Income tax and National Insurance, 2026/27

To take home £20,000 you need to earn £22,889

That's £1,667 a month, or £385 a week. Bottom 30% of UK earners — more than 31% of taxpayers.

Income tax 9.0%National Insurance 3.6%Yours 87.4%

Employee on a standard tax code in England, Wales or Northern Ireland. No pension, student loan or benefits in kind. Assumptions.

Every pound you earn, cut three ways

Where £22,889 goes

Line	Per year
Personal allowanceTax-free	£12,570
Basic rate income tax20% of £10,319	£2,064
National Insurance8% up to £50,270, 2% above	£826
Take-home pay	£20,000

Effective rate

13%

of your pay goes to HMRC

Marginal rate

28p

of your next pound goes to HMRC

Cost to employer

£25,572

Your salary plus £2,683 employer's National Insurance

All-in rate

22%

of the total cost of employing you ends up with HMRC

Working for the Treasury until

16 February

Your effective rate as a share of the year. After that the pay is yours.

For scale

£29,700

Median UK taxpayer income. The top 10% starts at £67,400, the top 1% at £207,000.