What you actually take home from your PAYE salary after income tax and National Insurance. Updated for 2025/26 bands, with Scotland support. Direct counterpart to the earn-to-quit calculator (this is your day-job baseline).
£25,000 salary − £2,486 income tax (20% on £12,430 above PA) − £994.40 Class 1 NI (8% on £12,430 above primary threshold) = £21,519.60 take-home. That’s £1,793/month after both deductions.
£35,000 salary — typical UK band
PAYE £35,000 · No side income · Rest of UK
£35,000 salary − £4,486 income tax − £1,794.40 NI = £28,719.60 take-home (£2,393/month). Median UK full-time earner sits roughly here.
£50,000 salary — top of basic rate
PAYE £50,000 · No side income · Rest of UK
£50,000 sits just under the £50,270 higher-rate threshold. £7,486 income tax (still all at 20%), £2,994.40 NI = £39,519.60 take-home. One pound more pushes you into 40% income tax + 2% NI on every additional pound.
£100,000 salary — personal allowance taper hits
PAYE £100,000 · No side income · Rest of UK
£100,000 is exactly where the personal allowance taper begins (you lose £1 of PA for every £2 above £100k). At £100k itself, full PA still applies. £27,432 income tax + £4,010.60 NI = £68,557.40 take-home. The taper bites between £100k-£125,140 creating a 60% effective marginal rate.
£35,000 Scottish taxpayer — different bands
PAYE £35,000 · No side income · Scotland
Scotland uses different income tax bands (starter 19%, basic 20%, intermediate 21%) so income tax is slightly higher at this level: £4,547.33 vs £4,486 in rest of UK. NI is unchanged (UK-wide). Net: ~£61 less take-home in Scotland at this salary.
The calculator above shows your real net salary after UK income tax and Class 1 National Insurance. It’s designed for UK PAYE employees who want a quick “what hits my bank” figure. Add side-hustle income (optional) to see combined liability.
Two deductions, one number
PAYE take-home = Gross salary − Income tax − Class 1 NI
Class 1 NI (employee, 2025/26 — UK-wide, no Scottish variant):
- Primary threshold: £12,570
- Main rate (8%): £12,570 → £50,270
- Upper rate (2%): above £50,270
The calculator computes both and shows take-home plus the deduction breakdown.
Effective marginal rates by band
The marginal rate (on the next pound earned) varies sharply by income level:
Income range
Income tax
NI (employee)
Effective marginal rate
£0 → £12,570
0%
0%
0%
£12,570 → £50,270
20%
8%
28%
£50,270 → £100,000
40%
2%
42%
£100,000 → £125,140
40% + PA taper
2%
60% effective
£125,140 → £150,000
40% (PA gone)
2%
42%
£150,000+
45%
2%
47%
The 60% effective rate band between £100k and £125,140 is the tax cliff. Pension contributions are particularly efficient in this range — they reduce your taxable income and recover lost personal allowance simultaneously.
What this calculator doesn’t include
Student loans — Plan 2 (9% above £27,295), Plan 5 (9% above £25,000), Plan 4 Scottish (9% above £31,395). Calculate separately.
Workplace pension — typically 5% of qualifying earnings, salary-sacrifice or net-pay arrangements.
Salary sacrifice schemes — electric vehicle, additional pension, cycle-to-work. These reduce taxable salary.
Non-standard tax codes — K codes, BR, D0, NT all affect the calculation.
Employer NI — paid by your employer on top of your salary. Not from your pay.
When PAYE meets self-employment
If you have a side hustle alongside your day job, the maths gets more interesting:
Side hustle profit stacks on top of PAYE for income tax (potentially pushing you into a higher band)
Class 4 NI applies separately on self-employment profits above £12,570
This calculator uses 2025-26 rates. April 2026 introduces 2026-27 bands (typically inflation-adjusted). Personal allowance is frozen at £12,570 through April 2028 — meaning fiscal drag pushes more earners into higher bands as wages rise.
Common mistakes
Mixing up gross salary with take-home. When job adverts say ‘£35k salary’, they mean gross. The figure that hits your bank is closer to £28,720 — £6,280 less. Always work with take-home when budgeting; gross is the employer-side number.
Forgetting employer NI exists. Employer NI (currently 13.8% above £5,000 secondary threshold) is paid by your employer on top of your salary. It doesn’t appear on your payslip but it’s part of your total cost to the company. When negotiating a pay rise, the employer is calculating from total cost — your perceived ‘cost’ to them is ~13% above your gross salary.
Assuming take-home increases linearly with gross. It doesn’t. Around the £50,270 higher-rate boundary, your effective marginal rate jumps from 28% (20% IT + 8% NI) to 42% (40% IT + 2% NI). At £100,000+, the personal allowance taper creates a 60% effective marginal rate band that lasts until £125,140.
Ignoring student loan repayments. Plan 2 takes 9% on income above £27,295 in 2025/26. Plan 5 (post-2023 starters) takes 9% above £25,000. Plan 4 (Scottish) takes 9% above £31,395. Calculator above doesn’t include these — add separately if applicable, they substantially reduce real take-home.
Forgetting workplace pension auto-enrolment. Most employees auto-enrol at 5% employee contribution. That comes off pre-tax (saving 20-40% income tax) but still reduces your immediate take-home. Calculator shows pre-pension take-home; subtract your contribution rate from gross to see post-pension.
Confusing tax code adjustments. Tax code 1257L means £12,570 personal allowance. Some employees have non-standard codes (K codes, BR, D0) that change the tax calculation. The calculator assumes standard 1257L.
What this calculator doesn't cover
Doesn’t include student loan repayments (Plan 1/2/4/5/Postgraduate). Add 9% above the relevant threshold separately.
Doesn’t include workplace pension auto-enrolment contributions (typically 5% of qualifying earnings).
Doesn’t include salary sacrifice arrangements (cycle-to-work, electric car, additional pension) — these reduce taxable salary.
Assumes standard tax code 1257L. Non-standard codes (K codes, BR, D0, NT) need adjusting.
Doesn’t model employer NI (paid by employer, not from your salary).
Tax bands are 2025-26. April 2026 introduces 2026-27 bands.
If you also have self-employment income, enter the profit figure to see combined liability.
Frequently asked questions
Why is my take-home less than the calculator says?
Most likely reasons: (1) student loan repayments — Plan 2 takes 9% above £27,295, easily £500-£1,500/year; (2) workplace pension contributions — typically 5% of qualifying earnings, easily £1,000+/year; (3) non-standard tax code due to underpayment from previous years or company benefits. Check your payslip for these deductions.
How does the £50,270 higher-rate threshold work?
Below £50,270 of total income, you pay 20% on the basic-rate band. Above, you pay 40% on the portion above £50,270. Class 1 NI also changes at the same point — drops from 8% to 2%. Net effect: marginal rate goes from 28% to 42% at the threshold. A pay rise from £50k to £55k earns you £5,000 gross, ~£2,900 net (58%).
What's the personal allowance taper?
Above £100,000 of income, you lose £1 of personal allowance for every £2 of income. Personal allowance is fully exhausted at £125,140. Net effect: between £100k-£125,140, your effective marginal rate is 60% (40% income tax + 8% NI on the £1 above £100k, plus 40% income tax on the 50p of personal allowance you just lost). Pension contributions are particularly tax-efficient in this band — £1 in pension saves ~60p in tax.
Should I be paying employer NI?
No — employer NI is paid by your employer on top of your salary. It doesn’t appear on your payslip. UK total employment cost = your gross salary + employer NI (13.8% above £5,000) + employer pension contribution. Your gross salary is what you see; everything else is above-the-line.
How does Scotland differ?
Scotland uses 6 income tax bands (Starter 19%, Basic 20%, Intermediate 21%, Higher 42%, Advanced 45%, Top 48%) vs RoUK’s 3 (Basic 20%, Higher 40%, Additional 45%). Below £25,688 Scottish taxpayers pay slightly less; above £43,663 they pay more. NI is identical UK-wide. The calculator above handles both.
What if I'm self-employed too?
Enter your self-employment profit in the ‘side income’ field. The calculator stacks self-employment on top of PAYE for income tax purposes (creating possible higher-rate stacking) and adds Class 4 NI separately. For freelance day-rate planning use the net to gross calculator; for a fuller picture of self-employment liabilities use the side hustle tax calculator.
Are bonuses taxed differently?
No — bonuses are part of total employment income and taxed at your marginal rate when received. The HMRC PAYE system sometimes withholds at a higher ‘emergency’ rate which gets refunded over subsequent paychecks; net impact over the tax year is the same as if it had been spread evenly. Bonus on top of £45k base salary likely faces 40% income tax + 2% NI on the portion above £50,270.
About this calculator. Maintained by Jordan —
a UK seller and creator who actually uses these platforms (Etsy, eBay, Vinted, DistroKid).
Built to be accurate, mobile-fast, and honest about its limits. Spot a bug? Email
hello@payoutmath.co.uk.