Pick the salary question first
Take-home pay and pay rises
Best for the classic "why does my raise feel smaller than it should?" question.
Thresholds and hidden cliffs
Best if the real issue is adjusted net income, Child Benefit clawback or another threshold that changes the maths.
Payroll quirks and benefits
Best for emergency tax, second jobs, company cars and the parts of employment that feel like admin but cost real money.
High-value calculators
Tax Drag Calculator
Start here for the full annual picture of pay, tax, NI and loan drag.
Bonus / Pay Rise
See what the next raise, overtime block or one-off payment really leaves you with.
Adjusted Net Income
Work out the number behind Child Benefit, childcare and Personal Allowance tapering.
Emergency Tax Checker
Check new-job, first-pay and temporary-code overpayments.
Company Car Tax
Compare EV, hybrid and combustion-car benefit-in-kind costs.
Marriage Allowance
Check whether a couple-level allowance transfer saves tax.
Useful explainers and update pages
Why is my tax code BR?
The quick answer when a second job or missing allowance starts to distort pay.
What is an emergency tax code?
Short explanation of W1, M1, X and cumulative versus non-cumulative treatment.
Current Tax-Year Updates
Use this when you want the pages that are worth revisiting through the year.
Take-home pay by salary band (2026/27) — England, Wales, NI
Twelve specific salary bands with full UK 2026/27 tax + NI breakdowns. Each page also includes a Scotland comparison and links into the tax calculator pre-filled.
£25k take-home in 2026/27
Graduate / first proper job. Comfortably basic rate, ~86p kept per £1. ~£21,520 a year, ~£1,793/month.
£30k take-home in 2026/27
Graduate / first-job band. Student loan plans matter. ~£25,120 a year, ~£2,093/month.
£35k take-home in 2026/27
UK median full-time wage. Decisions on pension and ISA wrapper. ~£28,720, ~£2,393/month.
£45k take-home in 2026/27
Just below higher rate. Look-ahead salary sacrifice decisions. ~£35,920, ~£2,993/month.
£50k take-home in 2026/27
Right at the higher-rate threshold. Salary sacrifice asymmetry. ~£39,520, ~£3,293/month.
£60k take-home in 2026/27
HICBC kicks in for parents. Effective ~52% marginal on £60k-£80k slice. ~£45,357, ~£3,780/month.
£75k take-home in 2026/27
Higher rate, 42% marginal. Sacrifice maths becomes compelling. ~£54,057, ~£4,505/month.
£85k take-home in 2026/27
Best-positioned higher rate. Headroom before the 60% trap. ~£59,857, ~£4,988/month.
£100k take-home in 2026/27
Entrance to the 60% trap — every pound above £100k taxed at 62%. ~£68,557, ~£5,713/month.
£125k take-home in 2026/27
Top of 60% trap. PA fully tapered. Aggressive sacrifice strategy. ~£77,439, ~£6,453/month.
£150k take-home in 2026/27
Additional rate, no personal allowance. ~£90,658, ~£7,555/month.
£200k take-home in 2026/27
Deep additional rate. EIS/VCT/tapered AA territory. ~£117,157, ~£9,763/month.
Take-home pay by salary band (2026/27) — Scotland
Scotland-specific take-home calculations for three key bands. Income tax is set by the Scottish Parliament (six bands, with 19% starter through 48% top rate). National Insurance is reserved UK-wide.
£50k Scottish take-home
Higher rate (42%) starts £6.6k earlier than rUK. ~£1,500/yr more income tax. ~£37,992, ~£3,166/month.
£100k Scottish take-home
Top of 45% Advanced Rate band. ~£3,300/yr more income tax than rUK. ~£65,226, ~£5,436/month.
£150k Scottish take-home
48% Top Rate territory. UK's highest income tax band. ~£5,700/yr less than rUK. ~£84,946, ~£7,079/month.
P60 season — payroll documents demystified
If you receive a P60 between May and July, this short cluster covers what each box means and what to do if anything looks wrong.
How to read a P60
Box-by-box walkthrough of the year-end payroll summary, plus the four checks worth doing.
How to claim a UK tax refund
Four routes — P800, online, R40, Self Assessment — and which applies to your situation.
P60 vs P45 vs P11D
Three documents, three purposes. Most people mix them up.
Five P60 mistakes
The most common quiet errors — wrong tax code, missing pension contributions, P11D mismatches.
Decision frameworks
For the moments where the calculator output isn't enough — these guides walk through the decision behind it.
Should I salary sacrifice?
When sacrifice wins (most higher-rate cases), and the three situations where it backfires.
Mortgage overpay or invest?
Rate comparison, pension stack, two worked examples. Clear breakeven framework.
Self Assessment or PAYE only?
Five situations where you must file, plus three where filing voluntarily reclaims hundreds.
How UK Tax Drag holds itself to account
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