Take-Home Pay Calculator (UK)
Your take-home pay is your salary after income tax and National Insurance. For 2025/26, the first £12,570 is tax-free, then tax is 20% to £50,270, 40% to £125,140 and 45% above; employee NI is 8% then 2%. Enter your salary to see your net pay per year, month and week.
Use this UK take-home pay calculator to turn a gross salary into the amount that actually lands in your bank account. It applies the 2025/26 income tax bands and National Insurance thresholds for England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and shows each deduction separately so you can see exactly where your money goes.
Enter your annual salary, add a pension if you have one, then press Calculate.
How the UK take-home pay calculator works
Two deductions stand between your gross salary and your net pay: income tax and National Insurance. This calculator applies both using the 2025/26 rules for England, Wales and Northern Ireland. First it works out your personal allowance — the slice of income taxed at 0% — then taxes the rest through the 20%, 40% and 45% bands. Separately it charges employee National Insurance at 8% and 2% across its own thresholds. What is left after both is your take-home pay, shown per year, month and week.
Because it treats a salary-sacrifice pension as coming off the top before tax and NI, you can see how contributing to a pension lowers both deductions. Pair it with the salary calculator to convert between hourly, weekly and annual pay, the income tax calculator for a tax-only breakdown, and the pension calculator to project what those contributions could grow into.
The take-home pay formula
- Allowance — first £12,570 taxed at 0%
- Income tax — 20% / 40% / 45% on the rest
- NI — 8% then 2% on earnings above £12,570
2025/26 income tax bands (England, Wales & NI)
| Band | Taxable income | Rate |
|---|---|---|
| Personal allowance | Up to £12,570 | 0% |
| Basic rate | £12,571 – £50,270 | 20% |
| Higher rate | £50,271 – £125,140 | 40% |
| Additional rate | Over £125,140 | 45% |
The personal allowance is reduced by £1 for every £2 of income above £100,000, disappearing at £125,140 — which creates an effective 60% marginal rate in that band. Employee National Insurance sits on top: 8% between £12,570 and £50,270, and 2% above £50,270.
Ways to increase your take-home — or reduce your tax
The two biggest legitimate levers are pension contributions and using tax-free allowances. Paying into a workplace pension by salary sacrifice cuts both your income tax and your National Insurance, and is especially powerful if it brings your income back below £100,000 or £50,270. Making sure your tax code is correct also matters — an emergency or wrong code can over-deduct. And if you are married, the marriage allowance can transfer a slice of unused personal allowance between spouses. None of these change the headline salary, but they change how much of it you keep.
Second jobs, tax codes and salary sacrifice
A few things beyond the headline bands change your take-home pay. Your tax code tells your employer how much tax-free allowance to give you — the standard code is 1257L for the full £12,570 personal allowance. A second job usually gets a BR code that taxes all of it at 20% (or D0 at 40%), because your allowance is already used on your main job. Salary sacrifice — swapping salary for pension contributions, a cycle-to-work bike or extra employer pension — lowers your taxable pay and often your National Insurance too, nudging your take-home up in a tax-efficient way. If your code looks wrong, checking it with HMRC can be worth real money.
Estimate only — not tax advice. Figures use the standard 1257L tax code and exclude student loans, benefits in kind and other code adjustments. Check GOV.UK or a tax adviser for your exact position.
How to use it & key terms
Enter your annual gross salary, add a salary-sacrifice pension percentage if you have one, then press Calculate to see your income tax, National Insurance and take-home pay.
| Term | What it means |
|---|---|
| Gross salary | Your total pay before any deductions. |
| Personal allowance | The £12,570 taxed at 0% (tapered above £100,000). |
| Income tax | Charged at 20%, 40% and 45% across the bands. |
| National Insurance | Employee Class 1 at 8% then 2%. |
| Salary sacrifice | Pension paid before tax and NI are worked out. |
| Take-home pay | What is left after tax and NI — your net pay. |
Sources & methodology
Income tax is calculated on taxable income (salary minus the personal allowance) using the 2025/26 bands for England, Wales and Northern Ireland: 20% on the first £37,700, 40% up to £125,140, and 45% above. The personal allowance of £12,570 is reduced by £1 for every £2 of income over £100,000. Employee Class 1 National Insurance is charged at 8% on earnings between £12,570 and £50,270 and 2% above £50,270. A salary-sacrifice pension percentage is deducted from gross pay before both income tax and National Insurance. The calculator assumes the standard 1257L tax code and does not model student loans, benefits in kind, the marriage allowance or Scottish income tax.
Sources: GOV.UK — Income Tax rates and Personal Allowances, and Rates and thresholds for employers 2025 to 2026; National Insurance rates for employees. Figures verified for the 2025/26 tax year.
Reading a pay rise, and why net pay is what to budget from
A common budgeting mistake is to plan around the salary on your contract rather than the money that actually arrives. Two deductions stand between them: income tax and employee National Insurance. Income tax is charged progressively — a tax-free personal allowance comes first, then a basic, higher and additional rate band as earnings climb — while National Insurance is a second, separate charge on your earnings with its own thresholds. Because both are taken before you are paid, your take-home is always the figure to build a budget on, not the headline gross, and seeing that gap is often the first step to a realistic monthly plan.
This also explains why a pay rise never lands in full. Extra income is taxed at your marginal rate — the rate on your top slice of earnings — and National Insurance can apply on top, so only part of a raise or a bonus reaches your account. The same logic runs in reverse: because the lower bands are taxed gently, your effective rate across all your income is lower than the top band you reach. Expecting a whole rise to appear and then seeing less is one of the most common payslip surprises.
A few structural features are worth knowing. National Insurance generally falls on earned income such as wages rather than on every kind of income, so its treatment can differ from income tax. And salary sacrifice — giving up a slice of gross pay for a pension contribution or another approved benefit — reduces the pay on which tax and National Insurance are worked out, which is why it is such an efficient way to build long-term savings. Making sure your tax code is right matters for the same reason.
None of this changes your gross salary; it shapes how much of it you keep, and when. Scotland sets some of its own income tax bands, so the picture can differ there too. Use the take-home figure here to budget from net rather than gross, and treat it as an estimate to confirm against current official guidance — the exact bands, thresholds and your tax code all feed into the final number.
Frequently asked questions
How is UK take-home pay calculated for 2025/26?
Your take-home pay is your gross salary minus income tax and National Insurance. For 2025/26 the first £12,570 is tax-free (the personal allowance), then income tax is charged at 20% up to £50,270, 40% up to £125,140 and 45% above that. Employee National Insurance is 8% on earnings between £12,570 and £50,270 and 2% above £50,270. Subtract both from your salary and what remains is your net pay. This calculator applies the current thresholds for England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
What is the personal allowance for 2025/26?
The tax-free personal allowance for 2025/26 is £12,570, the same as recent years because it is frozen. You pay no income tax on the first £12,570 you earn. If you earn more than £100,000, the allowance is reduced by £1 for every £2 of income above £100,000, so it disappears entirely once your income reaches £125,140. This calculator applies that taper automatically for higher earners.
How much is National Insurance in 2025/26?
For employees on Class 1 National Insurance in 2025/26, you pay 8% on earnings between £12,570 and £50,270 a year, and 2% on anything above £50,270. Below £12,570 you pay no National Insurance. The main 8% rate applies to most of a typical salary, which is why NI is a significant deduction alongside income tax. This calculator works out your NI from those thresholds and shows it separately from income tax.
Does this calculator work for Scotland?
No — this calculator uses the income tax bands for England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Scotland sets its own income tax rates and bands, which include starter, basic, intermediate, higher, advanced and top rates that differ from the rest of the UK. National Insurance is the same across the whole UK, but Scottish income tax is not, so a Scottish taxpayer's take-home pay would be slightly different. Use a Scotland-specific calculator if you pay Scottish income tax.
How does a pension contribution affect my take-home pay?
Under a salary-sacrifice pension, you give up part of your salary in exchange for a pension contribution, so that amount is taken off before income tax and National Insurance are calculated. That lowers both your tax and your NI, which is why sacrificing into a pension is tax-efficient. Your take-home pay falls by less than the amount contributed, because some of the contribution is money you would otherwise have paid in tax and NI. Enter a percentage to see the effect.
What is not included in this take-home estimate?
This is a clean estimate based on the standard tax code (1257L), income tax and employee National Insurance for 2025/26. It does not include student loan repayments, the marriage allowance, the blind person's allowance, taxable benefits in kind, or other adjustments to your tax code. It also assumes you are an employee rather than self-employed. Your actual payslip may differ slightly if any of these apply, so treat the result as a close guide rather than an exact payroll figure.
Why is my marginal tax rate 60% between £100,000 and £125,140?
Between £100,000 and £125,140 of income, every extra £2 you earn removes £1 of your personal allowance, so an extra slice of income becomes taxable that was not before. Combined with the 40% higher rate, this creates an effective marginal rate of about 60% on that band — sometimes called the "60% tax trap". It is one reason higher earners often make pension contributions to bring their income back below £100,000. This calculator reflects the lost allowance in that range automatically.
Why is my second job taxed so much?
Your tax-free personal allowance is normally given entirely through your main job's tax code, so a second job is usually taxed with a BR code, meaning every pound is taxed at the 20% basic rate — or at 40% with a D0 code for higher earners. That can feel harsh, but it is often correct because the allowance is already used against your main pay. If too much is taken overall, HMRC can split your allowance across the jobs or refund the difference, so it is worth checking your tax codes.
What is the Marriage Allowance?
The Marriage Allowance lets a lower-earning spouse or civil partner whose income is below the personal allowance transfer £1,260 of that allowance to their partner, as long as the partner is a basic-rate taxpayer. It reduces the couple's tax by up to £252 a year. You claim it through HMRC, and it can often be backdated. It is not built into this calculator, so eligible couples should claim it separately.