Take-Home Pay Calculator
What actually reaches your account after income tax, National Insurance, student loan repayments and pension salary sacrifice — using the rates in force from 6 April 2026.
| Annual | Monthly | |
|---|---|---|
| Gross salary | ||
| Pension sacrifice | ||
| Salary after sacrifice | ||
| Income tax | ||
| National Insurance | ||
| Student loan | ||
| Postgraduate loan | ||
| Take-home pay |
What this calculator assumes
- Rates and thresholds are those in force from 6 April 2026 to 5 April 2027, as published by HMRC.
- The standard personal allowance of £12,570 applies, tapered by £1 for every £2 of income above £100,000 and gone entirely at £125,140. It assumes tax code 1257L with no adjustments.
- You are aged between 16 and State Pension age and pay Class 1 National Insurance on category letter A. Under-21s, apprentices and those over State Pension age pay differently.
- Income is a single PAYE employment paid evenly across the year. Bonuses, benefits in kind, company cars, taxable expenses and second jobs are not included.
- Pension contributions are treated as salary sacrifice, so they reduce the pay used for income tax, National Insurance and student loan repayments alike. Relief-at-source pensions do not work this way.
- Student loan repayments use the annual thresholds. In practice HMRC applies the monthly threshold each pay period, so a bonus month can differ.
- Scottish rates apply if your main home is in Scotland. National Insurance and student loan thresholds are UK-wide.
- Nothing you type leaves your browser. There is no account, no sign-up and no data stored.
Sources: HMRC, Rates and thresholds for employers 2026 to 2027, and GOV.UK, Repaying your student loan: what you pay. Figures checked August 2026.
The 2026/27 rates this calculator uses
Income tax is charged on your taxable income, which is what remains after your personal allowance. The bands below are the widths of taxable income each rate applies to — not your salary. For someone on the full personal allowance with no salary sacrifice, add £12,570 to convert them into salary terms.
England, Wales and Northern Ireland
| Band | Rate | Taxable income | Salary equivalent |
|---|---|---|---|
| Personal allowance | 0% | — | Up to £12,570 |
| Basic rate | 20% | £0 – £37,700 | £12,571 – £50,270 |
| Higher rate | 40% | £37,701 – £125,140 | £50,271 – £125,140 |
| Additional rate | 45% | Over £125,140 | Over £125,140 |
The two right-hand columns converge above £100,000 because the personal allowance is withdrawn there, at a rate of £1 for every £2 earned. By £125,140 it has gone completely, which is why taxable income and salary are the same number at that point.
Scotland
| Band | Rate | Taxable income |
|---|---|---|
| Starter rate | 19% | £0 – £3,967 |
| Basic rate | 20% | £3,968 – £16,956 |
| Intermediate rate | 21% | £16,957 – £31,092 |
| Higher rate | 42% | £31,093 – £62,430 |
| Advanced rate | 45% | £62,431 – £125,140 |
| Top rate | 48% | Over £125,140 |
National Insurance and student loans
| Deduction | Rate | Threshold |
|---|---|---|
| National Insurance (category A) | 8% | £12,570 – £50,270 |
| National Insurance above the UEL | 2% | Over £50,270 |
| Student loan Plan 1 | 9% | Over £26,900 |
| Student loan Plan 2 | 9% | Over £29,385 |
| Student loan Plan 4 (Scotland) | 9% | Over £33,795 |
| Student loan Plan 5 | 9% | Over £25,000 |
| Postgraduate loan | 6% | Over £21,000 |
A worked example
Take a £45,000 salary in England, with a 5% pension contribution by salary sacrifice and a Plan 2 student loan. The sacrifice comes off first, and everything else is calculated on what is left.
That is £2,758.06 a month. The pension sacrifice costs £2,250 of gross pay but only £1,620 of take-home, because the 20% income tax and 8% National Insurance that would have applied to it are never charged. The remaining £630 is the tax and National Insurance saved — the reason sacrifice beats contributing from net pay. Our salary sacrifice calculator models that trade-off across pension, cycle to work and electric vehicle schemes.
Once you have the monthly figure, the payday allocation calculator is the natural next step: it takes take-home pay and shows what is genuinely spare once your committed costs are out.
Where take-home pay surprises people
The £100,000 cliff edge
Between £100,000 and £125,140 the personal allowance is withdrawn at £1 for every £2 earned. That means each extra pound is taxed at 40% and also drags 50p of allowance into the 40% band, producing an effective marginal rate of 60% — 62% once National Insurance is added. A pay rise into that band is worth far less than it looks, and pension sacrifice is unusually effective there because it can pull your income back below the threshold. The marginal rate box above shows this happening as you move the salary figure.
Student loans are not a tax, but they behave like one
A Plan 2 loan takes 9% of everything above £29,385, and a postgraduate loan a further 6% above £21,000. Someone with both is losing 15p of every extra pound before income tax and National Insurance are considered. It is worth knowing the number even though the debt is written off eventually, because it changes what a pay rise is actually worth.
Sacrifice cuts your student loan repayments too
Because salary sacrifice genuinely lowers your contractual pay, it lowers the figure used for student loan repayments as well as for tax and National Insurance. On a Plan 2 loan that is a further 9% saved on every pound sacrificed. Relief-at-source pension contributions do not do this — they get income tax relief but leave National Insurance and student loan repayments untouched.
Profession-specific pay scales are handled separately: see the NHS pay calculator for Agenda for Change bands, the teacher pay calculator for main, upper and leadership scales, or the IR35 calculator if you contract through a limited company.
Frequently asked questions
Other calculators
Knowing the number is the easy half
A take-home figure only helps if you can see what happens to it. earmarkIQ reads your salary as it actually lands via Open Banking, categorises where it goes, and flags the month your pay changes — a rise, a new tax code, a student loan threshold shift — without you re-running anything.