Take-home pay at a glance
Every figure in this table is worked out by the same calculator above, for someone in England, Wales or Northern Ireland with no pension contribution and no student loan. The last column is the share of the gross salary that actually reaches the bank account, which falls steadily as pay rises.
| Gross salary | Income tax | National Insurance | Take-home a year | Take-home a month | Kept |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| £20,000 | £1,484 | £594 | £17,921 | £1,493 | 90% |
| £25,000 | £2,484 | £994 | £21,521 | £1,793 | 86% |
| £30,000 | £3,484 | £1,394 | £25,121 | £2,093 | 84% |
| £35,000 | £4,484 | £1,794 | £28,721 | £2,393 | 82% |
| £40,000 | £5,484 | £2,194 | £32,321 | £2,693 | 81% |
| £50,000 | £7,484 | £2,994 | £39,521 | £3,293 | 79% |
| £60,000 | £11,428 | £3,211 | £45,361 | £3,780 | 76% |
| £75,000 | £17,428 | £3,511 | £54,061 | £4,505 | 72% |
| £100,000 | £27,428 | £4,011 | £68,561 | £5,713 | 69% |
| £125,000 | £42,428 | £4,511 | £78,061 | £6,505 | 62% |
| £150,000 | £53,703 | £5,011 | £91,286 | £7,607 | 61% |
Each salary above links to its own page with the full breakdown. There is one for every £1,000 from £15,000 to £200,000 in the salary after tax tables.
The three deductions, and why they behave differently
Almost every confusion about UK pay comes from treating tax, National Insurance and student loan repayments as one thing. They are three separate calculations, each with its own starting point, its own rates and its own definition of income.
Income tax
The first £12,570 of income is tax free for most people. Above that, income is sliced into bands, and each slice is taxed at that band's rate. In England, Wales and Northern Ireland there are three:
| Band | Taxable income | Salary this equates to | Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Personal allowance | First £12,570 | Up to £12,570 | 0% |
| Basic rate | £1 to £37,700 | £12,571 to £50,270 | 20% |
| Higher rate | £37,701 to £125,140 | £50,271 to £137,710 | 40% |
| Additional rate | £125,141 to no limit | £137,711 to no limit | 45% |
The most common misunderstanding in the whole system is thinking that crossing into the higher rate taxes your whole salary at 40%. It does not. On a salary of £51,270, exactly £1,000 is taxed at 40% and everything below is taxed exactly as it was before. Turning down a rise to "stay in a lower band" always costs money.
Scotland has six bands rather than three, set by the Scottish Parliament. The starter rate makes low salaries very slightly cheaper; everything from the higher rate upwards is more expensive. The personal allowance, National Insurance and student loans are set by the UK government and do not change.
| Gross salary | Take-home in England, Wales or Northern Ireland | Take-home in Scotland | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| £25,000 | £21,521 | £21,561 | +£40 a year |
| £30,000 | £25,121 | £25,156 | +£35 a year |
| £45,000 | £35,921 | £35,527 | −£394 a year |
| £60,000 | £45,361 | £43,611 | −£1,750 a year |
| £80,000 | £56,961 | £54,661 | −£2,300 a year |
| £125,000 | £78,061 | £72,886 | −£5,175 a year |
National Insurance
National Insurance ignores your personal allowance and your tax code entirely. Employees pay 8% on earnings between £12,570 and £50,270, and only 2% on everything above that. This is why the jump in deductions when you cross into the higher rate band is smaller than people expect: at almost exactly the same point, income tax rises by twenty percentage points and National Insurance falls by six.
It also stops completely at State Pension age, currently 66. Someone working past that age on £40,000 keeps about £2,194 a year more than a younger colleague on identical pay. Employers still pay their share.
Student loans
Repayments are 9% of everything you earn above your plan's threshold — not of your whole salary — and they are worked out separately each pay period and rounded down to the pound. Which plan you are on depends on where and when you started studying, not on how much you borrowed.
| Plan | You repay above | Rate |
|---|---|---|
| Plan 1 | £26,900 | 9% |
| Plan 2 | £29,385 | 9% |
| Plan 4 (Scotland) | £33,795 | 9% |
| Plan 5 | £25,000 | 9% |
| Postgraduate loan | £21,000 | 6% |
What that costs in practice, on top of tax and National Insurance:
| Gross salary | No student loan | Plan 2 | Plan 5 |
|---|---|---|---|
| £30,000 | £25,121 | £25,073 | £24,677 |
| £40,000 | £32,321 | £31,373 | £30,977 |
| £55,000 | £42,461 | £40,157 | £39,773 |
Four thresholds that matter more than the tax rates
The published rates are only half the story. The UK system has a handful of income thresholds where something is withdrawn rather than taxed, and the effective rate around them is far higher than any headline rate.
- £50,270 — the higher rate. Income above this is taxed at 40% instead of 20%. In Scotland the equivalent step happens at £43,662 and takes the rate to 42%.
- £50,270 — the upper earnings limit. National Insurance drops from 8% to 2% above this, which softens the step above.
- £60,000 — Child Benefit starts being clawed back. If anyone in the household claims Child Benefit, 1% of it is charged back for every £200 of adjusted net income above this, so it has gone entirely by £80,000. With two children that is worth about £2,337 a year.
- £100,000 — the personal allowance taper. You lose £1 of allowance for every £2 earned, producing an effective 60% rate up to £125,140. Tax-Free Childcare and the 30 funded hours also stop the moment either parent's adjusted net income passes £100,000, which is a cliff edge rather than a taper.
All four are measured against adjusted net income, not gross salary, which is why a pension contribution can be worth far more than the tax relief on its own suggests. The salary sacrifice calculator works out how much extra you would need to pay in to get back under each one.
Why your payslip may not match to the penny
- Your tax code. This calculator assumes the standard code. A company car, private medical cover, unpaid tax from an earlier year or a transferred marriage allowance all change it, and the code is what payroll actually uses.
- PAYE is cumulative. Each month's tax is calculated on the year to date, so a mid-year pay rise, a new job or a month with a bonus will not look like one twelfth of the annual figure.
- Rounding. Student loan deductions are rounded down to the pound every pay period, and tax is rounded to the penny, so twelve months rarely sum exactly to an annual calculation.
- Things that are not salary. Overtime, commission, bonuses and shift allowances are taxed in the period they are paid, which can push a single month into a higher band and correct itself later.
- Employer National Insurance. Your employer pays 15% on your earnings above £5,000. It never appears on your payslip and it does not come out of your pay, but it is why employers care about salary sacrifice.
Popular salaries
- £20,000 after tax
- £25,000 after tax
- £30,000 after tax
- £35,000 after tax
- £40,000 after tax
- £45,000 after tax
- £50,000 after tax
- £55,000 after tax
- £60,000 after tax
- £70,000 after tax
- £80,000 after tax
- £90,000 after tax
- £100,000 after tax
- £120,000 after tax
- £150,000 after tax
Questions people ask
How is take-home pay actually worked out?
In a fixed order, and each step uses a different definition of your income, which is why the arithmetic surprises people. Income tax comes first: the first £12,570 is tax free, then each band above it is taxed at its own rate on the slice of income that falls inside it — never your whole salary at the top rate you reach. National Insurance is calculated separately on your pay itself, with no personal allowance: it starts at £12,570, runs at 8% up to £50,270, and then drops to 2% on everything above. Student loan repayments are a third calculation, 9% of pay above your plan threshold, worked out and rounded down every pay period. Pension contributions come off before some of these and after others, depending on the arrangement your employer uses.
Why is my payslip a few pounds different from this?
Three ordinary reasons. Payroll works out each month in isolation and rounds as it goes, so twelve monthly calculations rarely add to exactly one annual one. Your tax code may not be the standard 1257L — a company car, medical insurance, underpaid tax from an earlier year or a marriage allowance transfer all change it. And PAYE is cumulative: if you started part way through the year, changed jobs or had a pay rise, the tax in any single month is catching up on the year so far rather than reflecting your current salary. A difference of a few pounds either way is normal; a difference of hundreds usually means the tax code.
Do I really lose 60% of some of my pay?
Between £100,000 and £125,140 of adjusted net income, yes, effectively. You lose £1 of personal allowance for every £2 you earn, so each extra pound is taxed at 40% and also drags a previously tax-free pound into the 40% band. That is 60% income tax, or about 62% once National Insurance is added, and it is why so many people in that stretch put the difference into a pension instead. Above £125,140 the allowance has gone entirely and the rate falls back to 45%. The band is genuinely narrower than most people assume: it is worth £25,140 of salary.
What is the difference between gross pay and adjusted net income?
Gross pay is the number in your contract. Adjusted net income is your taxable income after pension contributions and Gift Aid have been taken off, and it is the figure that the personal allowance taper, the High Income Child Benefit Charge and the £100,000 childcare limits are all measured against. That distinction is the single most useful thing to understand about the UK system, because it means a pension contribution does not just save tax at your marginal rate — it can move you back below a threshold and restore something you had lost entirely.
Does a pay rise ever leave me worse off?
Not from income tax or National Insurance alone: the band system means an extra pound is always worth something, even in the 60% stretch. The genuine cliff edges sit elsewhere. Tax-Free Childcare and the 30 funded hours stop completely once either parent goes over £100,000 of adjusted net income, which for a family using full-time nursery places can be worth thousands. Some benefits taper sharply. And a bonus that pushes you over a threshold for one month is taxed as though you earned that much all year, which usually corrects itself over the following months rather than being a permanent loss.
Is Scotland really more expensive?
On the same salary, above about £30,000, yes, and the gap widens as pay rises. Scotland has six income tax bands rather than three, the higher rate starts earlier, and the rates above it are two to three percentage points higher. Below roughly £30,000 Scottish taxpayers pay very slightly less because of the starter rate. National Insurance, student loans and the personal allowance are set by the UK government and are identical everywhere. Which rates apply depends on where you live, not where your employer is.
What counts as salary for this calculation?
Regular employment income taxed through PAYE: your basic pay, plus overtime, commission and bonuses in the period they are paid. It does not cover self-employment profits, dividends, rental income, savings interest or capital gains, all of which are taxed under different rules and usually through Self Assessment. Taxable benefits such as a company car or private medical cover are handled by reducing your tax code rather than by adding to your pay, so they show up as a lower personal allowance rather than as extra salary.
How much of the next £1,000 do I actually keep?
That is your marginal rate, and it is the number worth knowing before you take on extra hours, negotiate a rise or decide about a pension contribution. The calculator shows it. For most people on a basic rate salary it is 72% of the next £1,000 (20% tax and 8% National Insurance), falling to 58% once you cross £50,270, and to about 38% in the £100,000 to £125,140 stretch. A student loan takes another 9% off each of those.
This calculator is general information, not financial or tax advice, and it covers employment income taxed through PAYE only. Check anything important with your payroll team, HM Revenue and Customs, the free government-backed service MoneyHelper, or a qualified adviser. Every rule applied here and the source for every figure are set out on the how the planner works page.