Tax region matters
England, Wales and Northern Ireland share the main PAYE bands, while Scotland has a different set of Income Tax bands. Selecting the correct region is therefore important for a meaningful estimate.
What will your salary look like after tax?
Enter your salary yearly or monthly and estimate your take-home pay. Compare annual, monthly, four-weekly, weekly, daily and hourly figures using 2026/27 UK rules.
Browser-based calculation
Your figures are processed in your browser. No account or bank details are required.
Salary
Optional deductions
Relief at source deducts 80% of the contribution from your pay; your provider claims the 20% tax relief. Check your payslip if you are not sure which method applies.
Pay-rise comparison
This compares your entered salary with the same deductions after the percentage rise.
2026/27 UK RULES
Gross salary is only the starting point.
The standard Personal Allowance is £12,570. For England, Wales and Northern Ireland the 2026/27 main Income Tax rates are 20%, 40% and 45% across the published bands; Scotland has separate bands and rates. Most category A employees pay 8% employee National Insurance between £12,570 and £50,270 of annual earnings, then 2% above that.
Sources: GOV.UK Income Tax rates · GOV.UK National Insurance · GOV.UK Student Loan tables.
This is a planning estimate, not a payslip or personalised tax advice.
HOW TO INTERPRET TAKE-HOME PAY
The same gross salary can produce different net pay.
Your gross salary is the amount agreed before deductions. Your take-home pay is the amount left after the deductions represented by the calculator. Those deductions can vary because of region, National Insurance category, pension treatment and student-loan plan.
Pension method matters
Salary sacrifice and net-pay arrangements affect the calculation differently. Actual workplace pensions can also use arrangements that are outside this simplified model.
Student loans are separate
Student-loan deductions depend on the plan and earnings threshold. They are not the same thing as Income Tax and do not determine whether a salary is “taxable”.
Example: two people could both earn £40,000 gross but take home different amounts because one contributes to a pension and has a student loan while the other does not. A Scotland-based employee may also have a different Income Tax result because the tax bands are different.
PAY-RISE PLANNING
A 5% pay rise is not a 5% increase in take-home pay.
A percentage increase applies to gross salary first. The amount that reaches your bank account depends on the extra Income Tax, National Insurance, pension and student-loan deductions created by the higher salary.
Use the pay-rise comparison as a scenario rather than a prediction of a future payslip. The model holds your selected deductions constant and does not know whether your tax code, benefits or pension arrangement will change after the pay rise.
Use the difference as a budgeting number
When you are planning a rent increase, car payment or savings contribution, the useful figure may be the estimated extra monthly take-home amount rather than the gross annual increase. Test the result in the calculator and compare it with your existing monthly budget.
FREQUENT QUESTIONS
Salary calculator FAQs
Is the result exactly what my employer will pay me?
No. Actual payroll can differ because of tax codes, pay frequency, benefits, pension relief, rounding and deductions not represented by the calculator.
Why can Scotland produce a different result?
Scotland has its own Income Tax bands and rates. National Insurance remains a separate UK-wide payroll calculation for employees.
Does salary sacrifice reduce tax?
It can change taxable pay and therefore the estimated deductions, but the effect depends on the specific arrangement. Treat the calculator as a scenario model and compare it with your workplace documentation.
Which salary should I use for affordability?
For household budgeting, the estimated take-home amount is usually more useful than gross salary because it is closer to the money available after payroll deductions.
Read the salary-after-tax guide → · Convert salary to hourly pay → · See the methodology →
UNDERSTANDING TAKE-HOME PAY
Gross salary is a contract figure; take-home pay is a payroll result.
The salary calculator separates gross pay from the deductions that can change what reaches your bank account. That distinction is important when comparing jobs, planning household spending or estimating the effect of a pay rise.
Tax region
England, Wales and Northern Ireland use the main UK Income Tax structure; Scotland has different Income Tax bands and rates. The calculator keeps the selected region visible instead of assuming the same tax treatment everywhere.
National Insurance
Employee National Insurance is separate from Income Tax. For 2026/27, most employees pay 8% between the published main thresholds and 2% above the upper threshold.
Pension and loans
Workplace pension arrangements and student-loan deductions can change net pay. The same gross salary can therefore produce different monthly results for two employees.
Worked example
For 2026/27, the standard Personal Allowance is £12,570. Under the England, Wales and Northern Ireland main Income Tax bands, taxable income above that allowance is charged progressively rather than at one single rate. Your final payslip can still differ because of tax code, benefits and the specific pension or loan arrangements that apply.
The calculator's tax assumptions are based on the published 2026/27 GOV.UK Income Tax and National Insurance rates. GOV.UK Income Tax rates → · GOV.UK National Insurance →
REVIEWED SEPTEMBER 2026
Use the estimate to understand your payslip.
A calculator is useful for planning, but an actual payslip is the better reference for your personal deductions. If the numbers differ, check the tax code, pension method, student-loan plan, benefits and pay frequency rather than assuming the calculator is automatically wrong.
For a pay-rise comparison, look at the annual gross increase and the estimated annual net increase separately. The gap between them is the effect of payroll deductions represented by the selected assumptions.