UK Salary Calculator 2026/27
Free UK salary calculator for the 2026/27 tax year. Estimate take-home pay after Income Tax, National Insurance, student loan and pension deductions — monthly, weekly or annual.
Complete guide
How UK Income Tax works in 2026/27
Income Tax in the UK is charged in bands. In 2026/27 you can earn £12,570 before any tax is due — this is the Personal Allowance, and it has been frozen at that level since 2021. Above the allowance, taxable income is charged at 20% (basic rate) up to £37,700 of taxable income, 40% (higher rate) up to £112,740 of taxable income, and 45% (additional rate) above that.
Because the Personal Allowance counts towards those thresholds, the bands land at £12,570, £50,270 and £125,140 of total income in a normal year. This calculator follows exactly that model, plus the tapered-allowance rules for incomes above £100,000 described below.
| Band | Total income range | Tax rate | Tax on the band |
|---|---|---|---|
| Personal Allowance | Up to £12,570 | 0% | £0 |
| Basic rate | £12,570 – £50,270 | 20% | Up to £7,540 |
| Higher rate | £50,270 – £125,140 | 40% | Up to £37,488 |
| Additional rate | Above £125,140 | 45% | 45% of everything above |
Worked example: £35,000 a year
Here is exactly what the calculator does for a £35,000 salary with no pension or student loan — one of the most common salary points in the UK.
Income Tax: £35,000 minus the £12,570 allowance leaves £22,430 of taxable income, all inside the basic-rate band, so the tax is £22,430 × 20% = £4,486.00. National Insurance: 8% on the slice between £12,570 and £50,270, which here is £22,430 × 8% = £1,794.40.
Take-home pay is £35,000 − £4,486.00 − £1,794.40 = £28,719.60 a year, which is £2,393.30 a month or about £552.30 a week. The overall effective deduction rate is 18.0% of gross.
The £100,000 trap: Personal Allowance taper
Once your adjusted net income passes £100,000, the Personal Allowance shrinks by £1 for every £2 of extra income, disappearing entirely at £125,140. That makes the effective marginal rate in the taper zone a punishing 60%: you lose the allowance (worth 40p of tax per £1 lost) while paying 40% on the income itself.
The taper also shifts the higher-rate and additional-rate boundaries down. This calculator models that correctly: as the allowance shrinks, the basic-rate band ends at £50,270 minus the remaining allowance, and the additional-rate threshold at £125,140 minus the remaining allowance.
Salary-sacrifice pension contributions (or net-pay arrangements) reduce the income the taper is measured against, which is one of the standard ways to soften the cliff. Try entering a pension percentage above £100,000 to see the effect.
| Total income | Personal Allowance remaining | Marginal rate on next £1 |
|---|---|---|
| £100,000 | £12,570 (full) | 40% |
| £110,000 | £7,570 | 60% |
| £120,000 | £2,570 | 60% |
| £125,140 and above | £0 | 45% (+2% NI) |
National Insurance for employees
Employees pay Class 1 National Insurance on wages. In 2026/27 the rate is 8% between the Primary Threshold of £12,570 a year and the Upper Earnings Limit of £50,270, and 2% on anything above the limit. Below the Primary Threshold you pay nothing.
Unlike Income Tax, NI is calculated per pay period (weekly or monthly), not annually, and it ignores the Personal Allowance taper entirely — high earners keep paying the 2% slice with no upper cap.
Pension contributions made through a salary sacrifice scheme also reduce the earnings NI is charged on, so they save the 8% or 2% NI on top of the Income Tax relief. The calculator applies this automatically.
Student loan repayments in 2026/27
Repayments are 9% of everything you earn above your plan's threshold, or 6% above £21,000 for postgraduate loans. If you are on Plan 2 plus a postgraduate loan, both apply at once — the calculator supports that combination.
Only income above the threshold is charged: at £30,000 on Plan 2 you repay 9% of £615, i.e. £55.35 a year, not 9% of the whole salary. Interest accrues from day one, but repayments stop if you drop below the threshold and are written off after a fixed number of years that depends on the plan.
| Plan | Applies to | Threshold (annual) | Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plan 1 | Older English/Welsh courses; any Scottish undergrad | £26,900 | 9% |
| Plan 2 | English/Welsh courses starting 2012 – 2023 | £29,385 | 9% |
| Plan 4 | Scottish undergraduate loans from 1998 | £33,795 | 9% |
| Plan 5 | English/Welsh courses starting from August 2023 | £25,000 | 9% |
| Postgraduate | Master's and doctoral loans | £21,000 | 6% |
Pensions: why take-home drops but total pay rises
This calculator treats pension contributions the way most workplace schemes (salary sacrifice and net-pay) do: they come out of gross pay before Income Tax and NI are calculated. Putting 5% of a £35,000 salary into a pension reduces taxable pay to £33,250, cutting both the tax bill and the NI bill.
The trade-off is cash-flow: your payslip is smaller today, but you keep the full contribution invested (plus any employer match) and avoid tax on it. Relief-at-source schemes behave slightly differently — contributions are taken after tax and the provider reclaims the basic-rate relief, which raises your effective allowance rather than lowering taxable pay.
Either way, contributions above the £60,000 annual allowance lose the extra relief, and money in a pension is locked up until the normal minimum pension age (currently 55, rising to 57 in 2028).
This calculator provides estimates only and is not tax advice. It assumes the standard UK Personal Allowance and England, Wales or Northern Ireland tax rates. Scottish income tax rates differ. Actual deductions can vary based on your tax code, benefits in kind and other factors. Check gov.uk or consult a qualified adviser before making financial decisions.