Take-Home Pay
Calculator

Start by entering your annual gross salary — that is the total amount your employer pays you before any deductions. You can type directly into the input field or drag the slider to set a figure between £0 and £150,000. The calculator uses this gross figure as the starting point for every deduction that follows, so accuracy here matters. If you are unsure of your exact salary, check your contract or the annual figure shown on your latest payslip.

Once your gross salary is set, the calculator applies the current HMRC income tax bands for the 2026/27 tax year. The first £12,570 is covered by your Personal Allowance and is tax-free. Income between £12,571 and £50,270 is taxed at the basic rate of 20%, income between £50,271 and £125,140 at the higher rate of 40%, and anything above £125,140 at the additional rate of 45%. Tax is applied progressively — you only pay the higher rate on the portion of income that falls within that band, not your entire salary.

National Insurance contributions are calculated next. For employees in the 2026/27 tax year, you pay 8% on earnings between £12,570 and £50,270 and 2% on earnings above £50,270. NI is a separate deduction from income tax and funds state benefits including the State Pension, so it appears as its own line on your payslip and in the calculator results.

The calculator also handles workplace pension contributions and student loan repayments. Set your pension as a percentage of gross salary — the default is 5%, which reflects the minimum auto-enrolment contribution for most employees. Pension is deducted before tax and NI are calculated (salary sacrifice), which means contributing to your pension genuinely reduces your tax bill. For student loans, select your repayment plan from the dropdown. The calculator applies the correct threshold and rate: 9% of income above the threshold for Plans 1, 2, 4 and 5, or 6% for Postgraduate loans.

Your final net pay — the amount that actually lands in your bank account — is displayed instantly across four time periods: annual, monthly, weekly and daily. The deduction cards below the main result show a complete breakdown of every deduction so you can see exactly where your money goes, how much each deduction costs you, and what your effective tax rate is as a percentage of gross pay.

Your gross salary and your net (take-home) pay are two very different numbers. Gross pay is the headline figure on your contract — the total amount your employer pays you. Net pay is what actually arrives in your bank account after income tax, National Insurance, pension contributions and any student loan repayments have been deducted. For most UK employees, the gap between gross and net is between 25% and 35% of their salary, depending on which tax bands they fall into and what other deductions apply.

If the figure on your payslip does not exactly match the calculator result, do not worry — there are several reasons this can happen. Overtime, bonuses and commission are taxed in the month they are paid, which can push you into a higher tax band temporarily. Benefits in kind such as a company car, private medical insurance or gym membership are taxed through your tax code rather than as a direct payroll deduction, which changes how much tax is taken from your regular pay. Salary adjustments, back pay and pay rises part-way through the tax year can also cause monthly variations.

There are legitimate ways to increase your take-home pay without earning more. Pension salary sacrifice is one of the most effective: by diverting part of your salary into your pension before tax and NI are calculated, you reduce both deductions and build retirement savings at the same time. If your spouse or civil partner earns below the Personal Allowance (£12,570), you may be eligible for Marriage Allowance, which transfers £1,260 of their unused allowance to you — worth up to £252 a year in tax savings.

Checking your tax code is another quick win. If HMRC has applied the wrong code — perhaps because of outdated information about a previous job, benefits in kind you no longer receive, or an estimated income that turned out to be wrong — you could be paying too much tax every month. You can check and update your tax code through your Personal Tax Account on GOV.UK.

For a deeper understanding of each component, use our related calculators: the salary calculator shows a full breakdown with tax code options, the income tax calculator details every band, the National Insurance calculator breaks down employee and employer contributions, the payslip breakdown explains every line on your payslip, the salary sacrifice calculator shows how much you save by exchanging salary for benefits, and the pension calculator projects your retirement pot based on current contributions.