UK Take-Home Pay Calculator

How is UK take-home pay calculated in 2026/27?

UK take-home pay is your gross salary minus PAYE income tax, employee National Insurance, any student loan repayments, and any voluntary deductions like pension contributions or salary sacrifice schemes. Income tax is deducted via your tax code — the standard code 1257L gives you a £12,570 personal allowance, with anything above taxed at 20% up to £50,270, then 40% up to £125,140, then 45%. Scotland operates six bands instead of three, with rates from 19% to 48%. Employee National Insurance is 8% on earnings between £12,570 and £50,270, then 2% above. Student loans are deducted at 9% (Plans 1, 2, 4, 5) or 6% (Postgraduate) on income above each plan's threshold. Pension contributions can be made via salary sacrifice (saves income tax + NI), net pay (saves income tax only), or relief at source (basic rate added by the scheme, higher rate reclaimed via Self Assessment). Bonuses, overtime and benefits-in-kind change the result — a one-off bonus may be over-taxed in that pay period and rebalanced over the rest of the year. For a contractor-specific take-home comparison, see our IR35 inside vs outside calculator.

How does pension salary sacrifice change your take-home?

Salary sacrifice reduces your gross salary before income tax and NI are calculated, so it's the most efficient pension contribution method. £1,000 of sacrifice costs only about £720 net for a basic-rate taxpayer (saving £200 income tax and £80 NI), or about £580 for a higher-rate taxpayer (£400 + £20). Inside the £100,000–£125,140 trap, every £1 sacrificed costs only £0.38 — a 62% saving. Auto-enrolment minimums are 8% combined (5% employee + 3% employer). Some employers also pass back their 15% employer NI saving on the sacrificed amount, lifting the effective relief by another 15%. See our Pension Tax Relief Calculator for a full comparison of relief methods including salary sacrifice, net pay and relief at source.

What's different about Scottish income tax?

Scotland operates six income tax bands (19% starter, 20% basic, 21% intermediate, 42% higher, 45% advanced, 48% top) versus three in the rest of the UK. Scottish residents earning above roughly £28,000 a year pay slightly more income tax than rUK equivalents, with the gap widening into six figures. Below about £14,000 they pay slightly less thanks to the 19% starter rate. National Insurance, student loans, pension allowances and the personal allowance are identical across the UK. Scottish residency is determined by where your "main home" is for most of the tax year — your employer collects the right rate via your tax code (Scottish codes start with an "S" prefix, e.g. S1257L). Select Scotland in the calculator above to model these bands. If your income lands in the £100k–£125,140 personal allowance taper, see our 60% Tax Trap Calculator for a full pre-trap view of all PAYE deductions.

Planning a property purchase from your take-home

Lenders look at your gross income for the income multiple cap (typically 4.5×) but assess your net take-home for the affordability test. Once you know your real monthly net from the calculator above, plug it into our Mortgage Affordability Calculator to see how much you could borrow after stress testing and commitments. And if illness stopped your income, you'd need to replace this monthly figure — see our Income Protection Calculator to size the cover gap against your essential outgoings.