UK Take-Home Pay Calculator Guide
"Take home pay calculator", "net pay calculator", "bring home pay calculator", "wage calculator after tax" — UK payroll searches use a lot of different words for one question: after Income Tax and National Insurance, what do you actually keep from your salary? This guide covers the terms and links to a free calculator built on HMRC's 2026/27 rates.
What a UK take-home pay calculator works out
Starting from your gross annual salary, two deductions get you to net (take-home) pay:
- Income Tax — 20% basic rate, 40% higher rate, 45% additional rate, after your Personal Allowance (tapered away above £100,000). Scotland uses its own six-band rate schedule.
- National Insurance (NI) — Class 1 employee NI, a percentage of earnings above the primary threshold.
Optional pension salary sacrifice and student loan repayments reduce it further. Run your own numbers here.
Contractor, IR35 and umbrella-company pay calculators
A large share of "take home pay calculator" searches in the UK come from contractors comparing inside-IR35 vs outside-IR35 engagements, or checking an umbrella company calculator's numbers. This calculator covers inside-IR35 / PAYE-payrolled contract income — the same Income Tax and NI rules as an employee. It doesn't model umbrella-company margins/fees, outside-IR35 Ltd company dividends, or sole-trader income, which follow different tax rules entirely.
Employer-side wage and payroll cost calculators
If you searched for a salary calculator for employers or employer NI calculator, that's a different question — the cost of employing someone (salary plus Employer NI) rather than what the employee takes home. This calculator is built for the employee-side question; it doesn't currently compute employer on-costs.
Frequently asked questions
What's the difference between take home pay and net pay?
Nothing — take-home pay, net pay, and bring-home pay all mean the same thing: your salary after Income Tax and National Insurance are deducted.
How do I calculate my take-home pay in the UK?
Enter your gross annual salary, tax code, and (if relevant) pension contribution into the UK salary calculator — it applies 2026/27 Income Tax bands and National Insurance automatically.
Does this work as an IR35 or contractor take-home pay calculator?
Yes, for inside-IR35 contract income paid through PAYE. It doesn't model umbrella-company fees or outside-IR35 Ltd company/dividend income.
Is Scottish Income Tax calculated correctly?
Yes — Scotland's six-band Income Tax schedule is applied automatically for Scottish tax codes, separately from the rest-of-UK bands.