About Paycheckly

A precise UK take-home pay calculator for the 2026/27 tax year.

Last reviewed: May 2026 · Tax year 2026/27

Mike Turzynski

Founder · Paycheckly

hello@paycheckly.co.uk

Paycheckly was built to answer one deceptively simple question: "If I earn £X, how much actually lands in my bank account each month?"

The official answer is buried in HMRC guidance pages, layered with personal allowance tapers, devolved Scottish bands, five different student loan plans, three National Insurance categories, salary sacrifice, dividend rates, and the 60% effective-tax zone between £100,000 and £125,140. Most people don't have time to wade through that — but the wrong number means a worse salary negotiation, a missed pension uplift, or a nasty surprise in April. Paycheckly does that work in a single screen.

What we cover

Income Tax across UK and Scottish bands (including Scotland's six-band structure)
Class 1 National Insurance (8% main rate, 2% above the upper earnings limit)
Student loan repayments for Plans 1, 2, 4, 5, and Postgraduate
The £100k Personal Allowance taper (and the 60% effective marginal rate it creates)
Pension contributions (net pay basis)
One-off bonuses, dividends, and contractor vs PAYE comparisons
Plain-English explanations of the most common tax codes (1257L, BR, D0, D1, K, NT)

Our methodology

Every calculation uses the HMRC rates and thresholds published for the 2026/27 tax year. The maths is the same maths your employer's payroll software runs — we just expose it in a cleaner interface.

2026/27 rates applied

Personal Allowance: £12,570 (tapered by £1 for every £2 of income above £100,000)
UK Income Tax: 20% to £50,270 · 40% to £125,140 · 45% above
Scottish Income Tax: 19% Starter · 20% Basic · 21% Intermediate · 42% Higher · 45% Advanced · 48% Top
National Insurance: 0% to £12,570 · 8% to £50,270 · 2% above
Student Loan thresholds: Plan 1 £26,900 · Plan 2 £29,385 · Plan 4 £33,795 · Plan 5 £25,000 · Postgrad £21,000 (9%, except Postgrad at 6%)

Our sources

Every figure is drawn from HMRC, the Scottish Government, or the Student Loans Company. When something changes (typically in the Autumn Budget), we update the calculation engine and re-publish all 480+ pages from the same source of truth.

Gov.uk — Income Tax rates and Personal Allowances › Gov.uk — National Insurance rates and categories › Gov.uk — Student loan repayment thresholds › Scottish Government — Scottish Income Tax › Gov.uk — Dividend tax rates and allowances ›

How we make money

Paycheckly is free to use. We include a small number of clearly-labelled affiliate links to financial products we'd genuinely recommend — accounting software, savings accounts, SIPP providers. Affiliate links never change the calculation results or the order of guides.

What we are not

Paycheckly is a calculator, not a financial adviser. We are not regulated by the FCA and nothing on this site is personal financial advice. For decisions involving share schemes, IR35, business structure, or inheritance planning, please speak to a qualified accountant or independent financial adviser.

Get in touch

Found a rate that looks wrong? An explanation that's harder than it should be? Email hello@paycheckly.co.uk and we'll fix it.