| Item | Per month | Annual |
|---|---|---|
| Gross Pay | £2,916.67 | £35,000 |
| Personal Allowance | — | £12,570 |
| − Pension (5.0%) | − £145.83 | − £1,750 |
| Taxable Income | — | £20,680 |
| − Income Tax | − £344.67 | − £4,136 |
| − National Insurance | − £149.53 | − £1,794 |
| = Take-Home Pay | £2,276.63 | £27,320 |
UK Take-Home Pay Calculator — Salary After Tax 2025/26
About this tool
UK Take-Home Pay Calculator: See What You Actually Earn After Tax
When you are offered a job at £40,000 a year, the number that actually matters is what lands in your bank account each month. Gross salary and net pay can differ by 25% to 35% once income tax, National Insurance, pension contributions, and student loan repayments are all deducted. This UK take-home pay calculator uses 2025/26 HMRC tax bands to give you the exact number — not an estimate, but the same calculation HMRC uses through PAYE.
Enter your annual salary or hourly rate, choose weekly, fortnightly, or monthly pay output, select your tax region (England/Wales/NI or Scotland), set your pension contribution percentage, and add your student loan plan if you have one. The calculator instantly shows your net take-home per period alongside a full line-by-line breakdown of every deduction — income tax, National Insurance, pension, and student loan repayment — both per pay period and annually.
The 2025/26 personal allowance is £12,570 — you pay no income tax on income below this threshold. Above it, basic rate taxpayers pay 20% on income up to £50,270, higher rate taxpayers pay 40% on income from £50,271 to £125,140, and the additional rate of 45% applies above £125,140. National Insurance is charged at 8% on earnings between £12,570 and £50,270, and 2% on earnings above £50,270 — a separate charge on top of income tax that many people underestimate.
Scotland uses different income tax rates — six bands ranging from 19% (starter rate) to 48% (top rate), set by the Scottish Parliament. Switching to the Scotland tab in this calculator recalculates your take-home using the Scottish rates so you can see the difference. NI is the same across the UK. This calculator runs fully in your browser — no data is uploaded, ensuring complete privacy for your salary details.
Pre-tax pension contributions are particularly powerful: contributing 5% of a £40,000 salary (£2,000) saves a basic rate taxpayer £400 in income tax, meaning the actual cost to take-home pay is only £1,600. This calculator shows you that trade-off in real time as you adjust the pension slider. Use it alongside the Compound Interest Calculator to model how those pension savings grow over time, or switch to the Paycheck Calculator if you need the equivalent calculation for a US salary.
Features
- Annual salary and hourly rate modes — hourly multiplies by hours/week × 52
- 2025/26 income tax bands for England, Wales, Northern Ireland (20%/40%/45%)
- Scottish income tax rates — 6 bands from 19% starter to 48% top rate
- Personal allowance £12,570 with correct taper above £100,000 (60% effective rate zone)
- Blind Person's Allowance (+£3,070) checkbox
- National Insurance Class 1: 8% on £12,570–£50,270, 2% above UEL
- Pension contribution slider (0–30%) reduces income tax base
- Student loan repayment: Plan 1 (£24,990), Plan 2 (£27,295), Plan 4 (£31,395), Postgraduate (£21,000)
- Weekly, fortnightly, and monthly take-home output
- Effective and marginal combined rate displayed
- Stacked breakdown bar: take-home vs tax vs NI vs pension vs student loan
- Full per-period and annual line-by-line table
- Copy summary to clipboard with one click
- Auto-saves inputs to localStorage across sessions
- Runs fully in browser — no data uploaded to any server
How to Use This UK Take-Home Pay Calculator
- 1Enter your gross salary or hourly rateClick "Annual salary" and type your gross yearly pay, or switch to "Hourly rate" and enter your hourly wage plus hours per week. In hourly mode the calculator multiplies hourly rate × hours per week × 52 to get your annual gross figure, which it shows so you can confirm it looks right. The gross figure is your pay before any deductions.
- 2Choose your pay frequencySelect Weekly (52 periods), Fortnightly (26 periods), or Monthly (12 periods). This divides your annual net figure into the per-period take-home shown in the results. Most salaried UK employees are paid monthly. If you are paid weekly or every two weeks, choose the matching option to see your actual per-payslip amount.
- 3Select your tax regionChoose England / Wales / NI or Scotland. This changes the income tax bands applied to your salary. England uses three rates (20%, 40%, 45%) while Scotland has six bands with different thresholds and rates — including 42% higher rate (vs 40%) and a 48% top rate (vs 45%). National Insurance is the same in both regions.
- 4Set your pension contributionUse the slider to set your employee pension contribution as a percentage of gross pay. Under auto-enrolment rules the minimum employee contribution is 5% of qualifying earnings. Your pension contribution reduces the income on which income tax is calculated — a basic rate taxpayer effectively gets 20% tax relief, meaning a 5% contribution only costs 4% in net take-home. Adjust the slider to see the real cost of increasing your pension.
- 5Select your student loan plan if applicableIf you have a student loan, select your repayment plan. Plan 1 applies to students who started before September 2012 in England/NI or started in Scotland/Wales before certain dates (threshold £24,990). Plan 2 applies to most English and Welsh graduates from 2012 onwards (threshold £27,295). Plan 4 applies to Scottish students post-2021 (threshold £31,395). Postgraduate loans have a 6% repayment rate above £21,000.
- 6Tick Blind Person's Allowance if you qualifyIf you receive the Blind Person's Allowance (BPA), tick the checkbox to add £3,070 to your personal allowance for 2025/26. This extra tax-free allowance means you pay no income tax on an additional £3,070 of income, saving a basic rate taxpayer £614 per year.
- 7Read your full breakdownThe results panel shows your net take-home per period prominently at the top, your annual gross and net, total deductions, and effective tax rate. The breakdown bar shows visually how your gross pay is split. The detailed table below gives every deduction — per period and annual — so you can see exactly where every pound goes. Use "Copy summary" to save the key figures.
Who Uses This Calculator
Frequently Asked Questions
On £35,000 in England with 5% pension and no student loan, you take home approximately £2,195/month after income tax (~£2,486/yr), National Insurance (~£1,812/yr), and pension (£1,750/yr). Your exact figure depends on pension, student loan, and any additional allowances.
You pay 8% on earnings between £12,570 and £50,270, and 2% above £50,270. On £35,000 that is 8% × £22,430 = approximately £1,794/year (about £150/month).
The personal allowance is £12,570. Income below this is tax-free. It tapers by £1 for every £2 earned above £100,000, reaching zero at £125,140.
Yes — Scotland has 6 bands from 19% (starter) to 48% (top rate), set by the Scottish Parliament. NI is the same across the UK.
Pension contributions reduce the income on which income tax is calculated, giving you 20% tax relief at basic rate and 40% at higher rate. A £2,000 pension contribution saves a basic rate taxpayer £400 in income tax.
Plan 2 is the most common for English/Welsh graduates from 2012 onwards (threshold £27,295). Plan 1 is for pre-2012 starters in England/NI (£24,990). Plan 4 is for Scottish students post-2021 (£31,395). Postgraduate loans repay at 6% above £21,000.
Above £100,000, you lose £1 of personal allowance per £2 earned, creating an effective 60% marginal rate on income between £100,000 and £125,140. Pension contributions can bring gross income below £100,000 to avoid this.
Yes. This calculator runs entirely in your browser — no salary data is uploaded. Inputs are saved to localStorage on your device only and can be cleared with the Reset button.
No — this shows employee deductions only (income tax, employee NI, pension, student loan). Employer NI, council tax, and pension employer contributions are not included.