Question 1

How much tax will I pay on £35,000 in the UK in 2026/27?

Accepted Answer

On a £35,000 salary in England, Wales, or Northern Ireland for 2026/27: your £12,570 Personal Allowance is tax-free, then £22,430 (from £12,571 to £35,000) is taxed at the 20% basic rate = £4,486 Income Tax. National Insurance is 8% on earnings from £12,570 to £35,000 = £1,794.40. Total annual deductions: £6,280.40 (before any pension or student loan). Your take-home pay is approximately £28,719.60 per year, or about £2,393 per month.

Question 2

Why is my take-home pay different in Scotland compared to England?

Accepted Answer

Scotland uses entirely separate Income Tax bands with an extra Intermediate rate and an earlier Higher-rate threshold (£43,663 vs £50,271 in the rest of the UK), which generally makes Scottish Income Tax somewhat higher for middle and higher earners, despite a lower Starter rate benefiting the lowest earners slightly.

Question 3

What is the 60% tax trap, and does it affect me?

Accepted Answer

It refers to the effective marginal rate created by the Personal Allowance taper between £100,000 and £125,140 — for every £1 earned in this range, you both pay 40% tax and lose 40p of tax-free allowance, producing a combined 60% effective rate. It affects anyone with taxable income in this specific band, and can often be mitigated through pension salary sacrifice.

Question 4

Do I pay National Insurance and Income Tax on the same amount?

Accepted Answer

Not exactly the same amount — while both use £12,570 as their starting threshold, NI is calculated per pay period (weekly/monthly) rather than as a single annual figure, and NI has its own separate upper threshold (£967/week) that doesn't align with the Income Tax higher-rate threshold, so the two calculations can diverge, particularly for anyone with irregular or bonus-heavy income.

Question 5

How do I know which student loan plan I'm on?

Accepted Answer

It depends on when and where you started your course: broadly, Plan 1 for pre-September 2012 courses (or any Scottish/NI course), Plan 2 for English/Welsh courses from September 2012 to July 2023, Plan 4 for Scottish students via SAAS, Plan 5 for English courses from August 2023 onward, and Postgraduate Loan for Master's or Doctoral study. If you're unsure, check your account directly with the Student Loans Company.

Question 6

Does salary sacrifice actually reduce my take-home pay less than a normal pension contribution?

Accepted Answer

Yes — because salary sacrifice reduces your salary before both Income Tax and National Insurance are calculated, it typically results in higher take-home pay than an equivalent net pay or relief-at-source contribution of the same percentage, since you additionally save National Insurance on the sacrificed amount.

Question 7

What happens to my student loan repayment if I have more than one job?

Accepted Answer

Repayment thresholds are applied per employment through PAYE unless you specifically ask HMRC to combine your income, meaning you could pay less than you technically owe if your combined income across two jobs would otherwise cross the threshold — any shortfall may be collected via Self Assessment.

Question 8

Will I get a tax refund if I stop working partway through the tax year?

Accepted Answer

Potentially yes, since Income Tax is calculated cumulatively across the tax year assuming continued employment; if you stop earning partway through the year, you may have overpaid tax relative to your true annual liability and can claim a refund from HMRC.

Question 9

Is the Marriage Allowance worth claiming?

Accepted Answer

If one partner earns below £12,570 and the other pays no more than the basic rate, yes — it's a straightforward £252 annual saving with no downside, and can typically be backdated up to four tax years if not previously claimed.

Question 10

How often do Income Tax and NI thresholds change?

Accepted Answer

Generally reviewed at the Autumn Budget each year, though several thresholds (including the £12,570 Personal Allowance and the Income Tax bands in England/Wales/NI) have been frozen since 2021/22 and are confirmed to remain frozen until April 2031, while Scotland has made more frequent adjustments to its own bands.

Question 11

Why does my payslip show a different tax deduction than a simple percentage of my salary?

Accepted Answer

Because Income Tax is banded (not a flat rate), calculated cumulatively across the tax year, and interacts with your specific tax code — a simple "X% of my salary" estimate rarely matches the exact figure produced by the actual banded, cumulative PAYE calculation your employer runs each pay period.

Question 12

Does receiving a pay rise ever leave me worse off overall?

Accepted Answer

Very rarely in terms of raw take-home pay, since UK tax bands are marginal (only the portion in a new band is taxed at the higher rate) — but a pay rise absolutely can leave you worse off in terms of specific benefits, most notably by crossing the £100,000 free childcare hours cliff-edge or worsening the High Income Child Benefit Charge, both of which are all-or-nothing or steeply tapered rather than smoothly marginal.

Question 13

Is it worth increasing my pension contributions purely for tax reasons?

Accepted Answer

For many people earning between £100,000 and £125,140, or just above £60,000–£80,000 with children claiming Child Benefit, yes — pension salary sacrifice in these specific bands can recover a disproportionately large amount of otherwise-lost allowance or benefit entitlement, often making it more valuable than the equivalent contribution would be at a lower income level. Outside these specific bands, the case still generally holds (tax relief plus employer NI savings) but with less dramatic knock-on effects.

Question 14

Can I estimate my take-home pay if I'm paid weekly rather than monthly?

Accepted Answer

Yes — the same annual bands apply, simply divided by 52 instead of 12 for each threshold, though weekly-paid workers with irregular hours may see slightly more volatility from week to week around the Primary Threshold and Upper Earnings Limit than monthly-paid workers with a stable salary, since each week's NI calculation is entirely self-contained.

Question 15

Does moving to a four-day week reduce my take-home pay proportionally?

Accepted Answer

Broadly yes for a straightforward hours reduction, though the effect on your effective tax rate isn't always perfectly proportional — dropping into a lower Income Tax or NI band, or below the £100,000 childcare threshold, could mean your take-home pay falls by less than the headline percentage reduction in hours, since a smaller share of your income is now taxed at the higher marginal rates that applied at your previous, higher salary.