UK Take-Home Pay Calculator 2026/27
Calculate your UK take-home pay for the 2026/27 tax year (April 6 2026 – April 5 2027). Applies the personal allowance, Income Tax bands and National Insurance Class 1 contributions. Free, instant, England/Wales/NI rates.
Your take-home pay
- Take-home monthly£2,393.30
- Take-home annual£28,719.60
- Gross monthly£2,916.67
- Personal allowance£12,570.00
- Taxable income£22,430.00
- Income Tax (annual)£4,486.00
- National Insurance (annual)£1,794.40
- Total deductions£6,280.40
- Effective tax rate17.94%
- Marginal rate28.00%
How it's calculated
UK take-home pay is your gross salary minus two deductions made through PAYE: Income Tax and National Insurance (NI). The order matters. First, your tax-free personal allowance of £12,570 is removed from your gross salary — income up to that point is taxed at 0%. What's left is your taxable income, to which the Income Tax bands apply in sequence: 20% on the basic-rate band up to £50,270, 40% on the higher-rate band up to £125,140, and 45% above that. A critical wrinkle catches high earners: the personal allowance is withdrawn by £1 for every £2 of income above £100,000, vanishing entirely at £125,140. That withdrawal stacks on top of 40% tax to create an effective 60% marginal rate between £100,000 and £125,140. National Insurance (Class 1, employee) is calculated separately on gross earnings, not on taxable income: 8% on earnings between £12,570 and £50,270, then 2% on everything above. Because the two systems use different thresholds, your combined marginal rate is 28% (20% + 8%) in the basic band but jumps to 42% (40% + 2%) once you cross £50,270. This calculator applies England, Wales and Northern Ireland bands; Scotland sets its own income-tax rates.
Take-home = Gross − Income Tax − National Insurance
Taxable income = max(0, Gross − Personal Allowance)
Income Tax = 20% × (band 1) + 40% × (band 2) + 45% × (band 3)
National Ins. = 8% × (£12,570…£50,270) + 2% × (above £50,270)Worked example
Take a salary of £35,000 for the 2026/27 tax year, England, with the standard tax code and no student loan or pension deductions:
| Gross annual salary | £35,000.00 |
| Less personal allowance | −£12,570.00 |
| Taxable income | £22,430.00 |
| Income Tax @ 20%20% × £22,430 | −£4,486.00 |
| National Insurance @ 8%8% × (£35,000 − £12,570) | −£1,794.40 |
| Total deductions | −£6,280.40 |
| Take-home pay (annual) | £28,719.60 |
| Take-home pay (monthly) | £2,393.30 |
The effective tax rate is £6,280.40 ÷ £35,000 = 17.9%, even though this worker sits in the 20% Income Tax band — because the first £12,570 is tax-free and NI is charged at a lower rate. The marginal rate on the next pound earned is 28% (20% tax + 8% NI).
When your result may differ
Your real payslip can differ from this estimate for several reasons. Scotland uses six income-tax bands (19%, 20%, 21%, 42%, 45% and 48%) rather than three, so Scottish taxpayers will see a different figure. Student loan repayments (Plan 1, 2, 4, 5 or Postgraduate) take 6–9% of income above the relevant threshold and are not included here. Pension contributions made by salary sacrifice reduce both your taxable pay and your NI, raising take-home above this figure. A non-standard tax code (for example from a company benefit, underpaid tax from a previous year, or the marriage allowance) changes your personal allowance. Finally, NI here is annualised; a real payslip calculates it per pay period, so a month with a bonus can be taxed differently from a flat annual division.
Rates and thresholds
England, Wales and Northern Ireland — 2026/27 tax year.
| Band | Taxable income | Income Tax rate | NI rate (employee) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Personal allowance | £0 – £12,570 | 0% | 0% (below £12,570) |
| Basic rate | £12,571 – £50,270 | 20% | 8% |
| Higher rate | £50,271 – £125,140 | 40% | 2% |
| Additional rate | Over £125,140 | 45% | 2% |
| Allowance taper | £100,000 – £125,140 | 60% effective | 2% |
Sources & legal basis
| Source | What it covers | Last checked |
|---|---|---|
| HMRC — Income Tax rates and Personal Allowances | Bands, rates and the personal allowance taper | |
| HMRC — National Insurance rates and categories | Class 1 employee thresholds and rates | |
| gov.uk — Income Tax in Scotland | Scottish band differences |
Update log
- — Updated to the 2026/27 tax year; personal allowance and basic-rate threshold remain frozen at £12,570 and £50,270.
- — Added worked example, rates table and source table; expanded the explanation of the £100k allowance taper.
Frequently asked questions
Why does my take-home drop so much above £100,000?
Your personal allowance tapers away by £1 for every £2 you earn over £100,000, fully disappearing at £125,140. The combined effect is a 60% marginal rate on income between £100k and £125,140 — every £1 of that pay rise costs 60p in tax.
Does this include Scottish income tax?
No. This calculator uses England, Wales and Northern Ireland rates. Scottish income tax has 6 bands (19%, 20%, 21%, 42%, 45%, 48%) instead of 3. We're working on a Scottish version.
What about student loan repayments?
Not included in this calculator yet. If you have a Plan 1, 2, 4, 5 or Postgraduate loan, deduct 9% (or 6% postgrad) of your income above the relevant threshold (£21k–£33.8k depending on plan).
Is pension contribution included?
Not by default. Most workplace pensions reduce your taxable income — if you contribute 5% of your gross salary to a salary-sacrifice pension scheme, your take-home will be slightly higher than this calculator shows.
What's the difference between effective and marginal tax rate?
Effective rate is your total tax + NI as a percentage of your gross salary — your overall burden. Marginal rate is the percentage of your NEXT pound earned that goes to tax. Marginal matters for pay rise decisions; effective matters for budgeting.
Will tax bands change for 2027/28?
Personal allowance and basic rate threshold are frozen until April 2028 (the freeze announced in 2022 budget). This means more people drift into higher tax bands each year as wages rise — so-called 'fiscal drag'.