Salary After Tax Calculator: Your UK Take-Home Pay 2026/27
Enter your gross salary to see exactly what lands in your account after income tax, National Insurance, student loan repayments and pension contributions — with a full breakdown for England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland on the current 2026/27 rates.
Take-home pay calculator
2026/27 tax year · figures update as you type
The figure that matters when you weigh up a UK job offer is rarely the one on the contract. Between income tax, National Insurance, any student loan you are still repaying and a pension you may be paying into, the gap between your headline salary and what reaches your bank account can be wider than you expect — and it shifts depending on whether you live in Scotland or elsewhere in the UK. The calculator above does that arithmetic for the 2026/27 tax year so you can see the real number.
How your take-home pay is worked out
Four things come out of a typical UK salary before it reaches you. Income tax and National Insurance are unavoidable for most employees. A student loan repayment applies only if you are on one of the repayment plans and earn above its threshold. A pension contribution applies if you are paying into one. The calculator handles all four, in that order, and shows each as a separate line so you can see where your money goes.
Income tax is charged in bands. Everyone gets a tax-free Personal Allowance of £12,570 a year; you pay nothing on the first slice of income up to that figure. Above it, each band is taxed at a higher rate than the last. If you earn more than £100,000, the Personal Allowance starts to shrink, disappearing entirely once you reach £125,140 — the calculator applies that taper automatically.
Income tax bands for 2026/27
If you live in England, Wales or Northern Ireland, three rates apply once your Personal Allowance is used up:
| Band | Taxable income | Rate |
|---|---|---|
| Personal Allowance | Up to £12,570 | 0% |
| Basic rate | £12,571 to £50,270 | 20% |
| Higher rate | £50,271 to £125,140 | 40% |
| Additional rate | Over £125,140 | 45% |
Source: HMRC, Income Tax rates and Personal Allowances, 2026/27.
Scotland sets its own income tax on earnings, and it has six bands rather than three. The Personal Allowance is the same £12,570, but the rates and thresholds above it differ — which is why the calculator asks where you live before it works anything out.
| Band | Taxable income | Rate |
|---|---|---|
| Personal Allowance | Up to £12,570 | 0% |
| Starter rate | £12,571 to £16,537 | 19% |
| Basic rate | £16,538 to £29,526 | 20% |
| Intermediate rate | £29,527 to £43,662 | 21% |
| Higher rate | £43,663 to £75,000 | 42% |
| Advanced rate | £75,001 to £125,140 | 45% |
| Top rate | Over £125,140 | 48% |
Source: Scottish Government, Scottish Income Tax current rates, 2026/27.
National Insurance
National Insurance works on similar lines to income tax but with its own thresholds. As an employee you pay nothing on earnings up to £12,570 a year. Between £12,570 and £50,270 you pay 8%, and on anything above £50,270 the rate drops to 2%. The calculator applies these automatically; tick the box if you are over State Pension age, as you then stop paying National Insurance on your earnings.
The main National Insurance rate for employees is 8% for 2026/27, down from rates seen in earlier years. It is charged on your full salary, not the amount left after a pension contribution, in the standard arrangement this calculator models.
Student loan repayments
If you are repaying a student loan, the amount comes straight off your pay once you earn above the threshold for your plan. You repay a percentage of everything you earn over that threshold — 9% on Plans 1, 2, 4 and 5, and 6% on a Postgraduate Loan. The plan you are on depends on where and when you studied, not on how much you borrowed.
| Plan | Annual threshold | Rate above it |
|---|---|---|
| Plan 1 | £26,900 | 9% |
| Plan 2 | £29,385 | 9% |
| Plan 4 | £33,795 | 9% |
| Plan 5 | £25,000 | 9% |
| Postgraduate Loan | £21,000 | 6% |
Source: gov.uk, Repaying your student loan, 2026/27.
Pension contributions
The pension figure in this calculator treats your contribution as a percentage of gross salary paid into a relief-at-source scheme — the most common arrangement for personal pensions and many workplace schemes. Your income tax and National Insurance are worked out on your full salary, and the pension contribution then comes off what is left, reducing your take-home pay by the amount you put in. Your pension provider separately reclaims basic-rate tax relief and adds it to your pot, so the money working for your retirement is more than the deduction you see here.
If your pension is instead arranged through salary sacrifice — where the contribution comes off your pay before tax and National Insurance are calculated — your take-home position is slightly different, and usually a little better for the same contribution. That arrangement deserves its own treatment, which is why we keep it separate from this core calculator.
This calculator gives an estimate for a standard employee on the 2026/27 rates. It does not account for an unusual tax code, taxable benefits in kind, salary sacrifice, multiple jobs, or marriage and blind person's allowances. For your exact position, check your payslip or use the official HMRC estimate at gov.uk.
Take-home pay on common salaries
It often helps to see the figures worked through rather than described. The amounts below are for a standard employee in England, Wales or Northern Ireland for the 2026/27 tax year, with no student loan and no pension contribution. They show income tax and National Insurance deducted, and the take-home pay that remains.
On a salary of £25,000, you pay around £2,486 in income tax and £994 in National Insurance, leaving a take-home pay of roughly £21,520 a year, or about £1,793 a month. On £30,000, take-home pay comes to around £25,120 a year, close to £2,093 a month. A £40,000 salary leaves you with about £32,320 a year, near £2,693 a month.
At £50,000 — just below the point where higher-rate tax begins — take-home pay is around £39,520 a year, or roughly £3,293 a month. Once you cross into the higher-rate band, each extra pound is taxed more heavily: a £60,000 salary gives a take-home of about £45,357 a year, near £3,780 a month, and a £80,000 salary leaves around £56,957 a year, close to £4,746 a month.
| Gross salary | Income tax | National Insurance | Take-home (year) | Take-home (month) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| £25,000 | £2,486 | £994 | £21,520 | £1,793 |
| £30,000 | £3,486 | £1,394 | £25,120 | £2,093 |
| £40,000 | £5,486 | £2,194 | £32,320 | £2,693 |
| £50,000 | £7,486 | £2,994 | £39,520 | £3,293 |
| £60,000 | £11,432 | £3,211 | £45,357 | £3,780 |
| £80,000 | £19,432 | £3,611 | £56,957 | £4,746 |
| £100,000 | £27,432 | £4,011 | £68,557 | £5,713 |
Figures rounded to the nearest pound, 2026/27 rates, standard tax code, no student loan or pension. England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
How Scotland compares
Because Scotland sets its own income tax on earnings, the same salary can leave you with a slightly different take-home pay north of the border. On £30,000, the difference is small — a Scottish taxpayer takes home around £25,155 a year against £25,120 in the rest of the UK, a few pounds better off, because part of their income falls in the 19% starter rate. The gap widens higher up: on £50,000, a Scottish taxpayer takes home about £38,024 a year compared with £39,520 elsewhere, and on £60,000 around £43,607 against £45,357. Scotland's higher and advanced rates of 42% and 45% bite sooner and harder than the 40% that applies in the rest of the UK, which is why higher earners feel the difference most.
For most people moving to the UK, the value of a number like this is in the planning it makes possible. Knowing your real monthly figure — not the headline salary — is what lets you judge whether a job covers your rent, whether a move between Scotland and the rest of the UK changes your budget, and how much a pay rise actually adds once the higher-rate band takes its share.
The arithmetic here is deliberately the standard case, because the standard case is what most people need. Where your situation is more involved — a second job, a bonus, a salary-sacrifice pension — the right tool is one built for that specific question, and those are worth reaching for rather than trying to force a general calculator to do a job it was not designed for.
Tax thresholds and rates change, usually at the start of each tax year in April and sometimes at a Budget in between. The figures here are the confirmed 2026/27 rates; when they change, this page is updated to match, and the date at the top reflects the most recent revision.
Frequently asked questions
It gives an accurate estimate for a standard employee using the confirmed 2026/27 income tax, National Insurance, student loan and pension figures. It assumes a standard tax code and does not model taxable benefits in kind, salary sacrifice, multiple jobs, or marriage and blind person's allowances. For your exact figure, check your payslip or the official HMRC estimate at gov.uk.
The Scottish Government sets its own income tax rates and bands on earnings, and for 2026/27 there are six bands rather than the three used in the rest of the UK. National Insurance, student loan rates and the Personal Allowance are the same UK-wide; only the income tax on your wages differs. The calculator switches to the Scottish bands when you select Scotland.
For 2026/27, employees pay 8% on earnings between £12,570 and £50,270 a year, and 2% on anything above £50,270. You pay no National Insurance on earnings below £12,570. If you are over State Pension age you stop paying National Insurance on your wages.
It depends on where and when you studied. In broad terms: Plan 1 covers courses that started before September 2012, or studied in Northern Ireland; Plan 2 covers England and Wales courses that started between September 2012 and August 2023; Plan 4 covers Scotland; Plan 5 covers England courses that started from August 2023; and the Postgraduate Loan covers master's and doctoral loans. If you are unsure, your online student loan account shows your plan.
This calculator models a relief-at-source pension, where your income tax and National Insurance are worked out on your full salary and the contribution then reduces your take-home pay. Your provider reclaims basic-rate tax relief separately and adds it to your pension pot. If your pension is arranged through salary sacrifice instead, the contribution comes off before tax and National Insurance, which changes the figures — that is a separate calculation.
The standard Personal Allowance is £12,570 for 2026/27 — the amount of income you can earn before paying any income tax. If you earn more than £100,000, it reduces by £1 for every £2 above that figure, reaching zero at £125,140. The calculator applies this taper automatically.
The headline salary is before deductions. Income tax and National Insurance together can take a meaningful share, and a student loan or pension contribution reduces it further. A pay rise that pushes part of your income into the higher-rate band is taxed at 40% (42% in Scotland) on that portion, so the increase in take-home pay is smaller than the rise itself. Seeing each deduction as a separate line, as in the breakdown above, usually explains the gap.
On a £30,000 salary in England, Wales or Northern Ireland for 2026/27, you pay around £3,486 in income tax and £1,394 in National Insurance. That leaves a take-home pay of roughly £25,120 a year, or about £2,093 a month, before any student loan or pension contribution. In Scotland the figure is marginally higher, at around £25,155 a year.
On a £50,000 salary in England, Wales or Northern Ireland for 2026/27, you pay around £7,486 in income tax and £2,994 in National Insurance, leaving a take-home pay of roughly £39,520 a year, or about £3,293 a month. A Scottish taxpayer on the same salary takes home around £38,024 a year, as Scotland's higher rate of 42% applies above £43,662.
No. This tool is for employees who pay tax and National Insurance through PAYE. The self-employed pay different classes of National Insurance and calculate tax through Self Assessment on profits rather than salary, so the figures here would not apply.
Figures are based on confirmed 2026/27 UK tax year rates from HMRC, the Scottish Government and the Department for Work & Pensions: Personal Allowance £12,570; rest-of-UK income tax 20%/40%/45%; Scottish income tax 19%–48% across six bands; employee National Insurance 8% and 2%; student loan thresholds and rates as published; relief-at-source pension treatment. This calculator provides an estimate for a standard employee and does not constitute financial or tax advice. It does not account for individual tax codes, benefits in kind, salary sacrifice, multiple incomes, or additional allowances. For your exact position, check your payslip or the official HMRC estimate at gov.uk, and seek advice from a qualified professional before making financial decisions. We are not financial or tax advisers.
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