Enter your salary or rate before any deductions. Use the toggle to switch between how you're paid — per year, month, day or hour.
Your gross pay is what your employer pays you before the government takes anything. Your net pay (or take-home) is what actually lands in your bank account after income tax, National Insurance, pension and student loan repayments are deducted.
Most people only think about their net pay — but understanding your gross is the starting point for understanding your whole tax picture.
UK income tax varies by region. Scotland has its own set of tax bands which are different from the rest of the UK. This makes a real difference to your take-home pay.
The UK has devolved income tax, which means Scotland sets its own income tax rates and bands through the Scottish Parliament. Scottish taxpayers have five income tax bands (compared to three in England, Wales and Northern Ireland).
For example, Scottish higher rate taxpayers pay 42% on earnings between £43,663 and £75,000 — compared to 40% in England for the same range. This can make a meaningful difference to your take-home pay at higher salary levels.
Wales has technically devolved income tax powers but currently mirrors English rates. Northern Ireland also uses the same rates as England.
Pension contributions reduce the income you pay tax on — and the government adds tax relief on top. Understanding this is one of the most valuable insights in your tax picture.
A pension is a savings pot for retirement. The government encourages people to save into pensions by giving tax relief — meaning some of the money you would have paid in tax goes into your pension instead.
Basic rate taxpayers (20%) get 20p added for every 80p they contribute — so a £100 pension contribution only costs you £80 out of take-home pay.
Higher rate taxpayers (40%) can get 40% relief — so a £100 pension contribution could cost you just £60. The extra 20% is often claimed back via Self Assessment.
Pension contributions also reduce your adjusted net income — which is important if you're near the £100,000 personal allowance threshold.
Higher rate taxpayers who contribute to a pension via relief at source often only receive 20% relief automatically — the extra 20% has to be claimed separately through Self Assessment. Many people never claim it, effectively leaving money with HMRC. If you are a higher rate taxpayer and file a Self Assessment return, always check that you are claiming full pension relief. Over a career, unclaimed relief can amount to thousands of pounds.
What percentage of your salary do you contribute?
How does your pension contribution work?
Salary sacrifice means your employer reduces your gross salary by the pension amount before calculating tax and NI. This saves you both income tax AND National Insurance. It also saves your employer NI. Many employers pass some of that employer NI saving back to you as an extra pension contribution.
Relief at source means your full salary is paid to you, your pension provider claims basic rate tax relief (20%) automatically from HMRC, and higher rate taxpayers need to claim the extra relief themselves via Self Assessment.
If you're not sure which one applies to you, check your payslip or ask your HR department. Salary sacrifice is now the most common arrangement.
Salary sacrifice saves you National Insurance as well as income tax — relief at source does not. On a £10,000 pension contribution via salary sacrifice, a higher rate taxpayer saves approximately £800 in NI on top of the income tax saving. Your employer also saves employer NI on the sacrifice amount — and many employers pass some or all of that saving back to you as an additional employer pension contribution. If your employer does this and you are not using salary sacrifice, ask your HR team — you may be missing free money added to your pension.
Student loan repayments are taken directly from your pay alongside income tax and NI — but many people don't realise how much it's actually costing them each month, or which plan they're on.
This is one of the most misunderstood parts of the UK pay system. Student loan repayments are not based on how much you borrowed — they're calculated as a percentage of what you earn above a threshold. You only pay when you earn enough.
The key insight: your monthly repayment is the same whether you owe £5,000 or £55,000. The balance doesn't affect your take-home — only your salary and which plan you're on matters.
Repayments are automatically deducted by your employer through PAYE — just like income tax. If you're not earning above the threshold in a given month, nothing is deducted. Repayments also stop if you lose your job or take a career break.
Loans are eventually written off — Plan 1 after 25 years or age 65, Plan 2 and Plan 5 after 30 years, Plan 4 after 30 years. Many people on Plan 2 will never fully repay their loan before write-off.
Not sure which plan you're on? Check your payslip — it will show "Student Loan Plan 1" or "Plan 2" etc. You can also check at studentloanrepayment.co.uk.
If you've ever looked at your payslip and wondered what "NI" is and why it's separate from income tax — this page explains everything. It's one of the most commonly misunderstood parts of the UK pay system.
National Insurance (NI) was created in 1948 as part of the welfare state. The idea was simple: workers pay into a shared fund throughout their careers, and in return receive state benefits when they need them — including the NHS, State Pension, statutory sick pay, and maternity pay.
It was originally called a "contribution" rather than a tax — and technically it still is. Unlike income tax which goes into general government spending, NI contributions are linked to specific entitlements. This is why it's tracked separately on your payslip.
The practical reality today is that NI behaves much like a second income tax — it's deducted from your earnings automatically through PAYE, calculated on your gross pay, and there's nothing you need to do to claim it.
For employees in 2025/26, National Insurance is charged at two rates depending on how much you earn:
8% on earnings between £12,570 and £50,270 per year (the "main rate")
2% on earnings above £50,270 per year (the "upper rate")
Below £12,570 you pay nothing — the same threshold as income tax.
One important difference from income tax: NI is calculated on your gross salary, not your adjusted net income. This means pension contributions reduce income tax but not NI — unless you use salary sacrifice, in which case your gross salary is reduced first and you save NI too. This is why salary sacrifice is usually more tax-efficient than relief at source.
Here's the part that surprises most people who are new to the UK system: your employer also pays National Insurance on top of your salary — and you never see it on your payslip.
In 2025/26, employers pay 15% on your earnings above £5,000 per year. This is completely separate from what you pay — it's an additional cost your employer bears on top of your salary.
For example, if your salary is £60,000, your employer pays approximately £8,250/year in employer NI on top of your salary. This means the true cost of employing you is around £68,250 — even though your payslip only shows £60,000.
This matters because it affects how employers think about pay rises, bonuses, and salary sacrifice. When you use salary sacrifice for your pension, your employer also saves employer NI — which is why many employers pass some of that saving back to you as an extra pension contribution.
Each year you pay NI (or are credited with NI), you build up a qualifying year towards your State Pension. You need 35 qualifying years to receive the full new State Pension — currently £221.20 per week (£11,502/year) in 2025/26.
You need a minimum of 10 qualifying years to receive any State Pension at all.
NI also qualifies you for: statutory sick pay (£116.75/week for up to 28 weeks), statutory maternity/paternity pay, and contribution-based jobseeker's allowance.
You can check your National Insurance record and State Pension forecast at gov.uk/check-national-insurance-record — it's worth doing, especially if you've had periods of self-employment, living abroad, or career breaks.
Are you over State Pension age?
The current State Pension age is 66 for both men and women. If you are over 66 and still working, you stop paying employee National Insurance entirely — even on a full salary. This can make a significant difference to your take-home pay.
Have you had any gaps in your UK working history?
Gaps in NI contributions — from living abroad, career breaks, self-employment, or time out of work — can reduce your State Pension entitlement. Select the option that best describes your situation.
If your household income is above £60,000, you may be subject to the High Income Child Benefit Charge — a tax that effectively claws back child benefit through your Self Assessment tax return.
Child benefit is currently £25.60/week for the first child and £16.95/week for each additional child (2025/26 rates).
If the higher earner in a household has an adjusted net income above £60,000, a charge applies through Self Assessment that claws back 1% of child benefit for every £200 of income above £60,000. Above £80,000, the charge equals 100% of child benefit received.
This means a parent earning £75,000 with two children is effectively losing around £2,200/year in child benefit — which many people don't realise is happening. Pension contributions can reduce adjusted net income and reduce or eliminate this charge.
Bonuses are taxed as income — but there's often a more tax-efficient way to receive them. Understanding your bonus position is one of the most valuable insights we can show you.
A cash bonus is added to your income and taxed at your marginal rate — so if you're a higher rate taxpayer, 40% of every pound of bonus goes to income tax, plus NI on top. A £10,000 bonus might leave you with as little as £5,800.
Bonus sacrifice is an arrangement where you sacrifice some or all of your bonus into your pension instead of taking it as cash. Because the bonus never becomes income, it avoids income tax and NI entirely — the full amount goes into your pension.
If you're in or near the £100k personal allowance taper zone, a bonus sacrifice can be especially powerful — it can bring your adjusted net income below £100,000 and recover your personal allowance, potentially saving significantly more than the bonus itself.
Most people only think about the income tax saving on a bonus sacrifice. But if sacrificing your bonus brings your adjusted net income below £100,000, you also recover your personal allowance — which is worth an additional £5,028 in tax savings (40% of £12,570). In other words, a £12,570 bonus sacrifice in the taper zone could be worth up to £7,540 in estimated total tax savings — not just the 40% many people assume. This is one of the most underused tax-efficiency opportunities available to UK higher earners, and almost nobody knows about it without being told.
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