Take Home Pay Calculator UK

Calculate your exact UK take home pay for the 2025/26 tax year. Our free salary calculator accounts for Income Tax, National Insurance, Student Loans, and Pensions to show you exactly what lands in your bank account. Updated for the 2025/26 tax year.

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Enter your salary above to see your take-home pay breakdown

How the HMRC PAYE calculation works

When you enter your salary, the tool instantly applies the current 2025/26 HMRC tax bands. It first subtracts your £12,570 Personal Allowance to find your taxable income. It then calculates the 20% Basic Rate and 40% Higher Rate tax slices precisely. We also account for the primary and secondary National Insurance thresholds, ensuring your NIC deductions are accurate to the penny.

Unlike basic tools, this calculator handles complex UK-specific deductions like Student Loan Plan 1, 2, 4, or 5, and the tapering of the Personal Allowance for those earning over £100,000.

Common UK Tax Codes Explained

Your tax code is used by your employer or pension provider to work out how much Income Tax to take from your pay. HMRC tells them which code to use.

The Number Decoder

The numbers in your tax code tell your employer how much tax-free income you get in a tax year. To find the amount, simply multiply the number by 10. For example, 1257 means you get £12,570 of tax-free income. If your code is 1263L, you get £12,630 tax-free, often because you have professional expenses added to your allowance.

What the Letters Mean

  • 1257L: The most common code. It means you have the standard Personal Allowance of £12,570.
  • BR: All your income from this job is taxed at the Basic Rate (20%). Usually used for a second job.
  • D0: All your income from this job is taxed at the Higher Rate (40%). Usually used for a second job if you already earn over £50,270.
  • D1: All your income is taxed at the Additional Rate (45%).
  • NT: No tax is deducted from this income.
  • K Codes: Used when you have untaxed income that is more than your Personal Allowance (e.g., from a company car or unpaid tax from previous years).
  • M / N: Marriage Allowance codes. 'M' means you have received a transfer of allowance; 'N' means you have transferred it.
  • S Prefix: (e.g., S1257L) means you are taxed at Scottish rates.
  • C Prefix: (e.g., C1257L) means you are taxed at Welsh rates.
  • T: HMRC needs to review your items or your code includes other calculations.
  • W1, M1, or X: These are emergency tax codes. They mean your tax is calculated only on what you are paid in the current period, not your total year-to-date earnings.

Who is this tool for in the UK?

Whether you are a PAYE employee trying to understand a new job offer or a contractor checking the impact of the IR35 rules, this calculator provides clarity. It is especially useful for high earners in the 60% tax trap zone who need to see the immediate benefit of making a pension contribution to bring their taxable income below £100k.

It also helps UK graduates see exactly how much of their first paycheck will go toward student loan repayments, and helps families calculate the High Income Child Benefit Charge impact.

Why Use This Calculator Instead of Others?

Our salary calculator is built specifically for the UK tax system, ensuring you get accurate results for the 2025/26 tax year. It automatically applies the right tax rates immediately, and you can switch frequencies instantly. It is free, requires no registration, stores no personal data, and works on mobile, tablet, and desktop. The results are broken down line by line so you understand every deduction rather than just seeing a single number.

How to Use This Calculator

Using our UK take home pay calculator is simple. To get the most accurate result, follow these steps and enter your details as they appear on your latest payslip or P60:

  • Gross Salary. This is your total annual salary before any income tax, National Insurance, or other deductions are taken. You can also switch the input to monthly, weekly, or hourly if you prefer to calculate based on a shorter period.
  • Pay Frequency. Select how often you receive your paycheck. This helps us break down your annual results into manageable amounts that match your bank statement.
  • Hours Per Week. If you select Weekly or Hourly frequency, you can adjust your working hours. This is used to calculate your exact hourly rate and ensure your annual gross matches your contract.
  • Tax Code. Your tax code determines your personal allowance. The standard code for the 2025/26 tax year is 1257L, which gives you £12,570 tax-free. If you have a different code (e.g., due to taxable benefits or underpaid tax), make sure to update it here.
  • Student Loan. If you are repaying a student loan, select your plan. Plan 1 threshold is £24,990, Plan 2 is £27,295, Plan 4 (Scotland) is £31,395, and Postgraduate loans start at £21,000. All undergraduate plans are repaid at 9% of income above the threshold, while Postgraduate loans are 6%.
  • Pension Contribution %. Many employers offer a workplace pension. Enter the percentage of your gross salary that you contribute. This amount is usually taken before tax, which actually reduces the amount of income tax you pay.
  • Scottish Income Tax. If you live in Scotland, toggle this on. The Scottish Parliament sets its own tax rates and bands which differ from the rest of the UK, often resulting in slightly different take home totals.
  • Over State Pension Age. Once you reach State Pension age, you are no longer required to pay employee National Insurance contributions. Toggle this on to see how your take home pay increases.

How the Calculation Works

To ensure complete accuracy across all pay frequencies, our calculator uses your Annual Gross Salary as the base for all tax bracket and allowance calculations. If you switch between Annual, Monthly, Weekly, or Hourly pay frequencies, the tool automatically converts your input value so that the underlying annual figure remains consistent. For Weekly and Hourly calculations, we use your specified Hours Per Week to ensure your per hour rate is calculated correctly against your take-home pay. This ensures that whether you are looking at your hourly rate or your annual salary, the tax results are perfectly synchronized.

Understanding Your Results

Once you click calculate, we provide a detailed breakdown of where your money goes. Here is what each line in your results panel means:

  • Gross Salary. Your total pay before HMRC or your pension provider takes their share.
  • Income Tax. The total amount of tax paid to HMRC based on your income bands above your personal allowance.
  • National Insurance. Your mandatory employee contribution that qualifies you for certain benefits and the State Pension. You pay 8% on earnings between £12,570 and £50,270, and 2% on everything above that.
  • Student Loan. The annual amount deducted for your student loan repayment, if you selected a plan.
  • Pension. The total amount of money going into your retirement pot each year from your own salary.
  • Take Home Pay. This is the "bottom line" - the actual amount of money that lands in your bank account after every deduction has been accounted for.
  • Effective Tax Rate. This shows the real percentage of your total salary that you pay in tax and NI. It is almost always lower than your top tax bracket because of your tax-free allowance.
  • Marginal Tax Rate. This is the tax rate that will apply to your next pound of earnings, which is useful for understanding how a pay rise or bonus will be taxed.

How UK Income Tax Works

The UK tax system is built on a series of "progressive" bands. For the 2025/26 tax year, almost everyone is entitled to a Personal Allowance of £12,570, which is completely tax-free. Any income above this is taxed at the Basic Rate of 20% until you reach £50,270. Earnings between £50,271 and £125,140 fall into the Higher Rate of 40%, and anything above that is taxed at the Additional Rate of 45%. It is important to note that if you earn over £100,000, your Personal Allowance begins to reduce by £1 for every £2 of income above that threshold, disappearing entirely once you reach £125,140. National Insurance is a separate deduction that funds the NHS and state benefits, and it has its own thresholds. Scottish taxpayers should be aware that they have six tax bands ranging from 19% to 48%, making it vital to use the correct toggle for an accurate estimate.

Frequently Asked Questions for UK Take Home Pay

The personal allowance is the amount of income you can earn before you start paying income tax. For 2025/26 it is £12,570. If you earn less than this you pay no income tax at all. Above this amount you start paying tax at 20%. If you earn over £100,000 your personal allowance reduces by £1 for every £2 earned above that threshold and disappears completely at £125,140.
They are two separate deductions taken from your pay. Income tax is calculated on your total income above your personal allowance and funds general government spending. National Insurance is a separate contribution that funds specific benefits including the NHS, State Pension, and Jobseeker's Allowance. You pay both independently. Having a lower income tax bill does not reduce your National Insurance and vice versa.
Your tax code tells your employer how much tax to deduct from your pay. The most common code is 1257L which means you have the standard £12,570 personal allowance. The number in your tax code multiplied by 10 gives your tax-free allowance. Letters after the number indicate your situation. L means you are entitled to the standard allowance, M and N relate to the Marriage Allowance, and K means you have income that needs to be taxed that exceeds your allowance. You can find your tax code on your payslip or P60.
Scotland has its own income tax rates and bands set by the Scottish Parliament, though National Insurance rates remain the same across the UK. For 2025/26 Scotland has six bands: Starter rate 19% up to £14,876, Basic rate 20% up to £26,561, Intermediate rate 21% up to £43,662, Higher rate 42% up to £75,000, Advanced rate 45% up to £125,140, and Top rate 48% above that. If you live in Scotland make sure to toggle the Scottish Income Tax option in the calculator.
Student loan repayments are taken automatically through the tax system once your income crosses the repayment threshold for your plan. Plan 1 repayments are 9% of income above £24,990. Plan 2 repayments are 9% above £27,295. Plan 4 for Scottish students is 9% above £31,395. Postgraduate loans are repaid at 6% above £21,000. If you have both an undergraduate and postgraduate loan both repayments run simultaneously.
No. Once you reach State Pension age you stop paying employee National Insurance contributions even if you continue working. Your income tax position remains the same, as you still pay income tax on earnings above your personal allowance. Use the Over State Pension Age toggle in the calculator to remove NI from your calculation.
Workplace pension contributions made through salary sacrifice or relief at source reduce your taxable income before tax is calculated. This means a 5% pension contribution does not reduce your take home pay by 5%. The actual impact is lower because you save the tax you would have paid on that amount. A basic rate taxpayer effectively only loses 4% of take home pay for a 5% pension contribution because they save 20% tax on the contribution.
Disclaimer: The take home pay calculations provided are estimates based on standard tax rates and thresholds for the 2025/26 tax year. They are intended as a guide only and do not constitute financial or tax advice. Your actual take home pay may differ due to non-standard tax codes, multiple income sources, local taxes, or individual circumstances. Always verify with a qualified tax professional or the relevant authority: HMRC (UK).

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