Calculate my take home pay: the UK method, step by step

How to calculate take-home pay in 2026/27

1. Start from annual gross pay. Convert whatever you know into a yearly figure first: a monthly salary times twelve, a weekly wage times fifty-two, an hourly rate times the hours in the week times fifty-two. Bonuses and overtime count as pay in the period they are paid, which is why a payslip can differ from a level annual estimate.
2. Take off the Personal Allowance. The standard allowance is £12,570 in 2026/27: the first slice of income that carries no Income Tax. Above £100,000 of adjusted net income it is withdrawn at £1 for every £2, and it is gone entirely at £125,140. A pension contribution under a net pay arrangement reduces the income the allowance is measured against.
3. Apply the Income Tax bands to what is left. England, Wales and Northern Ireland charge 20% on the first £37,700 of taxable income, 40% up to £125,140 and 45% above that. The band limits are fixed on taxable income, so they do not move when the allowance tapers. Scotland has its own six bands and is worked out separately on this site.
4. Charge National Insurance on gross pay. Class 1 employee contributions at category A are 8% on earnings between the primary threshold (£12,570 a year) and the upper earnings limit (£50,270 a year), and 2% above the limit. National Insurance is charged on gross pay, not on taxable pay, so a pension contribution under net pay does not reduce it.
5. Add the optional deductions you actually have. A student loan takes 9% of income over the plan's threshold (6% for a postgraduate loan). A workplace pension takes the percentage you and your employer agreed, 5% as the automatic-enrolment minimum for the employee. A company car or private medical cover adds a benefit-in-kind value to taxable income through your tax code.
6. Divide back into the period you are paid. Monthly is a twelfth of the year, weekly a fifty-second. A real payslip assesses National Insurance per pay period, so a monthly-paid employee's twelve payslips can add up to a few pounds different from the annual figure; the annual method is what every worked example on this site uses and it states that assumption.

Where the rates come from

Every rate and threshold in this guide was read on the GOV.UK page that publishes it and quoted word for word with the date it was read: the Income Tax rates and allowances page, the National Insurance contribution rates and the employer thresholds pages, the student loan repayment page and the workplace pension page. The sources are listed at the foot of every jurisdiction and salary page, and a quote the page no longer carries stops the site being rebuilt until the figure is corrected.

That is a stronger promise than a typical salary calculator makes. Most quote their own tables; this site quotes the government's, and the take-home index is recomputed from those quotes rather than typed.

What this method does not do

It does not apply a non-standard tax code, a second job's allowance split, Marriage Allowance, Blind Person's Allowance or the High Income Child Benefit Charge, and it does not model salary sacrifice, which reduces National Insurance as well as Income Tax. Each of those changes the answer for the people it applies to, and the figure pages say so in their assumptions.

It also does not recommend anything. Whether to join a pension, how much to contribute, or how to structure pay are decisions for you and, where it matters, a regulated adviser. This site states published rates and applies them.

Common questions

Is take-home pay calculated on gross or net?

On gross. Gross pay is what the contract says; the deductions come off it in order, allowance first, then Income Tax on what is left, then National Insurance on the gross, and the result is net, or take-home, pay.

Why does my payslip differ from the annual figure?

Because payroll assesses each pay period on its own thresholds and rounds each period. Over a year the difference is pennies to a few pounds for a level salary; a bonus month can differ more because National Insurance is charged on that period's higher pay.

Does the method change for Scotland?

Only the Income Tax bands. Scotland has six bands from 19% to 48% on the same Personal Allowance; National Insurance, student loans and pension treatment are UK-wide. The Scotland page on this site works every salary on the Scottish bands.

Are the figures on this site tax advice?

No. They are published statutory rates applied to a stated salary, with every rate quoted from its official page. They do not recommend a course of action.

Take-home pay by jurisdiction

• Take-home pay in United Kingdom