UK take-home pay in 2026-27: Income Tax, National Insurance and loans

Rates checked 2 November 2026 · Go Home Early

This guide takes a UK salary for the 2026-27 tax year, which runs from 6 April 2026 to 5 April 2027, and works out take-home pay one step at a time: Income Tax, National Insurance, then student loans and pension if you have them. The figures come from the same engine as the take-home pay calculator, and every rate is listed with its source on the Sources and rates page.

The order the money comes off

Four things can come out of a salary before it reaches your account. Income Tax is charged on income above your Personal Allowance. National Insurance is charged on earnings above a separate threshold and does not use the Personal Allowance at all. A student loan repayment is taken as a percentage of earnings above the threshold for your plan. A workplace pension contribution comes out either before Income Tax or after it, depending on how your scheme gives tax relief. Employer National Insurance and employer pension contributions are paid on top of the salary and are not part of take-home pay.

Step 1: Income Tax in England, Wales and Northern Ireland

The standard Personal Allowance is £12,570. Income up to that amount is not taxed. The next £37,700 of taxable income is the basic rate band, taxed at 20%, so the basic rate runs up to £50,270 of total income. The higher rate of 40% applies up to £125,140 of taxable income, and the additional rate of 45% applies above that (GOV.UK Income Tax rates). Wales uses the same rates on earned income for 2026-27 (GOV.UK Welsh Income Tax).

Take £50,000 as an example. Subtract the Personal Allowance of £12,570 and the taxable income is £37,430. All of it sits inside the basic rate band, so Income Tax is £37,430 at 20%, which is £7,486.00. The £50,000 salary is just under the point where the higher rate starts, £50,270 (£12,570 plus £37,700).

Step 2: National Insurance

Employee Class 1 National Insurance for most employees (category A) is 8% on earnings between the Primary Threshold of £12,570 a year and the Upper Earnings Limit of £50,270 a year, and 2% on earnings above that (GOV.UK rates and thresholds for employers; the percentages are in the Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992 section 8). Paid by the week or month, payroll uses weekly limits of £242 and £967 or monthly limits of £1,048 and £4,189. This site uses the yearly limits, so a payslip can differ by under a pound over the year.

On £50,000, the earnings between £12,570 and £50,000 are £37,430, and 8% of that is £2,994.40. Add that to the Income Tax of £7,486.00 and the two deductions come to £10,480.40, leaving £39,519.60 a year, or £3,293.30 a month and £759.99 a week.

Three salaries side by side

The share lost rises with salary for two reasons. The Personal Allowance is a fixed amount, so it matters less as income grows. And once income passes £50,270, each extra pound is taxed at 40% instead of 20%. At £80,000, £29,730 of taxable income is in the higher rate band, which is £11,892.00 of the Income Tax. Above the Upper Earnings Limit National Insurance falls from 8% to 2%, which softens the rise: at £80,000 the National Insurance is £3,610.60.

Scotland has its own Income Tax bands

Scottish taxpayers pay Income Tax on non-savings income at six rates: starter 19%, basic 20%, intermediate 21%, higher 42%, advanced 45%, top 48%. GOV.UK publishes the bands as ranges of income above a £12,570 allowance: starter to £16,537, basic to £29,526, intermediate to £43,662, higher to £75,000, advanced to £125,140 and top above that (GOV.UK Scottish Income Tax). National Insurance and student loans are the same in Scotland as in the rest of the UK.

At £30,000 the Scottish starter and basic rates give a lower bill than the English 20%. At £50,000 the position has turned: the Scottish bill is £8,982.05 against £7,486.00, a difference of £1,496.05, because the 42% higher rate starts at £43,662 of income, well below the English £50,270. At £80,000 the Scottish take-home is £54,657.35 against £56,957.40.

Step 3: student loans

A student loan repayment is a percentage of earnings above the threshold for your plan. For 2026-27 the yearly thresholds are Plan 1 £26,900, Plan 2 £29,385, Plan 4 £33,795, Plan 5 £25,000, and the rate is 9% for each of those plans. The Postgraduate Loan has a threshold of £21,000 and a rate of 6%, and is taken in addition to a Plan repayment (GOV.UK: what you pay). Repayments are worked out on earnings, not on take-home pay, and a net pay pension does not reduce them.

This site works out the year in one step and rounds the repayment down to a whole pound. Payroll works out each pay period and rounds each one down, so the total on your payslips can differ by a few pounds. The GOV.UK employer page does not state the rounding rule, so the difference is listed as unconfirmed on the Sources page.

Step 4: a pension contribution

Tax relief on a workplace pension works in one of two ways (GOV.UK pension tax relief). With a net pay arrangement your employer takes the contribution out of pay before deducting Income Tax, so Income Tax is charged on a smaller amount. With relief at source the contribution comes out of pay after tax, and the pension provider claims 20% from the government and adds it to your pot.

Both methods put £2,500.00 into the pension and cost the same take-home pay here, £37,519.60, because all of the income is taxed at the basic rate. The difference appears above the higher rate line. At £60,000 a 5% contribution is £3,000.00. With a net pay arrangement the take-home pay is £43,557.40. With relief at source, the provider's 20% is not enough for the part of the contribution that would otherwise be taxed at 40%, and £600.00 of further relief is due from HMRC. With that claimed the take-home pay is also £43,557.40; before it is claimed, payroll tax is higher by that amount. Without any pension, £60,000 leaves £45,357.40.

National Insurance is worked out on the full salary in both cases, so a 5% contribution never reduces it. Salary sacrifice, which can reduce National Insurance, is a different arrangement and is not modelled.

What is not in these figures

One job, tax code 1257L and nothing that changes it, National Insurance category A, no benefits in kind, no Marriage Allowance, no savings or dividend income, no Gift Aid and no bonus taxed separately. If you have a different tax code or several jobs, your payslip is the better guide. The Sources and rates page lists every value used, where it was read and the date it was checked, and the items that could not be confirmed.

Check your own numbers

The take-home pay calculator accepts a yearly, monthly or weekly amount, lets you pick England, Wales and Northern Ireland or Scotland, a student loan plan, the Postgraduate Loan and a pension contribution of your choice. The salary table shows take-home pay from £20,000 to £150,000 a year.

Sources

• GOV.UK: Income Tax rates and Personal Allowances
• GOV.UK: Scottish Income Tax, how it works
• GOV.UK: Welsh rates of Income Tax
• GOV.UK: Rates and thresholds for employers 2026 to 2027
• Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992, section 8
• GOV.UK: Repaying your student loan, what you pay
• GOV.UK: Pension tax relief
• Every rate used, with its source and check date: Sources and rates

This calculator gives general information from the rates on the Sources page. It is not a substitute for your payslip, your tax code or HMRC, and it does not look at your personal circumstances. Rates as at 2 November 2026.

Every figure in this guide is calculated by the same engine as the calculator from the rates on the Sources page. About: /uk/about/