What is your actual take-home pay?
Enter a salary and see exactly what lands in your account after Income Tax, National Insurance, student loan and pension — using the published HMRC rates for 2026/27.
Your take-home pay
£2,393 a month
Where your money goes
Full breakdown
| Year | Month | Week | Day | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gross salary | £35,000 | £2,917 | £673.08 | £134.62 |
| Income Tax | −£4,486 | −£374 | −£86.27 | −£17.25 |
| National Insurance | −£1,794 | −£150 | −£34.51 | −£6.90 |
| Take-home pay | £28,720 | £2,393 | £552.30 | £110.46 |
How your Income Tax is worked out
Personal allowance (tax free): £12,570
| Band | Rate | Taxed on | Tax |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic rate | 20% | £22,430 | £4,486 |
| Total Income Tax | £4,486 |
Other calculators
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Two jobs calculator
See the combined tax position when you have a second job.
Required salary
Work backwards from the take-home pay you need.
Compare two salaries
Put two offers side by side and see the real difference.
Compare tax years
See whether you are better or worse off than last year.
How your take-home pay is worked out
The distance between the salary in your contract and the money in your account catches most people out. Four things come off a typical payslip, and they are each worked out differently.
Income Tax
Everyone starts with a personal allowance of £12,570 that is taxed at 0%. Above that, England, Wales & Northern Ireland charges 20% up to £50,270, 40% up to £125,140, and 45% on anything above. Scotland has six bands instead of three, running from 19% to 48% — if you live in Scotland, switch the region above and the figures change accordingly.
There is a sting between £100,000 and £125,140: the personal allowance drops by £1 for every £2 earned, so each extra pound is effectively taxed at 60%. Add National Insurance and the marginal rate in that band is 62%. The calculator shows your marginal rate so you can see when you have crossed into it.
National Insurance
Employee National Insurance is 8% on earnings between £12,570 and £50,270, then 2% on everything above. Unlike Income Tax it is calculated separately for each pay period rather than across the year, which is why a bonus month can look unusually heavily taxed.
Student loans
Repayments are 9% of everything you earn above your plan's threshold — 6% for a Postgraduate Loan — and they are collected through PAYE automatically. Thresholds for 2026/27 are Plan 1 £26,900, Plan 2 £29,385, Plan 4 £33,795, Plan 5 £25,000, Postgraduate £21,000. If you have both an undergraduate and a postgraduate loan, both come off.
Pension
How much a pension contribution costs you depends on the scheme. Salary sacrifice reduces your gross pay before tax and National Insurance, so it is the cheapest way to contribute. A net pay arrangement (used by most auto-enrolment schemes) saves Income Tax but not National Insurance. Relief at source takes the money from your pay after tax and the provider reclaims 20% from HMRC.
Frequently asked questions
How much tax do I pay on a £30,000 salary?
On £30,000 in England, Wales or Northern Ireland for 2026/27 you pay £3,486 in Income Tax and £1,394 in National Insurance, leaving £25,120 a year — about £2,093 a month. In Scotland the same salary leaves £25,155 a year.
What is the personal allowance for 2026/27?
The personal allowance is £12,570. That is how much you can earn before paying any Income Tax. It shrinks by £1 for every £2 you earn above £100,000, and disappears completely at £125,140 — which is why the effective tax rate between those two figures is 60%.
How accurate is this calculator?
It applies the published HMRC rates for 2026/27 the same way a payroll system does, so for a standard tax code with no taxable benefits it should match your payslip closely. It will differ if you have a non-standard tax code, a company car or other benefit in kind, childcare vouchers, or irregular payments such as a bonus in the month you are checking.
Why is my payslip different from this figure?
The usual causes are an emergency or incorrect tax code, benefits in kind such as private medical cover, deductions your employer makes that are not tax (union fees, share schemes, season ticket loans), or the fact that National Insurance is worked out on each pay period separately rather than across the year. Check the tax code on your payslip first — that is the most common culprit.
What is the difference between gross and net pay?
Gross pay is the headline figure in your contract or job advert, before anything is taken off. Net pay — take-home pay — is what actually reaches your bank account after Income Tax, National Insurance, student loan repayments and pension contributions. The gap widens as you earn more.
Does salary sacrifice save me money?
Usually yes. A salary sacrifice pension contribution comes out of your pay before both Income Tax and National Insurance, so a basic-rate taxpayer saves 28p in the pound rather than the 20p saved by a relief-at-source scheme. It also lowers your gross salary, which can help if you are near the £100,000 personal allowance taper or the High Income Child Benefit Charge.
Guides
Plain-English explanations of the bits of the payslip nobody ever explains.
What Is PAYE and How Does It Work?
5 min read · Basics
Understanding Your Payslip
4 min read · Basics
Understanding Your Tax Code
6 min read · Tax codes
Emergency Tax Codes
4 min read · Tax codes
National Insurance Contributions Explained for Employees
4 min read · Basics
How to Check If You're Paying the Right Amount of Tax
4 min read · Getting it right