Find out exactly what you take home from your salary after income tax, National Insurance, pension contributions and student loan repayments. All 2026/27 UK rates applied automatically.
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Understanding your take-home pay is more complex than subtracting 20% from your salary. Income tax has multiple bands, National Insurance is calculated separately, pension contributions receive tax relief, and student loan repayments depend on which plan you are on. This calculator applies all the correct 2026/27 UK rules to give you the exact figure — not an approximation.
UK income tax is not a flat rate on your full salary. It works in bands: you pay 0% on the first £12,570 (the Personal Allowance), 20% on the next £37,700, 40% on £37,701–£75,000 above the allowance, and 45% above that. On a £55,000 salary: 0% on £12,570, 20% on £37,700, 40% on £4,730 = approximately £9,432 income tax. Not £55,000 × 40% (£22,000).
Between £100,000 and £125,140, every extra £1 of income removes 50p from the Personal Allowance, effectively creating a 60% marginal rate (40% higher rate + 20% tax on lost allowance). This makes earning between £100,000 and £125,140 particularly punishing. Pension contributions above £100,000 are especially valuable as they restore the Personal Allowance.
Employee pension contributions are made before income tax, reducing your taxable income. A £1,000 pension contribution costs a basic-rate (20%) taxpayer £800. For a higher-rate (40%) taxpayer: just £600. This is why pension contributions are the most tax-efficient way to save. Auto-enrolment minimum is 5% employee + 3% employer on qualifying earnings.
The Personal Allowance for 2026/27 is £12,570 — the amount you can earn before paying any income tax. It is frozen until at least 2028. Above £100,000 income, the allowance reduces by £1 for every £2 earned above £100,000, disappearing entirely at £125,140. Scottish taxpayers have the same Personal Allowance but different rate bands above that.
Class 1 NI for employees in 2026/27: 8% on earnings between £12,570 and £50,270, 2% on earnings above £50,270. NI is calculated on weekly or monthly pay, not annually — which can affect the calculation for variable pay. On £35,000: approximately £1,784/year in NI. Your employer also pays 13.8% above £5,000 secondary threshold, but this does not come from your salary.
Employee pension contributions to a workplace or personal pension scheme are typically deducted from gross pay before income tax is calculated — meaning you get tax relief at your marginal rate automatically through payroll. Contributions to a SIPP may receive tax relief at source (20% added by the provider, with higher-rate relief claimed via Self-Assessment). Employer contributions are not taxable.
Gross salary is your total pay before any deductions. Net salary (take-home pay) is gross minus income tax, National Insurance, pension contributions and any student loan repayments. On a £35,000 gross salary: approximately £28,730 net (£2,394/month) with a standard auto-enrolment pension and Plan 2 student loan. The gap between gross and net is larger than most people expect.