T, 0T, BR, D0, D1, NT and the S (Scotland) and C (Wales) prefixes mean
- GOV.UK: High Income Child Benefit Charge
The £60,000 threshold; 1% of Child Benefit repaid per £200 of adjusted net income over it, all of it over £80,000; adjusted net income is after pension contributions
- GOV.UK: Child Benefit rates
£27.05 a week for the eldest or only child and £17.90 for each additional child
- legislation.gov.uk: Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003 s.681C
The charge is the appropriate percentage of the benefit, (ANI - £60,000) / £200 capped at 100%, with the percentage and the amount rounded down (read from the Internet Archive copy, because legislation.gov.uk challenges automated requests)
- GOV.UK: Tax on company benefits
Company benefits such as cars, accommodation and loans are taxed through PAYE; National Insurance is charged on things paid in cash, which are treated as earnings
What it assumes, and leaves out
- Tax code 1257L unless you enter another, National Insurance category A, one employment and no other income.
- A steady salary for the whole year. HMRC works month by month, so a payslip can differ by a few pounds.
- National Insurance uses the annual thresholds of £12,570 and £50,270; GOV.UK publishes the weekly and monthly equivalents, and period rounding can move the result by pennies.
- Student loans are worked per month and rounded down to the pound, as HMRC's payroll specification requires.
- Not included: K codes and emergency codes (W1, M1, X), a second job, self-employment, Blind Person's Allowance, savings and dividend income, and employer pension contributions beyond the salary-sacrifice case.
- Optional, under "More options": a tax code (L, M, N, T, 0T, BR, D0, D1, NT and the S and C prefixes), Marriage Allowance, taxable benefits in kind, and the High Income Child Benefit Charge. Benefits are taxed but carry no employee National Insurance. The Child Benefit charge assumes you are the higher earner in the household and receive Child Benefit for the 52 weeks of the year; it is shown as a deduction but the Child Benefit itself is not counted in take-home.
- Pension "from pay" assumes you receive the full income-tax relief at your marginal rate, through a net pay arrangement or by claiming higher-rate relief. A net pay arrangement gives no relief to pay under the Personal Allowance.
Questions
UK take-home pay, answered
How is take-home pay worked out in the UK?
Four things come out of gross pay: income tax, National Insurance, your workplace pension contribution and, if you have one, student loan repayments. The first £12,570 of income is tax-free. Above it you pay 20% up to £50,270, 40% up to £125,140 and 45% beyond that in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Scotland has six bands.
How much National Insurance do employees pay?
On pay between £12,570 and £50,270 a year employees pay 8%, and 2% on anything above £50,270. Nothing is due below £12,570. These are the Class 1 category A rates for 2026/27.
Why is the 100,000 to 125,140 pound range taxed so heavily?
The Personal Allowance falls by £1 for every £2 of income over £100,000 and is gone at £125,140. The lost allowance is taxed at 40%, which makes the effective rate on that slice of pay about 62% once National Insurance is counted. A pension contribution can bring your adjusted income back under £100,000.
Is income tax different in Scotland?
Yes. Scotland sets its own bands: 19% starter, 20% basic, 21% intermediate, 42% higher, 45% advanced and 48% top. National Insurance is the same everywhere in the UK. Wales and Northern Ireland use the England rates.
What is the difference between net pay, relief at source and salary sacrifice?
With a net pay arrangement your pension contribution is taken before income tax. With relief at source it is taken after tax and the scheme adds the basic-rate relief back, and you claim any higher-rate relief. Both reduce your income tax. Salary sacrifice swaps part of your salary for an employer pension contribution, which also reduces your National Insurance and the pay your student loan is charged on. This calculator models the first two together as "from pay" and salary sacrifice separately.
How are student loan repayments calculated?
Repayments are a percentage of what you earn above a threshold: 9% for Plans 1, 2, 4 and 5 and 6% for a Postgraduate Loan, worked out each pay period and rounded down to the pound. They are taken in addition to income tax and National Insurance, and a Postgraduate Loan is repaid alongside an undergraduate plan.
How accurate is this calculator?
It estimates a full year on a steady salary, using the rates GOV.UK publishes for 2026/27. It assumes tax code 1257L, one job and no other income unless you say otherwise under "More options", where you can enter a different tax code, claim Marriage Allowance, add taxable benefits and include the High Income Child Benefit Charge. Your payslip can differ by a few pounds because HMRC works month by month and rounds each period. It does not cover K codes, emergency codes, a second job, self-employment, Blind Person's Allowance or income other than your salary.