This free UK take home pay calculator shows exactly how much of your salary you keep after tax in the 2026/27 tax year. Enter your gross annual salary, add your pension percentage and student loan plan if you have one, and you’ll instantly see your net pay broken down by income tax and National Insurance — the figure that actually lands in your bank account.
Why your take-home pay is lower than your salary
When a UK employer advertises a salary, that’s your gross pay — the amount before deductions. Your net pay (take-home) is what’s left after HMRC takes its share. Two main deductions stand between the two for most workers: income tax and National Insurance. Pension contributions and student loan repayments come out as well if they apply to you.
The deductions explained
Income tax works on bands. The first £12,570 (your personal allowance) is tax-free; income above that is taxed at 20% up to £50,270, 40% up to £125,140, and 45% beyond. One trap worth knowing: above £100,000 the personal allowance is withdrawn at £1 for every £2 earned, creating an effective 60% marginal rate between £100,000 and £125,140.
National Insurance is charged at 8% on earnings between £12,570 and £50,270, and 2% above that. Unlike income tax it’s calculated per pay period, but the annual figure this calculator shows is what you’ll pay over the year.
Student loans take 9% of income above your plan’s threshold. For 2026/27 that means £29,385 for Plan 2 (England and Wales, courses started 2012–2023), £25,000 for Plan 5 (England, courses started from August 2023) and £33,795 for Plan 4 (Scotland). Which plan you’re on depends on when and where you started studying, not on how much you borrowed, and the gap between thresholds means two people on identical salaries can repay very different amounts. A Scottish graduate earning £33,000 repays nothing at all; an English graduate on Plan 5 with the same salary repays £720 a year.
How to use this UK take home pay calculator to compare offers
The real power of a take-home calculator is comparison. Because tax thresholds have been frozen since 2021 while wages rise — the “fiscal drag” effect — a pay rise doesn’t translate pound-for-pound into your pocket: a £3,000 rise on a £45,000 salary partly lands in the 40% band. Before accepting an offer or negotiating a rise, run both numbers here and compare the net difference. If you’re researching what different roles pay in the first place, see our full breakdown of the average salary in the UK or our ranking of the highest paying trades in the UK.
Comparing two UK job offers is where a take-home calculator earns its place, because a higher gross salary doesn’t always mean more money in your pocket. A pay rise that pushes part of your income into the 40% higher-rate band, or past a student loan threshold, is taxed far more heavily than the pounds below it. Running both salaries through the calculator shows the real net difference, which is the number that actually matters when you’re deciding whether a new role, a relocation or a promotion is worth it.
The freeze that quietly cuts your take-home pay every year
Every threshold in this calculator is a fixed pound figure, and most of them are now frozen. The personal allowance and the higher-rate threshold have been held at £12,570 and £50,270 since 2021. At the November 2025 Budget the government confirmed the Plan 2 student loan threshold will rise to £29,385 in April 2026 and then be frozen there from April 2027 until April 2030.
Frozen thresholds do not sound like a tax rise, and that is precisely why they work. Wages keep climbing with inflation while the lines stay still, so each year a larger slice of the same real income sits above them. Someone on £48,000 who gets a 5% rise crosses into the 40% band for the first time. Someone on £28,000 who gets the same rise starts repaying a student loan they were previously below. Neither person voted for a tax increase and neither received a letter about one.
This is why running two salaries through a calculator matters more than comparing the gross figures. A £2,000 rise on £49,000 is not worth £2,000. The first £1,270 is taxed at 20% and the remainder at 40%, National Insurance drops from 8% to 2% at exactly the same point, and if a student loan is in play another 9% comes off the top of everything above the threshold. The effective rate on that rise is nothing like the headline band you think you are in.
The same arithmetic runs in reverse when you increase your pension contribution. Because contributions come out before income tax is calculated, a few percentage points can pull your taxable income back below a threshold you have just crossed. That is the one lever in this calculator that changes the answer rather than just describing it — worth testing with the pension field before you accept a rise or negotiate a package.
Is this UK take home pay calculator accurate?
It uses official 2026/27 rates for England, Wales and Northern Ireland and is accurate for a standard situation. Scotland uses different income tax bands, and tax codes, benefits-in-kind or marriage allowance can change your exact figure — for a precise number, check your tax code with HMRC.
What’s the difference between gross and net pay?
Gross pay is your total salary before deductions — the number on your job offer. Net pay is what reaches your bank account after income tax, National Insurance and any pension or student loan deductions. This calculator converts one into the other.
Why is there a 60% tax trap at £100,000?
Between £100,000 and £125,140, every £2 earned removes £1 of personal allowance, so you pay 40% tax on the income plus 20% more from the lost allowance — an effective 60% marginal rate. Many earners in this band use pension contributions to manage it.
Does the calculator include pension and student loans?
Yes — enter your pension percentage, choose whether it’s a standard workplace pension or salary sacrifice, and select your student loan plan. The distinction matters more than most people realise: with a standard workplace pension your contribution reduces taxable income but National Insurance is still charged on your full gross salary. With salary sacrifice, both income tax and National Insurance are calculated on the reduced amount, which is why the same headline salary leaves you better off under a sacrifice arrangement.
Want to check the official figures yourself? See the tax details at GOV.UK