Take-home pay
What a salary pays after Income Tax, National Insurance, a pension and a student loan, on 2026/27 rates, and how much of the next £100 is kept.
Your figures
It opens on an example: a £55,000 salary with 5% going to a pension through salary sacrifice. Change any of them. Your figures stay in this browser. The sums run on this page; nothing you type is sent to us or kept.
On these figures
On a salary of £55,000, take-home pay is about £3,405 a month (£40,862 a year) on 2026/27 rates.
| Salary | £55,000 |
|---|---|
| Pension (salary sacrifice) | £2,750 |
| Income Tax | £8,332 |
| National Insurance | £3,056 |
| Student loan | £0 |
| Take-home pay a year | £40,862 |
| Take-home pay a month | £3,405 |
Of the next £100 of salary, about £40 goes in Income Tax, National Insurance, and £60 is kept.
On 2026/27 rates.
How it is worked out
- Income Tax, National Insurance and student loan repayments use 2026/27 rates and thresholds, as they apply in England and Northern Ireland; Welsh rates are currently the same.
- Salary sacrifice lowers the pay that tax and National Insurance are charged on. A contribution from take-home pay comes off after tax.
- The next £100 is worked out by adding £100 to the salary and comparing.
What it leaves out
- Scottish Income Tax, which has different bands.
- Bonuses, benefits in kind, tax codes other than the standard one, and more than one job.
- Higher-rate relief on contributions from take-home pay, which is claimed separately, and its effect on the Personal Allowance.
- More than one student loan plan at a time.
More on the assumptions behind the app’s own projection: how the retirement figures are worked out.
Questions
Why is so much of the pay between £100,000 and £125,140 taken in tax?
In that band the Personal Allowance shrinks as income rises, and is gone by £125,140. Each extra pound pays higher-rate tax and also loses allowance, so Income Tax takes about 60% of it, before National Insurance. Pension contributions and Gift Aid lower the income it is measured on.
Source: GOV.UK
How does salary sacrifice change take-home pay?
Pay given up for a pension is not taxed and carries no National Insurance, so take-home pay falls by less than the amount going into the pension.
Which rates does this use?
2026/27 rates for Income Tax, National Insurance and student loans, as they apply in England and Northern Ireland. Welsh rates are currently the same. Scottish Income Tax has different bands and is not shown here.
Source: GOV.UK
Other calculators
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Oxygene Finance provides information, not financial advice. Figures are estimates based on what you enter and on assumptions you can change. For decisions that matter, a regulated financial adviser or an accountant can look at your whole situation.