Take-home pay calculator
Estimate your net salary after Income Tax, National Insurance, pension, and student loan.
Tax codes, payslips & salary sacrifice
Everything on your payslip explained — sourced from HMRC gov.uk.
Tax Codes
The number in your code multiplied by 10 gives your tax-free allowance. The letter indicates the type of allowance. Most employees have 1257L — meaning £12,570 personal allowance.
| Code | What it means |
|---|---|
| 1257L | Standard. £12,570 personal allowance. Most employees. |
| BR | Basic Rate — all income taxed at 20%. Often a second job. |
| 0T | No personal allowance. Used when HMRC has no info or allowance is used up. |
| D0 | All income taxed at 40%. Usually a second job. |
| W1 / M1 | Emergency code. Tax calculated per period — often causes overpayment. |
| K | You have untaxed income exceeding your allowance. |
| S | Scottish rates apply (e.g. S1257L). |
HMRC uses an emergency code when your employer doesn't have enough information. W1/M1 codes treat each pay period independently — so you don't benefit from unused allowance earlier in the year, often causing overpayment.
Your Payslip
Gross pay — your full salary before any deductions. Income Tax — calculated using your tax code. NI — 8% on earnings between £12,570 and £50,270 in 2024/25. Pension — auto-enrolment minimum is 5% employee contribution.
🔗 Understanding your payslip →P60 — End of year certificate
Your employer must give you a P60 by 31 May after each tax year. It shows total pay and all deductions. You need it for tax refund claims and mortgage applications.
P45 — When you leave a job
Given when you leave employment. Give parts 2 and 3 to your new employer — this prevents an emergency tax code from day one.
P11D — Benefits in kind
If your employer provides a company car, private medical insurance, or interest-free loans, the value is reported on a P11D. HMRC adds this to your taxable income via a tax code adjustment.
🔗 P45, P60 and P11D →Salary Sacrifice & Benefits
Salary sacrifice is an agreement to give up part of your cash salary in exchange for a benefit. Because your gross salary is lower, you pay less Income Tax and less National Insurance.
Overpayments are common when you start or finish a job mid-year, are put on an emergency code, or had multiple jobs. HMRC issues a P800 letter at year end if they calculate an overpayment.
Income Tax & NI rates
Rates applied to your employment income via PAYE.
Income Tax bands (England, Wales & N. Ireland)
Workplace pension & tax relief
How auto-enrolment works, the difference between pension types, and how to find old pots.
Auto-enrolment requires a minimum total contribution of 8% of qualifying earnings — at least 3% from your employer and 5% from you. You can opt out, but you'll lose your employer's contribution. You can also contribute more.
Salary sacrifice: Contributions come out before tax is calculated. You save Income Tax AND NI. Your employer may also pass on their NI saving as an extra contribution.
Relief at source: You contribute from net pay. Your pension provider claims 20% basic rate tax relief from HMRC automatically. Higher-rate taxpayers claim the extra 20% through Self Assessment.
The Pension Tracing Service searches over 200,000 pension schemes. Enter a previous employer's name and it tells you who to contact — it doesn't reveal the value, just who to ask.
🔗 Pension Tracing Service →The full New State Pension is £221.20/week (2024/25). Check your forecast and NI record at gov.uk/check-state-pension. Filling NI gaps costs ~£824/year and adds ~£303/year for life.
🔗 Check your State Pension →Key dates for employees
The main HMRC dates you need to know as an employee.
Tax news for employees
AI-summarised from HMRC gov.uk, the OBR and GOV.UK — updated live each time you visit.