Tired of confusing payslips? Our free UK salary calculator for the 2025/26 tax year instantly reveals your true take-home pay after all deductions.
Get an instant, accurate breakdown of your salary in a few simple steps:
See how take-home pay and deductions change at different salary levels. This chart uses your current pension and student loan settings.
Understanding your payslip can be complex. This guide breaks down every component of your salary, from your gross earnings to your final take-home pay, helping you understand the UK tax system for the 2025/2026 tax year. Use our **UK salary calculator** to see these concepts in action with your own numbers.
Pay As You Earn (PAYE) is the system used by HMRC to collect Income Tax directly from your salary. The UK uses a progressive tax system with marginal tax bands. This means you only pay the specified tax rate on the portion of your income that falls within each band. Our **income tax calculator UK** feature handles this automatically.
| Band | Taxable Income | Tax Rate |
|---|---|---|
| Personal Allowance | Up to £12,570 | 0% |
| Basic Rate | £12,571 to £50,270 | 20% |
| Higher Rate | £50,271 to £125,140 | 40% |
| Additional Rate | Over £125,140 | 45% |
Scotland has different tax bands and rates compared to the rest of the UK. If you are a Scottish taxpayer, our calculator automatically applies these different thresholds when you select "Scotland" as your region.
National Insurance is another mandatory deduction from your earnings, which funds state benefits like the NHS, State Pension, and Jobseeker's Allowance. For 2025/26, as an employee, you pay Class 1 NI. A **National Insurance calculator** would show the following rates:
If you have a student loan, repayments are deducted automatically from your pay once you earn over a certain threshold. Our **student loan calculator UK** feature handles all current plans:
This calculator correctly handles multiple plans, applying the repayments according to HMRC rules.
For those earning over £100,000, the tax system has nuances like the Personal Allowance Taper. We've created a detailed guide to help you optimize your finances. Read the High-Earner's Tax Guide.
Your gross salary is the total amount your employer pays you before any deductions. Your net salary (or take-home pay) is the amount you actually receive in your bank account after Income Tax, National Insurance, pension, and student loan deductions.
Pension contributions are typically deducted from your gross salary before tax is calculated. This reduces your 'taxable income', meaning you pay tax on a smaller amount of your earnings. This is a tax-efficient way to save for retirement.
The Scottish Parliament has the power to set its own Income Tax rates and bands for non-savings and non-dividend income. Scotland has more tax bands than the rest of the UK, with different rates applied at different income levels. Our calculator automatically applies these when you select 'Scotland'.
If you have multiple student loan plans (e.g., Plan 2 and a Postgraduate Loan), you will make repayments for both simultaneously, provided you earn above each plan's respective threshold. Our calculator correctly calculates the combined deductions based on HMRC rules.