Calculating UK take-home pay means combining two separate deductions — Income Tax and National Insurance — each with its own thresholds, then subtracting both from gross salary.
Step 1: Apply the Personal Allowance
The 2026/27 Personal Allowance is £12,570 — the amount you can earn before Income Tax applies. Above £100,000, this allowance tapers by £1 for every £2 earned, disappearing entirely at £125,140.
Step 2: Calculate Income Tax on the taxable portion
20% (basic rate) on income between £12,570 and £50,270. 40% (higher rate) between £50,270 and £125,140. 45% (additional rate) above £125,140. Only the portion of income within each band is taxed at that band's rate — not your whole income at your top rate.
Step 3: Calculate National Insurance separately
8% on earnings between £12,570 and £50,270, and 2% above that. NI uses the same lower threshold as the Personal Allowance but doesn't have the same upper taper — the 2% rate simply continues indefinitely above £50,270.
Step 4: Subtract both from gross pay
Take-home pay = gross salary − Income Tax − National Insurance. For a £35,000 salary: taxable income after the Personal Allowance is £22,430, taxed at 20% = £4,486 Income Tax. NI is 8% on the amount above £12,570 (£22,430) = £1,794. Total deductions: £6,280, leaving take-home pay of roughly £28,720.
Complications this simple version skips
Pension contributions (typically salary-sacrificed, reducing taxable income before tax is calculated), student loan repayments (a separate income-tested deduction), and Scotland's different Income Tax bands (Scotland sets its own rates, though NI stays UK-wide) all affect the real figure for many people.
Skip the manual arithmetic and get an instant estimate with the Take-Home Pay Calculator.