What "take-home pay" actually means
Take-home pay — your net salary — is what remains after the two big payroll deductions: income tax and employee National Insurance (NI). Both are usually collected through PAYE (Pay As You Earn) before your salary reaches you, so most employees never handle the money that is deducted. Understanding the split matters because the two charges work differently: income tax is annual and cumulative across all your income, while NI is calculated per job and per pay period, with its own thresholds.
Methodology: how this calculator works
Employee NI Class 1 (2026/27): 0% up to £12,570; 8% from £12,570 to £50,270; 2% above £50,270.
Take-home pay = gross − income tax − employee NI.
A few honest simplifications: the calculator annualises NI, while real payroll applies it each pay period; it covers a single employment (NI is per-job, so two part-time jobs can produce a different total); and it excludes pension contributions, salary sacrifice, and student-loan repayments, which also reduce take-home pay. Employer NI — a separate charge your employer pays on top of your salary — is not deducted from your pay and is not shown.
Worked example
Gross salary: £50,000 (2026/27).
- Income tax: 20% × (£50,000 − £12,570) = £7,486
- Employee NI: 8% × (£50,000 − £12,570) = £2,994.40 (the 2% band is not reached)
- Take-home: £50,000 − £7,486 − £2,994.40 = £39,519.60 per year
- That's £3,293.30 per month, £759.99 per week, or about £152.00 per working day.
Notice how the combined marginal rate at this income is 28% (20% tax + 8% NI) — the figure that actually matters when you evaluate a pay rise.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between income tax and National Insurance?
Income tax funds general government spending and is charged on your total annual income. National Insurance is a separate earnings-based charge that historically funds state benefits and the State Pension. They have different thresholds and rates, which is why your payslip shows them separately.
Why doesn't this match my payslip exactly?
Common reasons: pension contributions or salary sacrifice (which lower taxable pay), student-loan repayments, an adjusted tax code (not the standard 1257L), benefits in kind, or multiple jobs. This calculator uses standard allowances with none of those adjustments.
Is National Insurance really 8%? I thought it was 12%.
The main employee rate was cut from 12% to 10% in January 2024 and then to 8% from April 2024. It remains 8% in 2026/27 on earnings between £12,570 and £50,270, with 2% above that.
Does this include student loan repayments?
No. Student-loan repayments (9% of earnings above the threshold on Plan 2, for example) are collected through payroll but are not a tax — they depend on your loan plan and are excluded here.
What about employer National Insurance?
Employers pay their own NI on top of your salary at a separate rate. It never comes out of your pay, so it doesn't affect take-home — but it does affect the total cost of employing you, which is why some salary negotiations reference it.
Do these figures apply in Scotland?
The National Insurance figures apply UK-wide, but the income-tax bands differ in Scotland. This calculator uses the England/Wales/Northern Ireland bands.
Figures verified for tax year 2026/27 · Last reviewed September 2026 · Sources: gov.uk income tax rates; gov.uk National Insurance rates and allowances