About & methodology
The Pay Packet works out exactly what reaches your bank account, line by line, and traces every figure to an official source. This page sets out who maintains it, how the maths works, and where each number comes from — so you can check our working.
Built & maintained by the Pay Packet team. Figures last reviewed 21 June 2026.
How we calculate take-home pay
For each calculation we start from your gross salary and apply, in order:
- Pension (if any) first. Salary sacrifice lowers your gross before both Income Tax and National Insurance; net-pay and relief-at-source workplace schemes lower your taxable pay for Income Tax but not National Insurance.
- Personal Allowance — £12,570 of tax-free pay (or the allowance set by your tax code). Above £100,000 it is withdrawn by £1 for every £2 you earn, gone entirely at £125,140 — which is why the marginal rate in that band is about 60%.
- Income Tax on the rest, across the bands. England, Wales & Northern Ireland use 20% / 40% / 45%; Scotland has its own six bands from 19% to 48%.
- National Insurance (employee, Class 1): 8% between £12,570 and £50,270, then 2% above. It is the same UK-wide.
- Student loan, if you have one: 9% of income over your plan’s threshold (6% for a Postgraduate Loan), and plans combine.
What is left is your take-home. We show it per year, month, week, day and hour, with the effective rate (your total deductions as a share of gross) and the marginal rate (what your next £1 is taxed at). All of this runs in your browser — your salary is never sent to us or stored.
Accuracy & how we stay current
A wrong take-home figure is the product failing, so every threshold, rate and allowance is traced to a dated gov.uk/HMRC source and checked for the stated tax year (2026/27 unless you switch years). Income Tax and National Insurance thresholds are frozen to April 2031, and we monitor the official pages for changes — when a figure moves, a person reviews and confirms it against the source before we publish, and the “Verified on” date updates. We do not guess: where something is uncertain or not yet settled (for example a pending public-sector pay award), we say so on the page.
Real-terms (“what your salary is really worth”) figures use the ONS Consumer Prices Index — latest data May 2026 (released 17 June 2026).
Who we are
The Pay Packet is maintained by the Pay Packet team. We are not accountants or financial advisers, and these calculators are general information, not personal tax or financial advice — for advice about your own circumstances, speak to a qualified adviser or check directly with HMRC. If you spot something that looks wrong, please tell us — corrections are taken seriously and traced back to source.