--- title: "UK payroll calculator: take-home pay and employer cost | AumnI tools" description: "Turn a UK salary or hourly rate into net pay each month, week or four weeks, with income tax, National Insurance, pension, student loan and employer cost." url: https://aumnitools.com/uk/tool/payroll-calculator category: "Financial" country: "United Kingdom" updated: 2026-11-08 --- # Payroll Calculator A UK salary is quoted before income tax, employee National Insurance, pension and any student loan, and the employer pays its own National Insurance on top. This payroll calculator applies the 2026/27 GOV.UK rules, defaults to monthly pay, and shows net pay per period beside the annual totals and what the job costs the employer. ## United Kingdom rules and figures - For 2026/27 employees pay Class 1 National Insurance at 8% on earnings from £12,570 to £50,270 a year and 2% above that. - Employers pay 15% National Insurance on earnings above the £5,000 secondary threshold, and it is charged on gross pay before pension. - Plan 2 student loan repayments are 9% of earnings over £29,385 a year, while a postgraduate loan is 6% over £21,000. - Scottish income tax has six bands from 19% to 48%, and Wales uses the same rates as England for 2026/27. - Payroll figures follow the 2026/27 tax year, which starts on 6 April 2026 and ends on 5 April 2027. Sources: [GOV.UK: Rates and thresholds for employers 2026 to 2027](https://www.gov.uk/guidance/rates-and-thresholds-for-employers-2026-to-2027) (checked 2026-11-08); [GOV.UK: Income Tax rates and Personal Allowances](https://www.gov.uk/income-tax-rates) (checked 2026-11-08); [GOV.UK: Repaying your student loan, what you pay](https://www.gov.uk/repaying-your-student-loan/what-you-pay) (checked 2026-11-08); [GOV.UK: National Insurance rates letters and categories](https://www.gov.uk/national-insurance-rates-letters) (checked 2026-11-08) ## How the payroll calculator works Pay starts as a salary, or an hourly rate with overtime, and any bonus. Income tax and National Insurance are worked out for the year, then divided by the number of pay periods. A workplace pension comes off before income tax, and a student loan is charged as a percentage of pay above its threshold. Formula: `net per period = (gross − income tax − employee NI − pension − student loan) ÷ periods; employer cost = gross + 15% × (gross − £5,000)` - You can be paid weekly, every four weeks or monthly. The annual result is split into 52, 13 or 12 parts, and monthly is the default. - Pension is a percentage of gross pay treated as a net pay arrangement: it lowers income tax but not National Insurance. - Student loan Plans 1, 2, 4 and 5 take 9% of pay over £26,900, £29,385, £33,795 and £25,000. A postgraduate loan takes 6% over £21,000. - Employer National Insurance is 15% of pay above £5,000 a year. Employment Allowance and lower rates for younger staff are not applied. ## How to use the payroll calculator 1. **Pick pay type and frequency.** Choose salaried or hourly, then weekly, every four weeks or monthly pay. 2. **Enter the pay.** Type an annual salary, or an hourly rate with regular and overtime hours a week, and any yearly bonus. 3. **Set the UK options.** Choose England, Wales and Northern Ireland or Scotland, then a pension percentage and a student loan plan if either applies. 4. **Read net pay and employer cost.** Net pay shows each deduction per period. Open Annual totals for the year, and Employer cost for the employer's National Insurance. 5. **Save the figures.** Copy breakdown puts the result on your clipboard and Export CSV downloads it as a table. ## Example: £60,000 salary paid monthly in England Gross pay is £5,000 a month. Income tax is £952.67 and employee National Insurance £267.55, so net pay is £3,779.78 a month, or £45,357.40 a year, an effective rate of 24.4% and a marginal rate of 42%. Employer National Insurance adds £687.50 a month, so the job costs £5,687.50 a month, £68,250 a year. Adding a 5% pension and a Plan 2 student loan lowers net pay to £3,400.17. ## When to use the payroll calculator - **Comparing two job offers.** Enter each salary with the same pension and loan settings and compare monthly net pay, not the headline figure. - **Seeing what a pension costs.** Add a pension percentage and watch net pay fall by less than the contribution, because income tax drops too. - **Costing a hire.** The Employer cost table adds employer National Insurance to gross pay for the yearly cost of a salary. - **Checking a student loan.** Pick a plan to see the repayment taken each month and how it changes the marginal rate on extra pay. ## What the payroll calculator does not do - National Insurance is category A and uses annual limits, so a payslip can differ by pence from a per-period calculation. - Only the standard tax code is assumed. Emergency or adjusted codes, Marriage Allowance and salary sacrifice are not covered. - Employer cost covers National Insurance only. Employer pension contributions, the Employment Allowance and apprenticeship levy are not included. - A student loan plan and a postgraduate loan cannot be combined here. Hourly pay is projected from one week's hours repeated for 52 weeks. ## When something else is a better fit - **When you only want the yearly tax and National Insurance**, use the [Tax Calculator](https://aumnitools.com/tool/tax-calculator.md). - **When you run a real payroll and must report to HMRC**, use HMRC's Basic PAYE Tools or payroll software. ## Questions about the payroll calculator ### What is take-home pay on £60,000 in the UK? In England, Wales or Northern Ireland, about £45,357.40 a year for 2026/27, or £3,779.78 a month, after £11,432 of income tax and £3,210.60 of National Insurance, with no pension or loan. ### Does a pension reduce National Insurance? No. Here the pension is a net pay arrangement, so it lowers income tax but National Insurance is still charged on gross pay. ### How much does an employee cost on top of salary? Employer National Insurance is 15% of pay above £5,000. On £60,000 that is £8,250 a year, which brings the cost to £68,250. ### How is a student loan taken? As a percentage of pay over the plan's threshold. Plan 2 takes 9% of pay over £29,385, which is £2,755.35 a year on £60,000. ### Why are the pay frequencies different from the US? UK employers pay weekly, every four weeks or monthly. The calculator divides annual figures by 52, 13 or 12 and defaults to monthly. ## Related tools - [Tax Calculator](https://aumnitools.com/tool/tax-calculator.md): Estimates US federal income tax, FICA and state tax for 2026 by filing status - [Budget Planner](https://aumnitools.com/tool/budget-planner.md): Plans monthly income and expenses by category, with a health score and debt payoff - [Retirement Planning Calculator](https://aumnitools.com/tool/retirement-planning-calculator.md): Projects retirement savings against a 4% withdrawal target and shows any shortfall ## About this page Runs in your browser: what you enter is processed on this device and is not uploaded. Estimates for planning only, not financial, tax or legal advice. Check figures that matter with a qualified professional. Last checked against the tool's code on 2026-11-08. Interactive version: https://aumnitools.com/uk/tool/payroll-calculator