UK Take-Home Pay Calculator (Income Tax + NI + Pension)

UK Take-Home Pay Calculator

Convert gross salary to net pay — income tax, National Insurance, student loan & pension contributions. Get a free PDF report with your full breakdown.

£
% of gross

Get the full breakdown — free PDF

  • Income tax band-by-band breakdown
  • NI thresholds & how much you paid in each
  • Per-day, per-week and per-month take-home
  • Pay-rise impact: how much of every extra £1,000 you'd keep

This calculator is a guide only and not financial advice. It assumes a standard tax code (1257L) and Class 1 employee NI. Code adjustments, salary-sacrifice childcare schemes, benefits in kind and dividend / self-employed income are not modelled. Always check your payslip and HMRC personal tax account for your actual deductions. Tax year: 2025/26.

How Our UK Take-Home Pay Calculator Works (2025/26 Tax Year)

This free UK take-home pay calculator converts your gross salary into the net pay you will actually see in your bank account, using the 2025/26 income tax thresholds, National Insurance bands and the five UK student loan plans. It supports both rest-of-UK (rUK) and Scottish income tax rates, and lets you model pension contributions under salary sacrifice, net-pay arrangements or no contribution.

What gets deducted from your gross salary

  • Income tax — applied to earnings above your £12,570 personal allowance. The personal allowance tapers away by £1 for every £2 earned over £100,000, so higher earners see an effective 60% marginal rate between £100,000 and £125,140.
  • National Insurance (Class 1) — 8% on earnings between the primary threshold (£12,570) and the upper earnings limit (£50,270), then 2% above. The calculator handles this band-by-band.
  • Student loan repayments — Plans 1, 2, 4 (Scotland), 5 and Postgraduate Loan are all supported. The repayment is 9% (or 6% for Postgraduate) of earnings above each plan’s threshold.
  • Pension contributions — salary sacrifice reduces both income tax and NI; net-pay arrangements reduce income tax only. The calculator shows the take-home difference between the two so you can see whether it is worth asking HR to switch.

Why marginal rate matters more than effective rate

Two numbers appear in the results: your effective rate (total deductions ÷ gross salary) and your marginal rate (the tax and NI you would pay on the next £1 you earn). For most people they look similar, but they diverge sharply at three points:

  • £50,270 — you cross from 20% basic rate to 40% higher rate, and NI drops from 8% to 2%.
  • £100,000 — your personal allowance starts tapering, creating that 60% effective marginal rate.
  • £125,140 — your personal allowance is fully gone and you enter the 45% additional rate.

The PDF report shows your pay-rise impact: how much of every extra £1,000 of salary you would actually keep. For someone earning £105,000, that figure is often only £400 — useful context when negotiating a rise.

Scotland vs the rest of the UK

Scottish taxpayers pay slightly more on earnings above ~£28,000 thanks to the Intermediate (21%), Higher (42%), Advanced (45%) and Top (48%) bands. Switch the region dropdown to “Scotland” and the calculator recalculates automatically. National Insurance and student loans are UK-wide and unchanged.

Pension contributions: the most powerful lever most people overlook

If you can afford it, increasing your pension contribution is the single biggest legal lever to reduce your tax bill. The calculator’s pension type dropdown lets you compare salary sacrifice (saves both tax and NI) against a standard net-pay arrangement (saves tax only). On a £60,000 salary, contributing 10% via salary sacrifice can cut take-home by far less than 10% — because HMRC effectively pays a third of it.

For more on tax-efficient saving, see our Lifetime ISA UK 2026 guide (25% government top-up) and our side hustle tax rules guide if you also have self-employed income alongside your PAYE salary.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is this UK take-home pay calculator up to date for 2025/26?

Yes — it uses the 2025/26 income tax thresholds, National Insurance bands and student loan thresholds that apply from 6 April 2025. The “Tax year” label at the bottom of the calculator confirms which year is loaded.

Does it cover Scottish income tax?

Yes — switch the “Region” dropdown to Scotland and the calculator applies the Scottish 19%, 20%, 21%, 42%, 45% and 48% bands. National Insurance and student loans are UK-wide and unchanged.

Can I include my pension contribution?

Yes. Enter the percentage of your gross salary you contribute, and select the type: salary sacrifice (saves tax and NI) or net-pay arrangement (saves tax only). The PDF report shows the take-home impact of each.

Why does my payslip show a slightly different figure?

Our calculator assumes the standard 1257L tax code and Class 1 employee NI. Real payslips may include benefit-in-kind adjustments, childcare voucher schemes, cycle-to-work or company-car salary sacrifice, or non-standard tax codes (K codes, BR, D0). Always check your HMRC personal tax account for the authoritative figure.

Does it handle self-employed income?

Not yet — this calculator is for PAYE earners. Self-employed earners pay Class 2 and Class 4 NI on a different schedule via Self Assessment. We will add a self-employed version in a future release.

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