Your take-home pay is the amount you actually receive after all mandatory deductions from your gross salary. In the UK, the main deductions include income tax, National Insurance (NI), student loan repayments, and pension contributions.
How Is Take-Home Pay Calculated?
The PAYE (Pay As You Earn) system deducts tax and NI automatically from your salary each month. For 2025/26, the personal allowance is £12,570 — the amount you can earn before paying any income tax. Earnings above this are taxed at the basic rate (20%), higher rate (40%) and additional rate (45%).
What Affects Your Net Pay?
National Insurance is charged at 8% on earnings between £12,570 and £50,270, and 2% above that. If you have student loans, 9% of earnings above the plan threshold are deducted. Pension contributions via auto-enrolment (currently 5% minimum) reduce your taxable income if through salary sacrifice.
Scottish Income Tax Rates
If you live in Scotland, you pay different income tax rates set by the Scottish Parliament. These include a starter rate (19%), basic rate (20%), intermediate rate (21%), higher rate (42%) and top rate (47%), applied across different bands than the rest of the UK.
Use the calculator above to see your exact monthly, weekly and daily take-home pay for the 2025/26 tax year.