Take-home pay
Your payslip headline is gross pay; what lands in your bank is net pay after deductions. Tax bands, NI thresholds, pension method, and student loan plan all shift the gap between the two — sometimes by more than people expect at higher incomes.
Income Tax uses your tax code and bands for England, Wales, Scotland, or Northern Ireland. Scotland has its own bands and rates. National Insurance is calculated separately on earnings above the primary threshold.
Pension contributions can be taken before tax (salary sacrifice) or after tax (net pay arrangement), which changes how much Income Tax and NI you pay as well as the pension amount.
A pay rise, bonus, or pension change affects net pay non-linearly — crossing a band or NI threshold can make the marginal take-home smaller than the gross increase.
Modelling gross pay, region, pension %, and student loan together gives a clearer monthly net figure than mental arithmetic on headline tax rates.
Change the inputs on the calculator — price, nation, or buyer type — and see how the numbers respond.
Estimate your take-home payAssumptions and sourcesGross salary vs mortgage payment: a sanity check
Before you speak to a lender, it helps to know whether the housing payment you are modelling looks plausible against your take-home pay. That means the mortgage repayment plus running costs — council tax, maintenance, insurance — not the repayment alone.
Read guidePalta Money is for education and planning only. It is not regulated financial advice. Tax rules and rates change; confirm figures with official sources or a qualified adviser before you commit.