Take-home pay calculator (2026/27)
See what actually reaches your bank account each month. Enter your salary and pension contribution to estimate monthly and annual take-home pay after tax, National Insurance and deductions.
What "take-home pay" means
Take-home pay is your gross salary minus Income Tax, National Insurance, pension contributions, student loan repayments and any other payroll deductions. It is the figure your employer pays into your account on payday.
What reduces your take-home pay
The four deductions that move the number most are Income Tax, National Insurance, workplace pension contributions and student loan repayments. Childcare vouchers, cycle-to-work schemes, share plans and union subscriptions can also appear on a payslip.
- Income Tax — banded, and cumulative across the tax year.
- National Insurance — per pay period, not cumulative.
- Pension — the method used changes the tax and NI effect.
- Student loan — a percentage of income above your plan threshold.
Monthly vs annual figures
Monthly take-home is simply annual take-home divided across the year, assuming even pay. If you receive a bonus, overtime or a mid-year pay rise, individual months will differ even though the annual total lines up.
Increasing your take-home pay
Options that genuinely change the arithmetic include checking your tax code is correct, claiming allowable expenses, and understanding how pension contributions interact with the £100,000 Personal Allowance taper. Each has trade-offs — a higher pension contribution lowers take-home pay today in exchange for a larger retirement pot.
Methodology, assumptions and limitations
- 2026/27 UK rates, bands and thresholds, verified against primary sources on 21 August 2026.
- Pay is treated as even across all 12 months (cumulative PAYE), so a mid-year pay change will not match exactly.
- Class 1 employee National Insurance only — no Class 1A, Class 2 or Class 4 self-employment NI.
- Scotland is detected from an "S" prefix on the tax code; other UK nations use the rest-of-UK bands.
- Results are estimates for comparison and education, not a payroll calculation or a tax return.
- Benefits in kind, company cars, taxable expenses and P11D adjustments are not modelled.
- Week 1 / month 1 and emergency tax code operation is not modelled — codes are treated cumulatively.
- This is not regulated financial advice and does not take your personal circumstances into account.
- GOV.UK — Income Tax rates and Personal Allowances
- GOV.UK — Rates and thresholds for employers 2026 to 2027
- GOV.UK — Repaying your student loan
UK Finance Planning provides calculation and planning tools for education and comparison. It is not a financial adviser, is not authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority, and is unconnected to any similarly named advice firm. All results are estimates.
Related calculators
- Salary calculator — Gross to net pay with tax, NI and pension deductions.
- Payslip calculator — Line-by-line monthly payslip breakdown.
- Salary sacrifice calculator — Compare sacrifice, net pay and relief at source pension methods.
- Scottish Income Tax calculator — Scottish bands compared against the rest of the UK.