Welcome to Onfolk’s salary calculator 🎉
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1. Add your annual salary in the salary box

This is your gross salary per year - the figure mentioned in your employment contract if you have one.

2. Enter your Tax Code (if you know it)

Your tax code is often mentioned in your P45, your HMRC online portal or previous payslips.

If you don’t know your tax code, our monthly salary calculator will calculate figures based on the ‘standard’ tax code 1257L.

3. If you don't pay National Insurance, toggle it off

Your NI category is usually mentioned in your P45, your HMRC online portal or previous payslips.

If you don’t know your NI category, you’ll automatically be assigned to category “A”, which is the standard category applied to most employees.

4. If you’re enrolled in your company pension, enter the % of your salary you’re contributing

If you don’t contribute towards your company pension, you can leave it or input 0%

Pension contribution calculations are complex and vary from one pension provider to another.

If you know more about your pension scheme, you can update it to be relief at source, net pay, or salary sacrifice.

5. Click  'Calculate’ and see the results.

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Uses for this take home pay calculator

Are you trying to work out your employees’ take home salaries for payroll? Or you recently got a pay rise and want to work out what is means in terms of net pay?

We created this salary calculator to help you work out what your take home salary will be at the end of the month, and how much you’ll be paying in income tax, national insurance, pension contributions etc. For each salary calculation, you get a breakdown of:

• how much income tax you’ll pay
• how much employee’s national insurance you’ll be deducted
• what your pension contribution will be, based on your % contribution
• what your take home salary will be.

All calculations are fully up to date with 2023/24 tax rates and national insurance thresholds.

The monthly salary calculator doesn’t yet include student loans or bonuses to calculations. We’re working on adding these features 👍

A few examples of salary calculator’s results

Example 1: £24k after tax

For a gross salary of £24000, your take home salary will be £1,751.09 per month - this is the amount your employer will pay you at the end of the month.

You’ll be deducted £208 in income tax and £124.24 in employee’s national insurance contributions from your gross salary.

Example 2: £40k after tax

40000 after tax corresponds to a net salary of £2,602.09 per month excluding pension contributions.

Your gross salary will be deducted £457 for income tax and £274.24 for national insurance contributions.

These figures are based on a 1257L tax code and NI category A (which will be the standard setup for most employees).

Example 3: £50k after tax

Let’s assume your tax code is 1257L, your NI category is A and that you contribute 5% of your salary towards your pension.

On a 50,000 salary per year, your take home salary will be £3,002.16.

You’ll pay £623.60 in income tax, £374.24 in NI contributions and contribute £166.67 towards your pension pot.

Gross salary, gross income and net salary

What is a net pay? Is net income after taxes? What is taxable income in the UK?

Gross income or gross salary is the amount your employer will pay you before you pay any taxes or national insurance contributions. It is the amount mentioned in your employment contract, or sometimes mentioned in job descriptions. This is also referred to as taxable income or taxable pay, because the whole amount will be subject to employment taxes, both for your employer and yourself.

In comparison, net pay or net salary is what you receive in your bank account every month after your gross salary has been deducted taxes, national insurance and pension contributions. In other words, the difference between gross to net salary is what you pay in taxes and other deductions.

Net Pay = Gross Salary - Income Tax & Other Deductions (NI, Pensions, Student Loans etc)

What is Income tax?

Income tax is the main tax you pay on any salary or additional income (bonuses for eg) you receive within a tax year. Income tax is directly deducted from your gross salary every month, and usually paid to HMRC by your employer via Pay As You Earn (PAYE).

As an employee, this means paying income tax due on your income is already taken care of for you - it happens before you get your net pay every month from your employer.

The amount of income tax you pay on your income depends on multiple factors: your tax code and how your income is taxed, and how much income you get in a financial tax year:

• your tax code: your tax code is set by HMRC based on multiple factors including the number of jobs you have, your marital status, if you receive any other forms of income, etc. The tax code you’re put on will influence how income tax is deducted from your income.
• how you get paid: your income will be deducted differently depending on how you earn it. For eg, if you work full-time as a salaried employee, your income tax may be deducted differently than if you’re a part-time employee with additional income made from consultancy work.
• how much income you earn: income tax works in bands. Usually the first £12,570 you earn is not taxed (it is called your ‘Personal Allowance’), and as your income increases it’ll go up band thresholds and be taxed more. See below our UK income tax rates table, based on 2023/24 figures from HMRC.

UK income tax rates

ℹ️ UK tax rates are subject to change every tax year, based on HMRC’s figures. Onfolk’s salary calculator are up to date with 2023/24 UK tax rates.

What are National Insurance Contributions?

How to calculate National Insurance? How to check my NI contributions? When do I pay NI? We’ve got you covered.

National insurance (NI) is a Government tax that funds benefits and pensions in the UK. As an employee, your NI deductions will go towards funding the following:

• Basic State Pension, Additional State Pension & New State Pension
• New Style Jobseeker’s Allowance (new style and Contribution-based Employment and Support Allowance)
• Maternity Allowance
• Bereavement Support Payment.

When do you pay NI?

As an employee, NI is paid through Pay As You Earn (PAYE) by your employer when they run payroll every month. National Insurance is deducted from your gross salary every month - there isn’t anything you need to do.

How to calculate national insurance

Similar to income tax, the rate of NI deducted from your gross salary will depend on a couple of factors:

1. The National Insurance category letter assigned to you (see table below)

This category letter is assigned to you based on your employment circumstances, your age and marital status.

2. How much income you earn

Just like income tax, NI rates work with bandings that evolve as you pass income thresholds. Each category will have different % tax for each band, as you can see from the table below.

ℹ️ HMRC can update thresholds and % rates every year for the following tax year. Onfolk’s calculator is up to date with the 2023/24 NI contribution rates for employees.

Where do I check my national insurance contributions?

Your payslip will usually mention your NI number (and therefore which category letter assigned to you) as well as your NI contributions for the month.

Pension contributions

UK-based employers must provide a company pension scheme and enrol their eligible employees into it when they join. This is called a pension auto-enrolment.

This means that as an employee, you'll be automatically enrolled in to the company pension within your first month of employment without having to do anything, if you’re eligible for auto-enrolment.

To be eligible for auto-enrolment, you need to be:

• are aged between 22 and the State Pension Age
• earn at least £10k per year (or £833 per month, or £129 per week).

Standard auto-enrolment pension contributions

By law your monthly pension contributions will be set at a minimum 8% of your salary. Your employer will need to contribute a minimum of 3% of your salary - which is paid on top of your gross salary, directly into your pension pot. You will then be contributing 5% of your salary, which will be deducted from your pay.

The % amounts can vary between companies - 3% employer pension contributions are just the legal minimum.

How to calculate employee’s pension contributions

Pension contribution calculations also vary from one pension provider to another. For simplicity’s sake, Onfolk’s salary calculator has configured pension contributions set as ‘unbanded earnings’ and contributions relieved at source.

In simpler terms, it means the % pension amount you’re contributing towards your pension post is taken from your net pay (after tax).

FAQs

Why am I not paying tax on my wages UK?

This could be because the gross income you’ve earned for the year is within your Personal Allowance amount (up to £12,570 per year) which is tax-free, or that HMRC hasn’t assigned you to the right tax code. There could be other reasons for this, for which we’d recommend getting in touch with HMRC directly.

How much can you earn before paying tax per month?

You’ll need to be earning £12,570 or less per year in income to remain within your Personal Allowance and not be due to pay income tax.

What is taxable income UK?

Taxable income is the income you earn that is subject to income tax and National Insurance contributions.

How much national insurance do I pay?

The amount of NI you pay on your income will depend on the category letter assigned to you by HMRC and how much you earn every tax year. You can use our take-home pay calculator to find out what this equals to based on your income for the year. Alternatively you can check previous payslips as they should detail how much you’ve paid in NI contributions.

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