UK Take-Home Pay Calculator (2026/27)

Income Tax 2026/27 (England, Wales, Northern Ireland)

GOV.UK: “The current tax year is from 6 April 2026 to 5 April 2027.” With the standard Personal Allowance of £12,570:

“Your personal allowance goes down by £1 for every £2 that your adjusted net income is above £100,000. This means your allowance is zero if your income is £125,140 or above.” GOV.UK's Welsh Income Tax rates for 2026 to 2027 are the same 20%, 40% and 45% on the same bands (HMRC adds a C to the tax code).

Scottish Income Tax 2026/27

You pay Scottish Income Tax if you live in Scotland; your tax code starts with an S (S1257L with the standard allowance). It applies to wages and pensions; National Insurance and student loans are the same as in the rest of the UK. Choose Advanced and Scotland above. GOV.UK's 2026 to 2027 rates with the standard £12,570 Personal Allowance:

The Personal Allowance taper is the same: £1 less for every £2 over £100,000. The Scottish Government's technical factsheet explains that the bands are legally set on income above the Personal Allowance (for example, the higher rate applies over £31,092, which is £43,662 − £12,570), and that is how this calculator applies them when the allowance is tapered.

Employee National Insurance 2026/27

GOV.UK's employee rates from 6 April 2026 to 5 April 2027 for category A (most employees):

National Insurance is worked out on each pay period's earnings. This calculator uses the yearly thresholds, which matches steady pay; with monthly pay the figures can differ by a few pence a year because of rounding in the monthly thresholds.

Category letters (Advanced mode). GOV.UK's employee rates for 2026 to 2027: A (most employees), H (apprentices under 25) and M (employees under 21) pay 8% and 2%; Z (under 21 and deferring NI because they already pay it in another job) pays 2% and 2%; C (over State Pension age) has no employee rate (N/A). The letter is on your payslip. Other letters (B, J, V and the Freeport and Investment Zone letters) are not offered here.

Tax codes

GOV.UK: “1257L is the tax code currently used for most people who have one job or pension.” The number is your tax-free amount with the last digit replaced by a letter, so 1100L means £11,000 (GOV.UK's example: a £1,570 medical insurance benefit taken off the £12,570 allowance). Choose Advanced to enter yours. This calculator reads:

• Number + L, M, N or T (e.g. 1257L, 1100L, 1383M): tax-free amount = number × 10. Only the standard 1257L is reduced over £100,000; any other number is used exactly as given, because HMRC has already worked it out for you.
• 0T: no tax-free amount; normal bands. BR: all pay from this job at 20%. D0: 40%. D1: 45%. NT: no tax.
• S prefix: Scottish rates (SBR 20%, SD0 21%, SD1 42%, SD2 45%, SD3 48%). C prefix: Welsh rates (CBR, CD0, CD1, C0T). A prefix overrides the region you pick.
• W1, M1, X or NONCUM at the end: an emergency code, where each payday is taxed on its own. The calculator shows the whole-year figure instead.
• K codes are not supported: GOV.UK says “if you have a K in your tax code the calculation is different”, and employers cannot take more than half your pre-tax pay with one.

Everything is worked out for the whole year as if you're paid evenly. Payroll works pay period by pay period (cumulatively for most codes), so your payslip can differ, for example in the first months of a job or after a code change.

Bonuses and one-off payments

In Advanced mode, enter a bonus to see how much you keep. The bonus is added to the year's pay, so it's taxed at the rates your pay reaches: at £35,000 in England a £5,000 bonus costs £1,000 Income Tax and £400 NI, leaving £3,600. Your payslip in the bonus month may show different amounts: National Insurance is worked out on each pay period's earnings alone, so a large bonus in one month can go over that month's £4,189 upper limit and pay 2% instead of 8% on part of it. The calculator shows that month's NI figure alongside the yearly one.

The GOV.UK examples, reproduced

• National Insurance: “If you're in category A and you earn £1,000 in a week you'll pay: nothing on the first £242; 8% (£58) on your earnings between £242.01 and £967; 2% (£0.66) on the remaining earnings above £967. This means your National Insurance payment will be £58.66 for the week.”
• Student loan, Plan 1: income £33,000 a year, paid £2,750 a month: £2,750 − £2,241 = £509; 9% of £509 = £45.81, so £45 a month. Plan 4: £3,000 a month: 9% of £184 = £16.56, so £16.
• Pension relief: you earn £60,270 and pay £12,000 into a relief at source scheme. You can claim an extra 20% on £10,000, the same amount you paid 40% tax on (GOV.UK's example is for 2024 to 2025; the bands are the same in 2026 to 2027).
• Scotland vs the rest of the UK (gov.scot): the Scottish Government's 2026 to 2027 technical factsheet lists how much more or less Income Tax a Scottish taxpayer pays than elsewhere in the UK: £24 less at £15,000, £24 less at the median £31,136, £15 more at £35,000, £1,496 more at £50,000, £3,300 more at £100,000 and £5,331 more at £130,000. The calculator reproduces all 17 rows of that table to the pound.
• Tax code 1100L: GOV.UK's example of a £12,570 allowance less a £1,570 medical insurance benefit gives £11,000 tax-free, code 1100L.

All of these are checked by an automated test that runs before every update.

Salary sacrifice vs relief at source

• Salary sacrifice. You agree with your employer to reduce your cash pay in return for a pension contribution. Income Tax, National Insurance and student loan repayments are then worked out on the lower cash pay. HMRC notes that the arrangement must not take pay below the National Minimum Wage.
• Relief at source. You pay from your take-home pay and your provider claims tax relief at the basic 20% rate and adds it to your pot. If you pay 40% or 45% tax, you can claim 20% more on contributions up to the income you paid 40% on, and 25% up to the income you paid 45% on, through Self Assessment or HMRC. The grossed-up contribution also lowers your adjusted net income, which can give back Personal Allowance above £100,000.
• Relief at source in Scotland. GOV.UK: if your Scottish rate is 19%, your provider still claims 20% and you don't pay the difference. Above 20% you can claim 1% more up to the income you paid 21% on, 22% up to the income you paid 42% on, 25% at 45% and 28% at 48%. The calculator shows this as relief to claim.
• In this calculator the percentage is the total going into your pension. Under relief at source you pay 80% of it and the provider adds the other 20%.
• Some workplace schemes use a third method, where your employer takes the contribution out of your pay before deducting Income Tax (GOV.UK). It is not modelled here.

Student loan repayments 2026/27

Yearly thresholds are HMRC's 2026 to 2027 rates for employers; monthly and weekly figures are from GOV.UK's “How much you repay” page. Repayments are worked out on pay before tax and other deductions. If you have more than one undergraduate plan, GOV.UK says you repay 9% over the lowest threshold with a cap per plan; this calculator takes one plan plus an optional Postgraduate Loan.

What this calculator does not cover

• K tax codes, and payroll's pay-period-by-pay-period (cumulative, week 1 / month 1) workings: everything here is a whole-year figure.
• NI category letters other than A, C, H, M and Z.
• Uneven pay through the year, more than one job, benefits in kind (unless already in your tax code), Blind Person's Allowance, savings or dividend income.
• Employer pension contributions and any employer NI savings passed on to you.
• Self-employment (Class 2 and Class 4 National Insurance).

The formula

• Pay — salary plus any bonus, minus the pension under salary sacrifice
• Income Tax — 20% / 40% / 45% (Scotland: 19% / 20% / 21% / 42% / 45% / 48%) on pay above the tax-free amount (£12,570 with 1257L, tapered over £100,000; or your tax code's figure)
• NI — 8% of pay from £12,570 to £50,270, plus 2% above £50,270 (category Z: 2% and 2%; C: none)
• Loans — 9% of pay over your plan's threshold, plus 6% over £21,000 for a Postgraduate Loan

Frequently asked questions