How to Calculate UK Take-Home Pay
No black box: here is the exact method this site uses for 2026/27, in the same order your payroll department applies it, with worked examples you can check on paper.
Step 1: Start with gross pay — and take any salary-sacrifice pension off first
Gross pay is your salary before anything is deducted. If you contribute to a pension by salary sacrifice, that percentage comes off at this stage, and everything else — income tax, National Insurance and student loan — is calculated on the reduced figure. On a £40,000 salary sacrificing 5% puts £2,000.00 into your pension and leaves £38,000 of taxable pay, which is why sacrificing £2,000.00 only reduces take-home pay by £1,440.00.
Step 2: Subtract your Personal Allowance
The first £12,570 you earn is tax-free (tax code 1257L). Only the income above it is taxed. Earn over £100,000 and the allowance tapers: you lose £1 of it for every £2 above £100,000 — on £110,000 the allowance is £7,570 — and at £125,140 it is gone entirely.
Taxable income = pay after pension − Personal Allowance
Step 3: Apply the income tax bands
England, Wales & Northern Ireland: 20% on taxable income up to £37,700, 40% up to £112,570 (income of £125,140), then 45%.
Scotland: six bands instead — 19% on the first £3,967 of taxable income, 20% to £16,956, 21% to £31,092, 42% to £62,430, 45% to £112,570 and 48% above that.
Worked example — £30,000 in England: taxable income £17,430, all at 20% = £3,486.00 of income tax.
Worked example — £35,000 in Scotland: taxable income £22,430 → £3,967 at 19% (£753.73) + £12,989 at 20% (£2,597.80) + £5,474 at 21% (£1,149.54) = £4,501.07 of income tax.
Step 4: Add National Insurance
Employees pay National Insurance on earnings (after any salary sacrifice) at 0% up to £12,570, 8% between £12,570 and £50,270, and 2% above £50,270. On the £30,000 example that is £17,430 × 8% = £1,394.40. In real payroll NI is worked out each pay period rather than across the year, so variable pay can change the real figure slightly; this calculator uses the annualised equivalent.
Step 5: Deduct any student loan repayment
Above your plan's threshold, repayments are a flat percentage of the excess — 9% for Plans 1, 2, 4 and 5; 6% for a Postgraduate loan. Thresholds for 2026/27: Plan 1 £26,900, Plan 2 £29,385, Plan 4 £33,795, Plan 5 £25,000, Postgraduate £21,000. A Plan 1 borrower on £35,000 repays (£35,000 − £26,900) × 9% = £729.00 a year. This calculator estimates repayments on pay after any salary-sacrifice pension.
Step 6: What is left is your take-home pay
Take-home = gross pay − pension − income tax − National Insurance − student loan
For the £30,000 England example: £30,000 − £3,486.00 tax − £1,394.40 NI = £25,119.60 a year, or £2,093.30 a month. Divide the annual take-home by 12 for a month, 52 for a week, or 260 (52 × 5 working days) for a day — exactly what the calculator does with your own figures.