England · category A
£45,000 salary in England
| Gross pay | £45,000.00 |
|---|---|
| Income Tax (PAYE) | −£6,486.00 |
| National Insurance (Class 1) | −£2,594.40 |
| Take-home pay | £35,919.60 |
Average rate 20.2% · marginal rate 28.0%
UK Take-Home Pay Calculator 2026/27
Income Tax, National Insurance, student loans and pension for England, Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland — with tax codes, the £100,000 taper and every step traced to HMRC guidance.
Rules checked against HMRC on ; not independently reviewed. Changelog Report an error
- Scottish and Welsh rates
- Tax codes
- Plans 1, 2, 4, 5 and Postgraduate
- 2026/27 and 2025/26
Take-home pay per monthExample
£2,993.30
£35,919.60 a year · from £45,000.00 gross
- Take-home pay£2,993.3080%
- Income tax£540.5014%
- Social contributions£216.206%
- Average rate
- 20.2%of gross pay
- Marginal rate
- 28.0%on the next £100
- Deductions per month
- £756.70
Same pay in tax year 2025/26: £35,919.60 a year — no change in 2026/27.
- Rules are provisional: checked against official sources, not independently reviewed.
| Item | Per month | Per year |
|---|---|---|
| Gross pay | £3,750.00 | £45,000.00 |
| Income Tax (PAYE) | −£540.50 | −£6,486.00 |
| National Insurance (Class 1) | −£216.20 | −£2,594.40 |
| Take-home pay | £2,993.30 | £35,919.60 |
Compare two scenarios. Save this result as scenario A, then change any input to see the difference.
Assumptions
- Tax year 2026-27 (2026-04-06 to 2027-04-05); England and Northern Ireland rates.
- Annual liability for an employee paid evenly for the whole tax year; your payslips can differ (PAYE works per pay period).
- No tax code entered: the statutory Personal Allowance is used, tapered above £100,000 of adjusted net income.
- National Insurance category A.
Rules uk-2026-27-r1 · checked against HMRC on · not independently reviewed · 2026/27 rates and sources
Annual liability, paid evenly across the tax year through PAYE; your payslips can differ month to month.
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Estimates for general information only — not financial, tax or legal advice. Your actual figures depend on your employer’s payroll, your full tax situation, your lender’s or bank’s terms and rules we may not model. Check official sources and speak to a qualified adviser before making decisions. Assumes you are paid evenly through PAYE for the whole tax year. Disclaimer
Worked examples
£45,000 in England vs Scotland, and the taper
Computed by the calculator’s engine with 2026/27 rules and no tax code entered.
Scotland · category A
£45,000 salary in Scotland
| Gross pay | £45,000.00 |
|---|---|
| Income Tax (PAYE) | −£6,882.05 |
| National Insurance (Class 1) | −£2,594.40 |
| Take-home pay | £35,523.55 |
Average rate 21.1% · marginal rate 50.0%
England · allowance taper
£105,000 salary
| Gross pay | £105,000.00 |
|---|---|
| Income Tax (PAYE) | −£30,432.00 |
| National Insurance (Class 1) | −£4,110.60 |
| Take-home pay | £70,457.40 |
Average rate 32.9% · marginal rate 62.0%
National Insurance is the same £2,594.40 in both of the first two cards because NI is set for the whole UK. The Income Tax difference comes from the Scottish bands: a 19% starter rate on the first slice, then 20% and 21%, before the 42% higher rate begins — which arrives at a lower salary than the 40% rate in England.
At £105,000 the Personal Allowance has already shrunk by half of every pound above £100,000, so more of the salary is taxed. It disappears completely at £125,140. The marginal rate in that card — tax and NI on the next £100 — shows why this band is called the 60% trap.
A graduate on £32,000 with a Plan 2 loan and a 5% relief-at-source pension takes home £25,293.85: the loan costs £235.35 a year, and the pension line is shown net of the 20% relief your provider claims from HMRC.
The method
How UK take-home pay is calculated
The order HMRC’s payroll rules follow, mirrored step by step under Show working.
- Pay for the year
Your salary, plus any bonus, less salary sacrifice. Taxable benefits in kind are added for Income Tax only.
- Allowance
The Personal Allowance of £12,570, reduced by £1 for every £2 of adjusted net income over £100,000, or the allowance your tax code gives. Blind Person’s Allowance and Marriage Allowance adjust it where chosen.
Personal allowance goes down by £1 for every £2 of adjusted net income above £100,000; zero at £125,140 - Income Tax bands
Taxable income above the allowance is split across the bands for where you live: 20%, 40% and 45% in England, Wales and Northern Ireland; six bands in Scotland.
PAYE: England and Northern Ireland basic 20% up to £37,700, higher 40% £37,701 to £125,140, additional 45% above £125,140 - National Insurance
Class 1 for category A: 8% on earnings between £12,570 and £50,270, and 2% above. Other category letters use their own rates.
Class 1 NI thresholds (LEL £129/£559/£6,708; PT £242/£1,048/£12,570; ST £96/£417/£5,000; UEL and UST/AUST/VUST £967/£4,189/£50,270) and employee/employer rates by category letter - Student and postgraduate loans
A percentage of earnings above each plan’s threshold; the Postgraduate Loan (6% above £21,000) can run alongside an undergraduate plan.
Student loan thresholds: Plan 1 £26,900, Plan 2 £29,385, Plan 4 £33,795, Plan 5 £25,000 (9%); Postgraduate £21,000 (6%) - Pension
Taken before tax (salary sacrifice, net pay) or after tax with 20% relief added by the provider (relief at source), on qualifying earnings or full salary.
- Take-home pay
Pay minus every deduction, divided evenly across 12 months, 13 four-week periods, 26 fortnights or 52 weeks. Employer NI at 15% above £5,000 is shown under employer costs.
Rates at a glance
2026/27 and 2025/26 thresholds
Annual figures from HMRC guidance, as held in our rules files.
| Threshold | 2026/27 | 2025/26 |
|---|---|---|
| Personal Allowance | £12,570 | £12,570 |
| Basic rate band (20%) | £37,700 | £37,700 |
| Higher rate starts at | £50,270 | £50,270 |
| Additional rate (45%) above taxable | £125,140 | £125,140 |
| NI primary threshold | £12,570 | £12,570 |
| NI upper earnings limit | £50,270 | £50,270 |
| Employee NI main / upper rate | 8% / 2% | 8% / 2% |
| Employer NI rate / secondary threshold | 15% / £5,000 | 15% / £5,000 |
| Band | Rate | 2026/27 up to | 2025/26 up to |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starter | 19% | £3,967 | £2,827 |
| Basic | 20% | £16,956 | £14,921 |
| Intermediate | 21% | £31,092 | £31,092 |
| Higher | 42% | £62,430 | £62,430 |
| Advanced | 45% | £125,140 | £125,140 |
| Top | 48% | no limit | no limit |
UK specifics
PAYE, tax codes and the tax year
The tax year runs from 6 April
The 2026/27 tax year runs from 6 April 2026 to 5 April 2027. Rates for the next year are usually set in the Autumn Budget and confirmed before April; the calculator offers the current and previous year so you can see what changed on your own pay.
PAYE spreads tax across the year
Pay As You Earn works cumulatively: each payslip gives you a twelfth of your allowance (or a 52nd for weekly pay) and taxes the rest. If your pay is the same every month, the annual figures here divided by 12 match your payslip closely. A one-off bonus, a mid-year pay rise or an emergency code such as 1257L M1 make individual payslips swing, but the year’s total still lands near this estimate unless your code is wrong.
Reading your tax code
The number in a code is your allowance divided by ten, so 1257L means £12,570. A K prefix means untaxed income or benefits exceed your allowance and adds to your taxable pay. BR taxes everything at the basic rate, D0 at the higher rate, and NT means no tax. Codes starting with S use Scottish rates and C uses Welsh rates. If HMRC has adjusted your code for benefits in kind or underpaid tax from earlier years, enter it to see the effect.
National Insurance is per pay period
Unlike Income Tax, NI is worked out on each payslip separately with no annual reconciliation for most employees. Two jobs each get their own primary threshold, and an uneven year can mean paying slightly more or less NI than the even-pay figure shown here. If you are over State Pension age you pay no employee NI at all — tick it under More options.
Wales and Northern Ireland
The Welsh Government can set Welsh rates of Income Tax, but for 2026/27 the Welsh bands in our rules file match England’s. Northern Ireland uses the same Income Tax and NI as England; only its student loans (Plan 1) differ.
Features
What this calculator does
- Income Tax for England and Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland
- National Insurance by category letter, employee and employer
- PAYE tax code parser including K, BR, D0, NT and emergency codes
- Personal Allowance taper above £100,000 (the 60% band)
- Student Loan Plans 1, 2, 4 and 5 and the Postgraduate Loan
- Pension by salary sacrifice, net pay or relief at source
- High Income Child Benefit Charge, Marriage Allowance and Blind Person’s Allowance
- Monthly, four-weekly, fortnightly and weekly pay
- Show working with the HMRC source for each step
Limits
What this calculator doesn’t cover
- Freeport, investment zone and other NI category letters (D, E, F, I, K, L, N, S)
- Income other than employment (savings, dividends, property, self-employment) and Gift Aid
- Two or more jobs and pension income
- Per-period PAYE withholding (cumulative tables) except in the bonus-month view
- Higher-rate relief at source assumes the claim is made through Self Assessment or by contacting HMRC
- The overriding 50% limit is applied to the annual figure only (PAYE applies it per pay period)
- Scottish and Welsh residence tests (the region or S/C tax-code prefix is taken as given)
- Marriage Allowance eligibility beyond the band test (date of birth, marriage/civil partnership status)
- Child Benefit is counted as 52 weekly payments; the actual number of payments in a tax year can differ
FAQ
Questions people ask
What is the 60% tax trap?
Between £100,000 and £125,140 of adjusted net income you lose £1 of Personal Allowance for every £2 you earn. Each extra £100 is taxed at 40% and also pulls £50 of allowance into tax at 40%, so the effective rate is 60% before National Insurance. The £105,000 example above shows a marginal rate of 62%. Pension contributions reduce adjusted net income and are the usual way out.
Why is my take-home pay different in Scotland?
Scotland sets its own Income Tax bands on earnings (not on savings or dividends), with 6 bands from 19% to 48%. National Insurance is UK-wide and doesn’t change. On £45,000 a Scottish taxpayer pays £396.05 more Income Tax a year than someone in England. Choose Scotland under “Where you pay Income Tax” or enter an S tax code.
Do I need to enter my tax code?
No. Leave it blank and the calculator uses the standard Personal Allowance, tapered above £100,000. Enter your code from a payslip or the HMRC app if it isn’t 1257L — for example a K code for company benefits, BR for a second job, or a code with an S or C prefix — and the allowance is taken from the code as issued.
Which student loan plan am I on?
It depends on where and when you started your course: Plan 1 for most English and Welsh students before September 2012 and Northern Ireland students; Plan 2 for English and Welsh courses from September 2012; Plan 4 for Scottish students; Plan 5 for English courses from August 2023. For 2026/27 the repayment thresholds are Plan 1 £26,900, Plan 2 £29,385, Plan 4 £33,795, Plan 5 £25,000; you repay 9% of earnings above yours. Your Student Loans Company account shows the plan.
Salary sacrifice, net pay or relief at source — what is the difference?
Salary sacrifice lowers your contractual pay, so it saves Income Tax and National Insurance. A net pay arrangement takes the contribution before Income Tax but after NI. Relief at source takes it from your net pay and the provider adds 20% basic-rate relief; higher and additional-rate taxpayers claim the rest through Self Assessment. Pick the method your payslip shows to see the right take-home.
How does the High Income Child Benefit Charge work?
If you or your partner have adjusted net income over £60,000, you repay 1% of the Child Benefit for every £200 above it, so it is all repaid at £80,000. Enter the number of children under More options to see the charge; by default it is shown separately because most people pay it through Self Assessment.
Does this include tax on crypto?
No. Selling or swapping crypto is usually taxed as capital gains, which a PAYE calculator does not cover. CryptoTaxOwl’s UK crypto tax calculator works that out from your exchange files.
Guides
Learn more
Keep going
Rates, related calculators and other countries
- UK tax rates 2026/27Every rate and threshold with its official source
- UK tax rates 2025/26Every rate and threshold with its official source
- UK tax year and PAYE guideKey dates, thresholds and what each tool covers
- Salary to hourly calculatorCompare an hourly rate with an annual salary
- Compare take-home pay by countryThe UK next to the US, Canada, Australia and Germany
- Income tax bracket calculatorModel your own bands
Other countries: US paycheck calculator · Canada take-home pay calculator · Australian pay calculator · Germany net salary calculator · compare countries
Sources
Sources and review
- Rates and thresholds for employers 6 April 2026 to 5 April 2027
- Specification for PAYE tax table routines v24.0 (Feb 2026), Appendix A 2026/2027: bandwidths 37,700 / 87,440, rates 20/40/45%, G pointer 2,
- Marriage Allowance: transfer £1,260 of Personal Allowance; reduces partner's tax by up to £252
- FA 2004 s192(4): basic rate limit and higher rate limit increased by the amount of the contribution
- Income Tax rates and Personal Allowances (2026 to 2027): Personal Allowance £12,570
- Repaying your student loan: what you pay (thresholds and rates; one repayment over the lowest threshold for multiple plans; Postgraduate rep
- ITEPA 2003 s681C: appropriate percentage (L = £60,000, X = £200), rounded down to a whole number, capped at 100%
- Child Benefit: eldest or only child £27.05 a week, additional children £17.90
- Scottish Income Tax 2026 to 2027 tax year
- ITA 2007 s35: allowance reduced by one-half of the excess over the income limit
- Blind Person's Allowance 2026 to 2027: £3,250
- ITA 2007 s55B: tax reduction for transferable amount at the basic rate
Rules uk-2026-27-r1, checked against HMRC publications on 7 October 2026. MoneyOtter has not had these rules independently reviewed by a tax professional; they are tested against official worked examples and an independent re-implementation. Page reviewed 8 October 2026 · How countries are verified · Changelog · Report an error