Personal tax · 2026/27 tax year
Personal Tax Calculators UK 2026/27
Payslips rarely explain why a pay rise, a second job or a student loan changes what lands in your account. These personal tax calculators UK employees, graduates and parents can use for free turn the 2026/27 rules into pounds you can check, with every rate traced back to GOV.UK.
Written by the MerinTaxReturn Editorial Team · Reviewed by Shamayun Chowdhury, ACMA, MAAT · Last reviewed November 2026 · Applies to the 2026/27 tax year
MerinTaxReturn is an information website. It does not prepare or file tax returns and does not give personal tax advice.
QUICK ANSWER
MerinTaxReturn lists free UK tax estimators for 6 April 2026 to 5 April 2027: our own pay after tax and second job tools, plus the official HMRC calculators for Income Tax, Self Assessment and the Child Benefit charge. Each one works from published 2026/27 rates. Your HMRC online account still holds the final figure.
Start here
Which calculator do I need?
Pick the line that sounds most like you and jump to the right tool.
Not sure? Start with the Pay After Tax Calculator. It covers most employees.
Free to use
No sign-up or email
2026/27 rates
6 Apr 2026 to 5 Apr 2027
Checked on GOV.UK
Every rate has a source
Nothing stored
Figures stay on your device
The calculators
Personal tax calculators UK readers can use free
Two tools are built by MerinTaxReturn. The other four are official HMRC services, listed here so you can compare our estimate with the government’s own.
Pay After Tax Calculator
MERIN TOOL · Enter a salary to see Income Tax, National Insurance, student loan and pension taken each month. 2026/27 Personal Allowance £12,570. Open the calculator →
Second Job Tax Calculator
MERIN TOOL · Shows why a second job is often taxed at 20% from the first pound and what you keep from each extra shift. Open the calculator →
Estimate your Income Tax
OFFICIAL GOV.UK · HMRC estimator for the current year, using the pay and pensions HMRC already holds for you.
Self Assessment tax calculator
OFFICIAL GOV.UK · An estimate of a Self Assessment bill for sole traders, landlords and anyone with untaxed income.
Child Benefit charge
OFFICIAL GOV.UK · Guidance and calculator for the High Income Child Benefit Charge, which starts at £60,000 of adjusted net income.
Do I need a tax return?
OFFICIAL GOV.UK · HMRC’s short check tells you whether you must register for Self Assessment for the 2025/26 or 2026/27 year.
HMRC keeps a longer index of official tools and calculators. We list the ones most people use for their own tax, and add a Merin tool only after it has been tested against hand-worked 2026/27 figures.
The numbers
What are the 2026/27 tax figures behind every calculator?
Each tool on this page uses the same set of rates for 6 April 2026 to 5 April 2027. If a figure here and a calculator disagree, the calculator is out of date.
£12,570
Personal Allowance
£50,270
Higher rate starts
8% / 2%
Employee National Insurance
£29,385
Plan 2 student loan threshold
£60,000
Child Benefit charge begins
£100,000
Allowance taper begins
- Personal Allowance: £12,570 of income tax-free, reduced by £1 for every £2 above £100,000 and gone at £125,140 (income over £100,000).
- Income Tax in England, Wales and Northern Ireland: 20% up to £50,270, 40% up to £125,140 and 45% above.
- Scotland: six bands from 19% to 48%, set by the Scottish Government for 2026 to 2027.
- National Insurance: employees pay 8% on earnings between £12,570 and £50,270 and 2% above, collected through PAYE.
- Personal Savings Allowance: £1,000 of interest for basic-rate taxpayers, £500 for higher-rate and nothing for additional-rate (tax on savings interest).
- Starting rate for savings: up to £5,000 of interest at 0% if your other income is below £17,570.
- Dividends: £500 allowance, then 10.75%, 35.75% or 39.35% depending on your band.
- ISA: £20,000 a year, and interest or growth inside it is never taxed.
- Student loans: Plan 1 £26,900, Plan 2 £29,385, Plan 4 £33,795, Plan 5 £25,000, all at 9% above the threshold; postgraduate £21,000 at 6% (Student Loans Company repayment rules).
- Child Benefit: £27.05 a week for the eldest child and £17.90 for each other child.
- High Income Child Benefit Charge: 1% of the benefit for every £200 of adjusted net income above £60,000, so all of it at £80,000.
- Marriage Allowance: £1,260 of unused allowance can move to a basic-rate spouse or civil partner.
Your situation
Which calculator fits your situation?
Most people reach a tax calculator because something has just changed. Start from the change rather than the tax.
Starting a new job
Check the tax code on your first payslip. A code ending in W1, M1 or X is an emergency code, and the Pay After Tax Calculator shows the gap.
Working two jobs
Your allowance usually sits on the main job, so the second is taxed from the first pound. The Second Job Tax Calculator shows what each extra hour is worth.
Repaying a student loan
Repayments start only above your plan threshold. Use the Family tab above to find yours, then add the plan in the pay after tax tool.
Claiming Child Benefit
If either partner’s adjusted net income passes £60,000, the higher earner may owe the charge. HMRC’s calculator gives the exact amount.
Earning outside PAYE
Rent, a side business or untaxed interest may mean a tax return. Our guide to registering as self-employed explains the first steps.
Checking a tax refund
If you changed jobs or left work mid-year, the HMRC online account shows whether too much was taken. You do not need a paid refund service.
Watch these lines
Which income levels change your tax bill the most?
Three points on the income scale change take-home pay faster than a normal pay rise would. A good calculator flags each one.
£50,270 · Higher rate
Pay above this point is taxed at 40% instead of 20%, while employee National Insurance falls from 8% to 2%. The overall deduction jumps from 28% to 42%.
£60,000 · Child Benefit charge
Every £200 above £60,000 claws back 1% of Child Benefit. Between £60,000 and £80,000 a family with two children can lose up to £2,337 a year.
£100,000 · Allowance taper
For each £2 above £100,000 you lose £1 of Personal Allowance. On income between £100,000 and £125,140 the effective rate is close to 60%.
Worked example
How does one pay rise change take-home pay?
EXAMPLE SCENARIO (ILLUSTRATIVE)
Priya earns £48,000 in England and repays a Plan 2 student loan. Her employer offers a £4,000 rise to £52,000. The first £2,270 of the rise sits below £50,270 and loses 28% to tax and National Insurance (£635.60). The remaining £1,730 loses 42% (£726.60). Plan 2 takes 9% of the whole rise (£360). Priya keeps about £2,278 of the £4,000, or 57%.
The Pay After Tax Calculator runs this split for any salary in a few seconds. Change the student loan plan or add a pension contribution and the monthly figure updates straight away.
REVIEWER’S VIEW · SHAMAYUN CHOWDHURY
People often think a pay rise has been “mostly taxed away”. Usually the rise has crossed £50,270 and picked up a student loan deduction at the same time. A calculator that shows each deduction separately ends that confusion faster than any explanation.
Get it right
What mistakes make a tax estimate wrong?
Most wrong answers come from what is typed in, not from the calculator. These five come up again and again.
Why it happens: a new job, a second job or a benefit in kind has not reached HMRC.
HMRC consequence: too much or too little tax through PAYE, collected or refunded later.
How to avoid: compare your code with the one in your HMRC online account. Our guide to the 1257L tax code explains the numbers.
Why it happens: one month’s pay, often with a bonus or overtime, is typed in as the annual salary.
HMRC consequence: none directly, but the estimate is wrong.
How to avoid: enter the gross yearly figure from your contract, then check one payslip against it.
Why it happens: people forget which plan they are on or pick Plan 1 by default.
HMRC consequence: the payroll deduction differs from the estimate and the difference shows on the payslip.
How to avoid: your Student Loans Company account names the plan.
Why it happens: Scottish residents use a UK-wide calculator.
HMRC consequence: tax is set by where you live, so the estimate can be off by hundreds of pounds.
How to avoid: choose Scotland where the tool offers it; tax codes for Scottish taxpayers start with S.
Why it happens: a message promising a refund appears soon after you check your tax.
HMRC consequence: HMRC never tells you about a refund by email, text or phone call.
How to avoid: ignore the link and report the scam to HMRC.
Plan ahead
Which tax dates matter for the rest of 2026/27?
Self Assessment dates come from GOV.UK deadlines. Paper returns for 2025/26 were due by 31 October 2026.
30 Dec 2026
File your 2025/26 return online by today to have a bill under £3,000 collected through your tax code.
31 Jan 2027
Online 2025/26 returns and payment due, plus any first payment on account for 2026/27.
5 Apr 2027
The 2026/27 tax year ends. Last day for this year’s ISA and pension allowances.
31 Jul 2027
Second payment on account for 2026/27 is due for those who make them.
Tip 1 · Check the code first
A calculator assumes the standard 1257L code. If your payslip shows something else, the code is the first thing to fix.
Tip 2 · Use the yearly figure
Annual salary and annual pension contributions give the steadiest estimate. Bonuses are better tested separately.
Tip 3 · Compare with HMRC
Run our estimate, then open the HMRC tool. A large gap usually points to a missing income or an old tax code.
Our method
How do we check the figures?
Every rate and threshold on this page is compared with GOV.UK and HMRC guidance before the page is published, and again whenever a Budget or HMRC notice changes a figure. Merin tools are tested against hand-worked examples at several incomes, including Scotland, over £100,000, each student loan plan and a pension contribution.
Nothing you type into a Merin calculator leaves your device. We do not collect names, salaries or email addresses.
What changed for 2026/27?
- Dividend rates rose by 2 percentage points to 10.75% and 35.75%; the additional rate is 39.35%.
- Student loan thresholds moved up: Plan 1 to £26,900, Plan 2 to £29,385 and Plan 4 to £33,795.
- Income Tax bands and the Personal Allowance stay frozen at £12,570 and £50,270.
- Child Benefit rose to £27.05 and £17.90 a week.
FAQs
Personal tax calculators UK: common questions
Short answers to what readers ask before they trust a tax estimate.
Are these personal tax calculators free?
Yes. Every Merin tool and every HMRC service linked here is free to use, with no sign-up, no email address and no limit on how often you run a figure.
Which tax year do the calculators use?
They use 2026/27 rates, which apply from 6 April 2026 to 5 April 2027. We update the figures when HMRC confirms a change, and the date at the top shows the last review.
Do the calculators work for Scottish taxpayers?
The Merin pay tools include Scottish bands from 19% to 48%. National Insurance is the same across the UK, so only the Income Tax part of the result changes.
How accurate is an online tax estimate?
It is accurate for the figures you enter. It cannot see benefits in kind, other income or a tax code change, so treat the result as a guide rather than a bill.
Do the calculators include student loan and pension?
The Pay After Tax Calculator includes every student loan plan, the postgraduate loan and pension contributions. The HMRC estimator uses whatever your employer has already reported.
Where can I see my official HMRC figures?
Your HMRC online account shows your tax code, pay and tax so far this year and any refund due. You sign in with a Government Gateway user ID or GOV.UK One Login.
Is the information I type stored anywhere?
No. Merin calculators run in your browser and nothing is sent to us or to HMRC. The official HMRC tools follow HMRC’s own privacy notice.
Can a calculator tell me if I need a tax return?
Not reliably. HMRC’s own “Check if you need to send a Self Assessment tax return” tool asks the right questions and gives a clear yes or no.
Final Verdict: personal tax calculators UK
A calculator is the quickest way to see where your pay goes in 2026/27: the 20% and 40% bands, National Insurance, your student loan plan and the Child Benefit charge. Use our tools to understand the numbers, then confirm them in your HMRC online account before you act.
Why trust this guide
Who wrote and reviewed this page?
MerinTaxReturn Editorial Team
Written by
The editorial team writes plain-English guides to UK personal tax, Self Assessment and PAYE, and checks every figure against GOV.UK before publishing.
MerinTaxReturn is an information website. It does not prepare or file tax returns and does not give personal tax advice.
Shamayun Chowdhury
Reviewed by · BA (Hons), MSc, ACMA, CMA, CIPFA (Affil), MAAT, AATQB
Senior Accountant, Leicester · Director, Major Accountancy Ltd · Director, Eternity Accountants Ltd · Lecturer, Nottingham Trent University · 15+ years’ UK practice.
Shamayun is a chartered management accountant (ACMA) and a full member of AAT. He reviews every MerinTaxReturn guide against current GOV.UK and HMRC rules before publication.
How we checked this guide: each figure was compared with the GOV.UK and gov.scot pages below. This page is general information, not personal tax advice. Speak to an accountant about your own circumstances. For complex cases, speak to a qualified accountant or tax adviser.
We review this page every 12 months, or sooner if HMRC guidance changes. Last reviewed: November 2026. All sources accessed 4 November 2026.
Sources
- GOV.UK: Income Tax rates and Personal Allowances
- GOV.UK: Income over £100,000
- gov.scot: Scottish Income Tax 2026 to 2027
- GOV.UK: Rates and thresholds for employers 2026 to 2027
- GOV.UK: Budget rates and allowances
- GOV.UK: Repaying your student loan
- GOV.UK: High Income Child Benefit Charge
- GOV.UK: Tax on savings interest
- GOV.UK: Self Assessment deadlines
- GOV.UK: Tax codes
- GOV.UK: HMRC tools and calculators