FREE UK TOOL · 2026/27 ESTIMATE

Take-Home Pay & Salary Sacrifice Calculator UK

Compare estimated take-home pay and pension salary sacrifice using 2026/27 UK rules, including Scotland. See annual totals, average monthly figures and the assumptions.

Enter your annual salary before pension salary sacrifice, your current total sacrifice and a proposed total. The tool estimates how cash pay and the pension funding from sacrificed salary would change. To estimate pay without salary sacrifice, enter zero for both sacrifice amounts.

Supported tax year: 2026/27 — 6 April 2026 to 5 April 2027. Rules checked 6 October 2026. This models a whole year on each arrangement; it does not forecast the remaining tax year or a mid-year change.

Check whether this fits you: employed in one job with steady monthly pay, aged 21 or over and below State Pension age, using employee NI category A and a defined contribution pension salary-sacrifice arrangement. Income Tax uses the standard Personal Allowance and its income taper; tax-code adjustments are excluded.

Not covered: self-employment, director payroll, apprenticeships, irregular bonuses, other income, taxable benefits, other salary-sacrifice schemes, employee pension deductions under net pay or relief at source, and multiple undergraduate loan plans. Loan estimates are unsuitable if your loan will finish during the year. Read the full assumptions before using the result.

Your annual comparison

Annual gross salary before pension sacrifice (£)

Income Tax region

Use the region that applies to your Income Tax, not where your employer is based.

Current total annual pension salary sacrifice (£)

Only pay surrendered through salary sacrifice. Do not enter employer contributions or other pension deductions.

Proposed total annual pension salary sacrifice (£)

Enter the new total, not an extra amount on top of the current figure.

Usual paid hours per week

Used for an approximate age-21+ minimum-wage screen: cash salary ÷ 52 ÷ hours. Payroll must check the actual pay-period rules.

Undergraduate student-loan repayment plan

Check your plan with the Student Loans Company; do not select a plan merely to compare deductions.

Also repaying a postgraduate loan

My employer offers pension salary sacrifice and the supported circumstances above fit this comparison.

Your figures are processed in this page, are not saved and are not sent to analytics. Only fixed completion/download events may be recorded if you consent.

Enter your annual amounts to see the comparison.

What this estimate assumes

One annual salary, paid evenly over 12 months, with each sacrifice arrangement applying for the full tax year.
The salary left after sacrifice is the only income used to calculate tax and the Personal Allowance taper. Other income, Gift Aid, allowances, tax-code adjustments and other pension tax relief are excluded.
Employee NI uses annual thresholds and category A rates. Monthly NI thresholds and PAYE rounding can make your payslip differ; monthly results are annual averages.
One selected undergraduate plan, plus an optional postgraduate loan. Estimated deductions use steady monthly pay, monthly thresholds and whole-pound rounding, assuming repayments continue for all 12 months. Multiple undergraduate plans, loan balances, loan end dates and write-off forecasts are excluded.
All sacrificed pay is paid into the pension. Normal employer contributions, any employer NI saving shared with you, fees, investment returns and tax on withdrawals are excluded. The displayed pension amount is only salary-sacrifice funding, not total pension contributions.

Checks to make before changing payroll

Minimum wage: salary sacrifice must not put cash earnings below the applicable minimum wage. This tool screens against £12.71 per hour for age 21+ using entered hours and 52 weeks; it cannot assess all hours, deductions or legal pay-period rules. Passing this screen is not approval.

Pension allowances: this tool does not calculate an annual-allowance charge or check your remaining allowance. Employer funding and other pensions count too. Your allowance can be lower after flexible pension access or at high income; carry-forward rules may also matter. A displayed contribution is not confirmation that it is within your allowance.

Other effects: check with your employer whether reduced cash salary affects statutory pay, benefits, life cover, borrowing references or pension calculations based on salary. Pension money is not current spending cash. Check that the proposed take-home pay covers your essentials using the monthly budget calculator.

Loan deductions: reduced student-loan repayments are shown separately from tax and NI. Paying less now does not necessarily reduce what you repay over your lifetime.

This is an educational estimate, not a payslip, payroll approval or a recommendation to contribute a particular amount. Ask payroll to verify the arrangement and seek individual advice where the assumptions do not fit.

Official sources and tax-year review

Rules reviewed: 6 October 2026. The calculator stops producing estimates after 5 April 2027 until its rules are updated. Read our workplace pensions guide for related background.

Continue with a practical next step

Use these related guides and free tools to put this page into practice.