Pay After Tax Calculator 2026/27: Work Out Your Take-Home Pay
Find your pay after tax in seconds. Enter your salary to see Income Tax, National Insurance, pension and student loan deductions for the 2026/27 tax year, with Scottish rates included.
- ✓ 2026/27 rates checked against GOV.UK
- ✓ Every student loan plan, including Plan 5
- ✓ Nothing you type leaves your browser
Updated 6 November 2026 · Written by Swapan Jr · Reviewed by Shamayun Chowdhury
Pay after tax calculator 2026/27
Enter your gross pay. Results update as you type and stay in your browser.
£0
take-home pay a month
Uses the 2026/27 tax code 1257L and GOV.UK rates. It is a guide, not a payslip.
%
Basic rate
%
Higher rate
%
Additional rate
%
Main NI rate
What is pay after tax, in short?
Pay after tax is your gross salary minus Income Tax, National Insurance (NI) and anything else your employer takes before paying you, such as pension contributions and student loan repayments. For 2026/27, the first £12,570 is tax-free, the next £37,700 is taxed at 20% and NI is 8% on earnings between £12,570 and £50,270. A £35,000 salary therefore leaves about £28,720 a year, or £2,393 a month, with no pension or loan.
How much is pay after tax on common UK salaries?
Figures for 2026/27 with tax code 1257L, no pension and no student loan. Press a button to load that salary into the calculator.
£25,000 salary
Entry-level and part-time roles
£1,793
a month after tax
- ✓ Income Tax: £2,486
- ✓ NI: £994
- ✓ £21,520 a year
- ✓ Scotland: £1,797 a month
£35,000 salary
A common mid-range salary
£2,393
a month after tax
- ✓ Income Tax: £4,486
- ✓ NI: £1,794
- ✓ £28,720 a year
- ✓ Scotland: £2,392 a month
£50,000 salary
Just below the higher rate
£3,293
a month after tax
- ✓ Income Tax: £7,486
- ✓ NI: £2,994
- ✓ £39,520 a year
- ✓ Scotland: £3,169 a month
£30,000 salary
Junior and early-career roles
£2,093
a month after tax
- ✓ Income Tax: £3,486
- ✓ NI: £1,394
- ✓ £25,120 a year
- ✓ Scotland: £2,096 a month
£40,000 salary
Mid-career pay
£2,693
a month after tax
- ✓ Income Tax: £5,486
- ✓ NI: £2,194
- ✓ £32,320 a year
- ✓ Scotland: £2,688 a month
£60,000 salary
Part of it taxed at 40%
£3,780
a month after tax
- ✓ Income Tax: £11,432
- ✓ NI: £3,211
- ✓ £45,357 a year
- ✓ Scotland: £3,634 a month
Where does your salary go?
On a £35,000 salary in England, this is how each pound is shared out in 2026/27.
%
Take-home pay
%
Income Tax
%
National Insurance
Out of £35,000 you keep £28,720. Income Tax takes £4,486 and NI takes £1,794. Add a 5% workplace pension and a Plan 2 loan and take-home pay falls to about £26,815 a year, because £1,750 goes into your pension (saving you £350 tax) and £505 goes to the Student Loans Company.
What are the 2026/27 tax, NI and student loan rates?
These are the rates the calculator uses for the tax year from 6 April 2026 to 5 April 2027, taken from GOV.UK.
| Band and rate | Taxable pay |
|---|---|
| Personal Allowance 0% | Up to £12,570 |
| Basic rate 20% | £12,571 to £50,270 |
| Higher rate 40% | £50,271 to £125,140 |
| Additional rate 45% | Over £125,140 |
| Band and rate | Pay |
|---|---|
| Starter 19% | £12,571 to £16,537 |
| Basic 20% | £16,538 to £29,526 |
| Intermediate 21% | £29,527 to £43,662 |
| Higher 42% | £43,663 to £75,000 |
| Advanced 45% | £75,001 to £125,140 |
| Top 48% | Over £125,140 |
| Employee rate | Earnings a year |
|---|---|
| 0% | Up to £12,570 |
| 8% main rate | £12,570 to £50,270 |
| 2% | Over £50,270 |
| Plan and rate | Starts above |
|---|---|
| Plan 1 at 9% | £26,900 |
| Plan 2 at 9% | £29,385 |
| Plan 4 (Scotland) at 9% | £33,795 |
| Plan 5 at 9% | £25,000 |
| Postgraduate at 6% | £21,000 |
Rate on each slice of pay
Each rate applies only to the part of your pay inside that band, never to the whole salary.
- Basic rate 20%
- Higher rate 40%
- Additional rate 45%
- NI main rate 8%
- NI above £50,270 2%
How is pay after tax worked out, step by step?
- Start with gross pay. £35,000 a year.
- Take off pension. Under a net pay scheme your pension comes off before tax. Here it is £0.
- Take off the Personal Allowance. £35,000 minus £12,570 leaves £22,430 taxable.
- Apply tax bands. All £22,430 sits in the 20% band: £4,486 Income Tax.
- Work out NI. 8% of pay between £12,570 and £35,000: £1,794.
- Take off student loans. 9% of pay over your plan threshold, if you have one.
- What is left is your pay after tax. £28,720 a year, £2,393 a month, about £552 a week.
Worked example
£35,000 salary, England, no pension
£28,720
pay after tax for the year
- ✓ Taxable pay: £22,430
- ✓ Income Tax at 20%: £4,486
- ✓ NI at 8%: £1,794
- ✓ Monthly: £2,393
Why do you keep less between £100,000 and £125,140?
Above £100,000 your Personal Allowance shrinks by £1 for every £2 you earn, until it disappears at £125,140. That creates an effective rate of about 62% in this band once 2% NI is added.
£95,000 salary
Higher rate, full allowance
£580
kept from the next £1,000
- ✓ 40% Income Tax
- ✓ 2% NI
- ✓ Pay after tax: £65,657
- ✓ £5,471 a month
£110,000 salary
Inside the taper band
£380
kept from the next £1,000
- ✓ 40% tax plus lost allowance
- ✓ 2% NI
- ✓ Pay after tax: £72,357
- ✓ £6,030 a month
£130,000 salary
Additional rate, no allowance
£530
kept from the next £1,000
- ✓ 45% Income Tax
- ✓ 2% NI
- ✓ Pay after tax: £80,686
- ✓ £6,724 a month
Pension contributions and Gift Aid reduce your adjusted net income, which is the figure HMRC uses for the taper. Paying more into a pension can bring some or all of your allowance back. This is general information, so check your own position on GOV.UK.
How do pension contributions change your take-home pay?
How your workplace pension is paid decides whether it saves you tax only, or tax and NI. Both examples use a £40,000 salary and a 5% contribution of £2,000.
Net pay arrangement
Pension taken before tax
£30,720
pay after tax a year
- ✓ Income Tax relief at your top rate
- ✓ NI still due on full £40,000: £2,194
- ✓ Common in many workplace schemes
Salary sacrifice
Salary reduced before tax and NI
£30,880
pay after tax a year
- ✓ Income Tax relief at your top rate
- ✓ NI on £38,000 only: £2,034
- ✓ Keeps £160 more in this example
Relief at source schemes take your contribution from pay after tax and the pension provider claims basic-rate relief, so your payslip shows a larger deduction than the true cost. GOV.UK has confirmed that from 6 April 2029 only the first £2,000 a year sacrificed into a pension will be free of NI.
How does living in Scotland change take-home pay?
If you live in Scotland, Income Tax on your wages uses six Scottish bands, but National Insurance and student loan rules stay the same as the rest of the UK. Your tax code starts with S.
On lower salaries the 19% starter rate means Scottish taxpayers keep slightly more. From about £30,000 the 21% intermediate rate starts to bite, and above £43,662 the 42% higher rate makes the gap grow quickly. At £50,000 a Scottish taxpayer keeps about £1,496 less a year.
Wales uses the same rates as England for 2026/27.
England vs Scotland, 2026/27
| Salary | Monthly: England vs Scotland |
|---|---|
| £25,000 | £1,793 vs £1,797 |
| £35,000 | £2,393 vs £2,392 |
| £45,000 | £2,993 vs £2,960 |
| £50,000 | £3,293 vs £3,169 |
| £75,000 | £4,505 vs £4,334 |
| £100,000 | £5,713 vs £5,438 |
No pension or student loan, standard allowance.
What is changing for 2026/27 and beyond?
Thresholds frozen to 2031
The £12,570 Personal Allowance, £50,270 higher-rate point and NI thresholds stay fixed until 5 April 2031. Pay rises push more of your income into higher bands over time.
Plan 5 repayments have begun
The first Plan 5 borrowers became liable to repay from April 2026. Repayments are 9% of pay over £25,000 a year.
Salary sacrifice cap from 2029
From 6 April 2029 only £2,000 a year of pension salary sacrifice will be free of NI. Income Tax relief is not affected.
Why doesn’t your payslip match the calculator?
Your tax code is not 1257L
An emergency code, a K code for company benefits or an adjusted code for unpaid tax changes how much allowance you get each month. Check the code on your payslip against the letter HMRC sent you.
Tax is worked out cumulatively
PAYE spreads your allowance across the year. If you started a job mid-year or had a month without pay, one payslip can show far more or far less tax than an average month.
Your pension is paid a different way
Relief at source pensions come off after tax, so take-home looks lower than a net pay figure even though the provider adds tax relief later.
Bonus, overtime or back pay landed this month
A one-off payment is taxed in the month it is paid, which can push part of that month into a higher band. NI is worked out per pay period, not per year.
Benefits in kind or other deductions
Company cars, medical cover, union fees, cycle schemes and childcare deductions can all appear on payslips and change the final figure.
What mistakes do people make when checking take-home pay?
Applying the higher rate to the whole salary
Moving into the 40% band only affects pay above £50,270. A pay rise never leaves you with less in your pocket, outside special cases such as losing a benefit.
Dividing monthly pay by four for weekly pay
A year has 52 weeks, not 48. Multiply monthly pay by 12, then divide by 52 to get a fair weekly figure.
Forgetting the student loan
Repayments start once your pay passes the plan threshold and can be several hundred pounds a year. Tick every plan you hold, including a postgraduate loan.
Using last year's figures
Old calculators may still show 2024/25 or 2025/26 rates, or a 12% NI rate that no longer applies. Make sure the tool shows 2026/27.
How do bonuses, second jobs and other cases change the result?
Bonuses
A bonus is added to that month’s pay and taxed through PAYE at your marginal rate. Enter your salary plus bonus as a yearly figure to see the effect over the year.
A second job
Your allowance normally goes to your main job, so a second job often uses a BR code and is taxed at 20% from the first pound. NI is worked out separately for each job.
Over State Pension age
Employees over State Pension age stop paying employee NI but still pay Income Tax. Tick the State Pension age box in the calculator.
Self-employed income
This calculator is for PAYE employees. Self-employed people pay Income Tax and Class 4 NI through Self Assessment, which works differently.
Frequently asked questions
What does pay after tax mean?
Pay after tax is the amount you keep from your gross salary once Income Tax, National Insurance and any pension or student loan deductions have been taken off. It is the figure that reaches your bank account, often called take-home pay or net pay.
How much is £30,000 after tax in 2026/27?
On a £30,000 salary in England, Wales or Northern Ireland you pay about £3,486 Income Tax and £1,394 National Insurance, leaving roughly £25,120 a year or £2,093 a month, with no pension or student loan.
How much is £50,000 after tax in the UK?
With the standard 1257L code and no pension or loan, £50,000 leaves about £39,520 a year, or £3,293 a month, outside Scotland. In Scotland the figure is about £38,024 a year because of the 42% higher rate.
Is pay after tax the same as take-home pay?
Usually yes. Both describe what is left after deductions. Some people use pay after tax to mean only after Income Tax and National Insurance, so check whether pension and student loan have also been taken off when you compare figures.
Have the tax bands changed for 2026/27?
No. The Personal Allowance stays at £12,570 and the higher rate starts at £50,270 for England, Wales and Northern Ireland. GOV.UK confirms these thresholds are frozen until 5 April 2031. Scottish bands were updated for 2026/27.
Why is my payslip different from this calculator?
Payslips use your actual tax code and work cumulatively through the tax year, so an emergency code, a K code, back pay, a bonus month or a pension paid in a different way can all change one month’s figure.
When do Plan 5 student loan repayments start?
Plan 5 covers students in England who started courses from August 2023. GOV.UK says the first borrowers became liable to repay in April 2026, at 9% of income over £25,000 a year.
What is the 60% tax trap?
Between £100,000 and £125,140 your Personal Allowance falls by £1 for every £2 you earn. With 40% Income Tax and 2% National Insurance, about 62p of each extra pound in that band goes in deductions.
More free tax calculators
Explore the other free Merin Tax Return calculators and financial tools for UK tax, NI and savings questions.
About this page
Written by Swapan Jr, content writer at Merin Tax Return.
Reviewed by Shamayun Chowdhury, Senior Accountant.
Last updated 6 November 2026. Figures cover the 2026/27 tax year only. This page gives general information, not personal tax advice.