There is no special bonus tax rate — a bonus is taxed at your marginal rate, stacked on top of your salary. But because it lands in one pay period, PAYE can temporarily over-deduct, making it look like your bonus was taxed at 40%, 50% or more. This calculator shows the true annual take-home from your bonus and flags the temporary over-deduction that HMRC later rebalances.
6 min read·Updated Wed Aug 19 2026 00:00:00 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)·🇬🇧 UK
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Key takeaways
Key takeaways · 2026/27
There is no separate bonus tax rate — a bonus is taxed at your marginal rate, on top of salary.
A bonus can cross a tax band, so part is taxed at 40% even if your salary is basic-rate.
Paid in one period, PAYE can temporarily over-deduct (emergency / month-1 code), then self-correct.
A £10,000 bonus on a £45,000 salary leaves about £6,540 — a real deduction near 35%, not the 40%+ the payslip may show.
How it works
There is no "bonus tax rate"
The single most common misconception about bonuses is that they are taxed under some punitive special rate. They are not. A bonus is ordinary income, taxed at your marginal rate — the rate on your next pound of earnings. What makes it feel different is when and how it is paid.
Why it looks like 40%+
Two effects stack up on a bonus payslip:
It fills the top of your bands. Your salary uses the 20% band first; the bonus sits on top, so some or all of it can be taxed at 40%. On a £45,000 salary, the slice of a bonus above £50,270 is 40% territory even though your base pay is basic-rate.
Month-1 over-deduction. PAYE is calculated period by period. Drop a big one-off payment into a single month and payroll may act as if you now earn that much every month, temporarily deducting far too much — classic "emergency tax on a bonus".
Worked example: a £10,000 bonus on a £45,000 salary adds about £6,540 to your annual take-home — a real deduction of ~35%. But the month it is paid, the payslip can show a much bigger bite if you are on an emergency (month-1) code. That over-deduction is temporary.
When you get it back
On a normal cumulative tax code, PAYE self-corrects within a month or two: your deductions the following months fall below normal until the year balances out. You do not claim anything — it happens automatically. On a non-cumulative code (marked W1, M1 or X), the correction can wait until year end or until HMRC reissues your code; you can nudge it through your HMRC personal tax account.
Watch the thresholds a bonus can cross
Because a bonus raises your adjusted net income for the whole year, it can push you across two expensive lines:
In both cases, sacrificing some or all of the bonus into a pension pulls your adjusted net income back down and can be far more valuable than taking the cash. If you also repay student loans, a bonus is hit by those too — the dual-loan calculator shows how quickly a lump sum shrinks. Enter your own salary and bonus above to see the true net figure.
No. A bonus is taxed at exactly the same rates as salary — there is no special bonus tax band. It looks worse because it is added on top of your normal pay, so it fills the top of your tax bands: if your salary already uses up the 20% band, the bonus is taxed at 40%. It is the stacking, not a different rate, that makes a bonus feel heavily taxed.
Why was my bonus taxed at 40% (or more)?
Two things combine. First, the bonus sits on top of your salary, so it can spill into the 40% higher-rate band even if your base pay is basic-rate. Second, PAYE works period by period: a large one-off payment in a single month can trigger emergency or month-1 treatment, where payroll behaves as if you earned that much every month and over-deducts. The extra is refunded automatically over the following payslips as the cumulative code catches up.
When will I get my emergency tax back?
If you are on a normal cumulative tax code, any over-deduction corrects itself automatically in the next month or two — you do not need to claim. Your payslip deductions fall below normal until the year balances out. If you are on a non-cumulative code (marked W1, M1 or X) the correction may wait until the end of the tax year or until HMRC issues an updated code. You can prompt a review through your HMRC personal tax account.
Does a bonus affect my Child Benefit or personal allowance?
It can. A bonus increases your adjusted net income for the year, so it can tip you over £60,000 (starting the High Income Child Benefit Charge) or over £100,000 (starting the personal-allowance taper and its 60% effective rate). If a bonus pushes you near either threshold, a pension contribution from the bonus can pull your adjusted net income back down — see the £100k tax-trap and Child Benefit charge calculators.
How much of a £10,000 bonus do I keep?
On a £45,000 salary, a £10,000 bonus adds about £6,540 to your annual take-home — a real deduction of roughly 35%, because part of the bonus is taxed at 20% and part at 40%, plus National Insurance. The payslip for the month it is paid may show a larger deduction if emergency month-1 treatment applies, but the annual figure is what you actually keep.
Disclaimer: Figures are estimates based on 2026/27 rates and rules and may change. Verify with HMRC or a qualified adviser before making financial decisions.