What is the take-home pay on a £30,000 salary in 2026/27?

On a £30,000 salary in 2026/27 you pay £3,486 income tax and £1,394.40 National Insurance, leaving £25,119.60 take-home a year (£2,093.30 a month) before any student loan or pension deductions. This assumes the standard 1257L tax code in England, Wales or Northern Ireland.

Does the take-home pay calculator include pension contributions?

Yes. Enter your contribution as a percentage or a fixed amount and choose how your scheme works: salary sacrifice comes off before income tax and National Insurance, a net-pay scheme comes off before income tax only, and relief at source is taken from your net pay with basic-rate relief added by the provider. The calculator applies the right order for each, so your net pay is correct either way.

How do I work out my take-home pay for 2026/27?

Start with gross pay, remove any salary sacrifice, then deduct income tax (20% basic, 40% higher, 45% additional after the £12,570 personal allowance), employee National Insurance (8% between £12,570 and £50,270, 2% above), student loan repayments and pension contributions. What remains is your take-home pay. This calculator applies each step in the correct HMRC order automatically.

What is the UK Personal Allowance for 2026/27?

The standard UK Personal Allowance for the 2026/27 tax year is £12,570 — the amount you can earn before paying any Income Tax. It has been frozen at this level since 2021 and, under current policy, stays frozen until April 2031, so more earners are pulled into higher tax as wages rise (fiscal drag).

Can I enter an hourly, daily, weekly or monthly wage instead of an annual salary?

Yes. Choose the pay frequency next to the salary box and the calculator converts it to an annual figure using your hours per week and days per week, then runs the full PAYE calculation. An hourly rate of £16 at 37.5 hours a week, for example, is treated as £31,200 a year.

How is Employer National Insurance calculated in 2026/27?

Employers pay Secondary Class 1 National Insurance at 15% on all of your earnings above £5,000 a year (about £96 a week). The rate rose to 15% and the threshold dropped from £9,100 to £5,000 from April 2025, sharply increasing the true cost of employing someone.

Which pension type saves the most tax?

Salary sacrifice is normally the most efficient because the contribution is removed before both income tax and National Insurance, saving a basic-rate taxpayer 28p per £1 contributed. Net-pay scheme contributions save income tax only, and relief-at-source contributions are taken from net pay with the provider reclaiming basic-rate relief from HMRC.

When do Plan 5 student loans start being repaid?

Plan 5 repayments begin from April 2026. Borrowers repay 9% of income above a £25,000 threshold for 2026/27, and the balance is written off 40 years after repayment becomes due rather than the 30 years used for Plan 2.

How are multiple student loan plans handled?

Each plan is calculated independently on income above its own threshold and the repayments stack. For 2026/27, Plans 1, 2, 4 and 5 each take 9% above thresholds of £26,900, £29,385, £33,795 and £25,000 respectively, while postgraduate loans take 6% above £21,000. Tick every plan you actually hold.

What happens to my tax if I earn £100,000?

Above £100,000 your £12,570 Personal Allowance is withdrawn by £1 for every £2 you earn, disappearing entirely at £125,140. Because you are taxed at 40% and simultaneously losing tax-free income, every extra pound between £100,000 and £125,140 carries an effective marginal rate of 60%.

What are the Scottish Income Tax bands for 2026/27?

Scotland has six bands for 2026/27, set by the Scottish Rate Resolution: Starter 19% to £16,537, Basic 20% to £29,526, Intermediate 21% to £43,662, Higher 42% to £75,000, Advanced 45% to £125,140 and Top 48% above that. The Advanced and Top bands mean higher earners in Scotland pay noticeably more than elsewhere in the UK.

What is a K tax code and how does it change my result?

A K code means untaxed income (such as company benefits or tax owed) exceeds your personal allowance. The number after the K is multiplied by ten and added to your taxable income instead of being deducted from it. PAYE rules cap the tax collected through a K code at 50% of your pay, which this calculator enforces.

How much is the Marriage Allowance worth in 2026/27?

The Marriage Allowance lets a non-taxpaying spouse transfer £1,260 of their Personal Allowance to a basic-rate partner, cutting the household tax bill by up to £252 a year. Both partners must be born after 5 April 1935 and the receiving partner must be a basic-rate taxpayer.

Is a bonus taxed at a higher rate than salary?

No special bonus rate exists — a bonus is simply added to your income for the year and taxed at your marginal rate. It can feel heavily taxed because it sits on top of your salary, so more of it falls into your highest band. If a bonus lifts you past £100,000 it also erodes your personal allowance at £1 per £2.

Take-Home Pay Calculator UK 2026/27

Q: How much National Insurance will I pay this year?

For 2026/27 employees pay Class 1 National Insurance at 8% on earnings between £12,570 and £50,270, then 2% on everything above £50,270. There is no National Insurance on the first £12,570 or once you reach State Pension age.

How much will I take home? For the 2026/27 tax year the Personal Allowance is £12,570. Income tax is 20% on the next £37,700 (up to £50,270), 40% up to £125,140 and 45% above that. Employees pay National Insurance at 8% between £12,570 and £50,270, then 2%. On a £30,000 salary that leaves £25,119.60 a year, or £2,093.30 a month. Enter your own salary below for the full breakdown, including student loan and pension.

How is my UK take-home pay calculated for 2026/27?

Your UK take-home pay is your gross salary minus Income Tax, National Insurance, pension contributions and any student loan repayment. For 2026/27 the tax-free Personal Allowance is £12,570, so everything after that is what payroll works on.

The order matters, because getting it wrong changes the answer. First, any salary sacrifice (pension, childcare vouchers, cycle-to-work) comes off your gross pay — that lower figure is what both Income Tax and National Insurance are charged on. Next, taxable benefits from your P11D are added back for tax purposes only. Then Income Tax is applied against whatever allowance your tax code grants, National Insurance is worked out on its own thresholds, and student loan deductions are layered on top.

All of this runs through PAYE (Pay As You Earn), the system employers use to deduct tax and National Insurance before your wages are paid, remitting them to HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC). The three key factors that decide your net pay are your gross salary, your tax code, and the deductions you opt into — pension and student loan chief among them.

The 2026/27 figures this calculator uses (all read from a single audited data file, not typed into the page):

Deduction	Band	Rate
Personal allowance	£0 – £12,570	0%
Income tax — basic	£12,571 – £50,270	20%
Income tax — higher	£50,271 – £125,140	40%
Income tax — additional	over £125,140	45%
Employee NI	£12,570 – £50,270	8%
Employee NI	over £50,270	2%
Employer NI	over £5,000	15%
Allowance taper	over £100,000	−£1 per £2

The Personal Allowance has been held at £12,570 since 2021 and, under current policy, stays frozen until April 2031. The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) calls the effect fiscal drag: as wages rise but thresholds stand still, more people are pulled into higher tax bands without any headline rate rise. That is why a 2026/27 figure can differ from what the same salary took home a few years ago.

What are the UK Income Tax rates and bands?

In England, Wales and Northern Ireland you pay 20% on taxable income from £12,571 to £50,270, 40% up to £125,140, and 45% above that. The Personal Allowance of £12,570 is deducted first, so only income above it is taxed at all.

Your tax code tells your employer how much allowance to give you — the standard code for 2026/27 is 1257L. Codes such as BR, D0 and K codes change that, and this calculator reads them the way HMRC does, including the 50% regulatory cap on tax collected through a K code.

How does Scottish Income Tax differ in 2026/27?

Scotland uses six Income Tax bands instead of three, set each year by the Scottish Rate Resolution. Lower earners pay marginally less than the rest of the UK, but higher earners pay considerably more.

Scottish band	Taxable income	Rate
Starter	£12,571 – £16,537	19%
Basic	£16,538 – £29,526	20%
Intermediate	£29,527 – £43,662	21%
Higher	£43,663 – £75,000	42%
Advanced	£75,001 – £125,140	45%
Top	over £125,140	48%

Often missed: the Scottish Advanced rate of 45% applies from £75,001, and the Top rate is 48%. A Scot earning £80,000 pays income tax at a 45% marginal rate where an English earner on the same salary pays 40% — a gap general calculators rarely spell out.

Source: GOV.UK — Scottish Income Tax. Toggle "Scottish taxpayer" (or use an S-prefix tax code) to apply these bands.

How much National Insurance will I pay this year?

Employees pay 8% National Insurance on earnings between £12,570 and £50,270, then 2% on everything above £50,270. There is no National Insurance on the first £12,570, and none at all once you reach State Pension age.

National Insurance Contributions (NICs) are separate from Income Tax and are not devolved, so Scottish taxpayers pay exactly the same NI as everyone else. Class 1 employee NICs build your entitlement to the State Pension and other contributory benefits.

What is the true cost to employers?

Employing you costs your employer far more than your gross salary. For 2026/27 they pay 15% Secondary Class 1 National Insurance on all of your earnings above just £5,000 a year, plus any employer pension contribution.

The big 2026/27 shift: Employer NI rose to 15% and the Secondary Threshold dropped from £9,100 to £5,000 (about £96 a week) from April 2025. On a £30,000 salary that is 15% × (£30,000 − £5,000) = £3,750 of employer NI on top of your pay — a figure most salary calculators ignore entirely.

Source: GOV.UK — Rates and thresholds for employers 2026 to 2027. Tick "Show employer NI & total cost" to see this in the results.

Which student loan plan am I on, and how much is deducted?

You repay 9% of income above your plan's threshold (6% for a postgraduate loan), and if you hold more than one plan the deductions stack. Repayments are handled by the Student Loans Company (SLC) through payroll, exactly like tax.

Plan	Annual threshold	Rate above threshold
Plan 1	£26,900	9%
Plan 2	£29,385	9%
Plan 4 (Scotland)	£33,795	9%
Plan 5	£25,000	9%
Postgraduate	£21,000	6%

New for 2026/27: Plan 5 repayments begin in April 2026 for students who started courses in England from September 2023. They repay 9% above a £25,000 threshold, and the balance is written off after 40 years rather than the 30 years used for Plan 2.

Source: GOV.UK — Repaying your student loan. Not sure which plan you hold? It depends on when and where you started studying.

What happens if I earn over £100,000?

Above £100,000 you lose £1 of your £12,570 Personal Allowance for every £2 you earn, and it disappears completely at £125,140. This creates the notorious Personal Allowance taper — an effective marginal tax rate of 60% on income between £100,000 and £125,140.

The 60% trap, in numbers: each extra £2 earned is taxed at 40% (£0.80) and also removes £1 of allowance, which is then taxed at 40% (£0.40). That is £1.20 of tax on £2 of income — a 60% effective rate. Salary sacrifice into a pension is the standard way to escape it, because it lowers the income the taper is measured against.

Source: GOV.UK — Income over £100,000. In the calculator, the result box flags when you are inside the taper zone.

How do allowances, salary sacrifice and dividends change my net pay?

Allowances and salary sacrifice legally reduce the income you are taxed on, so they lift your take-home pay. The Marriage Allowance, the Blind Person's Allowance and pension sacrifice are the three that most often move the number.

The Marriage Allowance lets a non-taxpaying spouse transfer £1,260 of their Personal Allowance to a basic-rate partner, worth up to £252 a year. The Blind Person's Allowance adds £3,250 of tax-free income on top of the standard allowance for 2026/27.

Salary sacrifice is a contractual swap of cash pay for a non-cash benefit — most commonly a pension. Because the contribution comes out before both tax and NI, it is the most tax-efficient way to save, though the government has confirmed a £2,000 cap on the NI saving from pension sacrifice from April 2029. Workplace pensions themselves stem from pension auto-enrolment, which requires employers to enrol eligible staff earning over £10,000.

Directors, take note: from 6 April 2026 the dividend ordinary rate rises to 10.75% and the upper rate to 35.75% (additional rate 39.35%), with the tax-free dividend allowance still just £500. If you pay yourself in dividends rather than salary, PAYE is only part of your picture.

Source: GOV.UK — Tax on dividends.

Worked example: £42,000 with a 5% sacrifice pension

Take £42,000 with a 5% salary-sacrifice pension. Sacrificing 5% removes £2,100, leaving £39,900 as the amount both tax and NI are charged on.

Income Tax is (£39,900 − £12,570) × 20% = £5,466. Employee NI on the same £27,330 at 8% is £2,186.40. Take-home is £42,000 − £2,100 − £5,466 − £2,186.40 = £32,247.60 a year, about £2,687 a month. Switch the pension pill to "Relief at Source" and NI rises by roughly £168 — the cost of not sacrificing.

How to manually calculate your UK take-home pay

To calculate take-home pay by hand, subtract the Personal Allowance, apply the tax bands, then take off National Insurance and any student loan. These six steps mirror what the calculator does automatically.

Start from gross pay. Use your annual salary. If you are paid hourly, weekly or monthly, multiply up first (e.g. £16/hour × 37.5 hours × 52 = £31,200).
Remove salary sacrifice. Subtract pension, childcare or cycle-to-work sacrifice to get your adjusted gross — this comes off before tax and NI.
Apply the Personal Allowance. Deduct £12,570 to find taxable income (reduce the allowance by £1 per £2 earned over £100,000).
Calculate Income Tax. Charge 20% up to £50,270, 40% to £125,140 and 45% above — or the six Scottish bands if you are a Scottish taxpayer.
Calculate National Insurance. Charge 8% on adjusted gross between £12,570 and £50,270, then 2% above £50,270.
Subtract student loans and total up. Take 9% of income above your plan threshold (6% for postgraduate). Gross minus tax, NI, pension and loans is your take-home pay.

Want to explore variations? If you're paid by the hour, try the hourly wage calculator; to work backwards from a target income, use the required salary calculator. The salary sacrifice calculator shows exactly what a pension swap saves in tax and NI, and the salary comparison tool puts two offers side by side. To see what your take-home actually supports each month, price it in the mortgage repayment calculator, and if you have a second income, check the two jobs tax calculator.

Income & Tax

How to read your payslip, line by line

By CalculatorDashboard Editorial Team·Updated 3 October 2026·Reviewed 3 October 2026·4 min read

The calculator above tells you what you should take home. Your payslip tells you what you actually did. When the two don't match, the payslip usually explains why, if you know how to read it. This guide goes through a typical UK payslip from top to bottom.

Your tax code

Near the top you'll see your tax code. The most common is 1257L, which means you get the standard Personal Allowance of £12,570. The number is the allowance divided by ten, and L means the standard allowance. Scottish taxpayers have codes starting with S, and Welsh taxpayers with C. A code ending in W1, M1 or X is an emergency or non-cumulative code, which taxes each pay period on its own and is usually temporary. BR, D0 and D1 codes tax all your pay at one rate and are normally used for a second job.

If your code looks wrong, the rest of the payslip will be wrong too. It's the first thing to check after a new job, a change in benefits or a second income.

A worked example: £36,000 a year

Robin earns £36,000 and pays 5% into a net-pay workplace pension. Their monthly payslip shows gross pay of £3,000. The pension line takes £150 before tax is calculated. Income tax is about £360.50 for the month: one twelfth of the allowance, £1,047.50, is tax-free, and the rest of the £2,850 is taxed at 20%. National Insurance is about £156.20, at 8% on pay above the monthly threshold. National Insurance is worked out on the full £3,000, because a net-pay pension doesn't reduce it. Net pay is about £2,333.30. If Robin's payslip shows something different, the tax code and the pension type are the first places to look.

Cumulative tax and the year-to-date column

Most payslips show year-to-date totals as well as this month's figures. Income tax under a normal code is cumulative: each month, payroll works out the tax due on your total pay so far this tax year, takes off the tax already paid, and deducts the difference. That's why a month with a bonus can show high tax, and a month after a period of unpaid leave can show very little, or even a refund. The year-to-date figures are the ones that matter. Over a full year at steady pay, they should match the calculator closely.

National Insurance isn't cumulative. It's worked out separately for each pay period, so a high-paid month and a low-paid month don't balance out the way income tax does.

The National Insurance letter

Your payslip shows a National Insurance category letter, usually A for most employees. Other letters apply to people over State Pension age, who pay no employee National Insurance, apprentices under 25, and some others. If you've reached State Pension age and still see a National Insurance deduction, tell your employer.

Pension and other deductions

Pension contributions appear in different places depending on the scheme. Net-pay and salary sacrifice pensions come off before tax. Salary sacrifice may not appear as a deduction at all, because your gross pay is already reduced. Relief-at-source pensions are taken from your net pay, and the provider adds basic-rate relief separately. Student loans appear as their own line, with the plan type. Anything else, such as union fees, charity giving or season-ticket loans, should match what you agreed.

When to contact HMRC

Most payslip problems are fixed by the tax code, and HMRC sets the code, not your employer. If your code is wrong, you can update your details in your personal tax account or the HMRC app, for example to report a new job, a change in benefits or a pension starting. Payroll will apply the new code once HMRC sends it. If you've overpaid tax in a previous year, HMRC usually sends a refund automatically once the year has been reconciled.

Next steps

Enter your salary above with your pension type to check your payslip. If you have two jobs, the two jobs tax calculator explains the codes on each, and the bonus tax calculator shows why a bonus month looks different.

Specialist take-home calculators

This calculator covers most UK salaries, but some situations need a purpose-built tool. These share the same audited tax engine and pre-fill for their scenario:

Public sector take-home pay calculator — Police, Civil Service, Teachers' and Armed Forces pension schemes with their tiered, non-marginal contributions.
NHS take-home pay calculator — Agenda for Change pay with the tiered NHS pension and HCAS London weighting, by band.
£100k tax trap calculator — the 60% effective rate between £100,000 and £125,140, and the pension sacrifice that escapes it.
High Income Child Benefit Charge calculator — the £60k–£80k clawback, what you keep and whether to opt out.
Scottish take-home pay calculator — Scotland vs rest-of-UK net pay across the six Scottish bands.
Bonus & emergency tax calculator — the true net effect of a bonus and why the payslip looks worse.
Plan 5 student loan calculator and the Plan 2 + Postgraduate dual-loan calculator.
NHS unsocial hours calculator — Section 2 night, weekend and bank-holiday enhancements.

Browse the full set on the income & tax calculators hub.

UK Salary Calculator — Take-Home Pay 2026/27