This calculator needs JavaScript. For a £35,000 salary in England in 2026/27, income tax is £4,486.00 and National Insurance is £1,794.40, a total of £6,280.40. About a third funds social protection, a fifth health, and a tenth debt interest.

UK income tax and National Insurance

Your tax receipt

Enter a salary and see roughly what your income tax and National Insurance pay for, line by line, using HM Treasury's spending figures.

How has this changed since 1976? See your salary's tax in every year for the last 50 years, in today's money →

Looking up a specific figure? Tax and take-home pay by salary, in Scotland, on the minimum wage and on the living wage.

Tax rates 2026/27 6 Apr 2026 to 5 Apr 2027Spending 2025-26 UK totalsNation mix England 2024-25 per-resident data

Gross annual salary

Tax year

Where you live

Tax code

The standard code is 1257L. Find yours on your payslip or in your personal tax account. Supports codes like 1100L, 0T, K475, BR, D0, D1 and NT, with an S or C prefix.

Student loan

Postgraduate loan as well

Pick your repayment plan to take it off your take-home pay. Plan 1: before 2012 in England or Wales, or Northern Ireland. Plan 2: 2012 to 2023 in England or Wales. Plan 4: Scotland. Plan 5: England from August 2023.

Employee only. Assumes one job, no pension deductions and no other income.

Income tax plus National Insurance: £6,280
Income tax: £4,486
National Insurance: £1,794
Student loan: £0
Take-home pay: £28,720
Take-home per month: £2,393

Where your tax goes

Based on £35,000 a year, tax year 2026/27, tax code 1257L, living in England. Spending shares: UK 2025-26 totals, adjusted to England using 2024-25 figures.

Social protection£2,065
State pension, Universal Credit, disability benefits, child benefit and public service pensions.32.9% (33p in the £)
Health£1,333
The NHS and the health services run by Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.21.2% (21p in the £)
Debt interest£679
Interest on government debt. The Treasury also counts notional interest on public service pensions here.10.8% (11p in the £)
Education£637
Schools, nurseries, colleges and universities.10.2% (10p in the £)
Economic affairs£474
Transport, energy, science, business support and employment programmes.7.5% (8p in the £)
Defence£341
Armed forces, equipment and the nuclear programme.5.4% (5p in the £)
Public order and safety£286
Police, courts, prisons, and fire and rescue.4.6% (5p in the £)
Other public services£184
Parliament, tax collection, foreign affairs and overseas aid.2.9% (3p in the £)
Housing and community£102
Housing programmes and local amenities.1.6% (2p in the £)
Environment£100
Waste, flood defence and nuclear site clean-up.1.6% (2p in the £)
Culture and recreation£79
Libraries, leisure, arts, heritage and the BBC.1.3% (1p in the £)

Total£6,280 a year

Worked example: £35,000 salary

Shown for England, tax year 2026/27 (change the selectors above to see other years and countries). This table uses the same calculation as the tool above, shown to the penny.

Step	Amount
Salary	£35,000.00
Personal Allowance (tax-free)	£12,570.00
Taxable income	£22,430.00
Basic rate, £22,430.00 at 20%	£4,486.00
Income tax	£4,486.00
National Insurance, (£35,000.00 minus £12,570.00) at 8%	£1,794.40
Total income tax plus National Insurance	£6,280.40
Take-home pay	£28,719.60

Area	Share	Your £6,280.40
Social protection	32.88%	£2,064.87
Health	21.23%	£1,333.21
Debt interest	10.82%	£679.54
Education	10.15%	£637.36
Economic affairs	7.54%	£473.66
Defence	5.43%	£341.07
Public order and safety	4.55%	£285.73
Other public services	2.92%	£183.57
Housing and community	1.63%	£102.51
Environment	1.60%	£100.13
Culture and recreation	1.25%	£78.75
Total	100.00%	£6,280.40

How the split is worked out

Start from the UK totals for each area of spending in 2025-26 (£1227.9bn across ten areas of public services). For the six areas where HM Treasury can attribute spending to a nation (2024-25), each total is scaled by how much more or less is spent per resident in England than the UK average. The results are put back to 100%, and your income tax plus National Insurance is shared out in those proportions. Debt interest is shown separately from the rest of general public services.

Area of spending	UK £bn	England vs UK average per resident	England share
Social protection	407.3	0.97x	32.9%
Health	257.5	0.99x	21.2%
Debt interest	130.3	UK-wide	10.8%
Education	125.7	0.97x	10.2%
Economic affairs	94.0	0.97x	7.5%
Defence	65.4	UK-wide	5.4%
Public order and safety	55.7	0.98x	4.6%
Other public services	35.2	UK-wide	2.9%
Housing and community	22.5	0.87x	1.6%
Environment	19.2	UK-wide	1.6%
Culture and recreation	15.1	UK-wide	1.3%
Total	1227.9		100.0%

What this does and does not show

Your tax is not tied to any one service. Everything is paid into one pot, so a proportional split is an illustration of where the pot goes.
Income tax and employee National Insurance are only part of what the government collects. VAT, corporation tax, council tax, employer National Insurance and other taxes also pay for these services, and the government borrows to cover the gap between spending and receipts.
Total managed expenditure was £1360.1bn in 2025-26. About £132bn of that is accounting adjustments that are not spending on any service, so the shares use the £1227.9bn spent on the ten areas.
Spending by nation: HM Treasury only attributes some spending to a nation (2024-25). Defence, debt interest, other public services, environment and culture are shared across the UK and are not adjusted. Per-resident figures from 2024-25 are applied to earlier and later years too, so treat the nation differences as a guide. Your tax is not ring-fenced to your own nation.
Wales and Northern Ireland use the same income tax bands as England. Only Scotland sets its own bands for earnings. Welsh income tax rates are the UK rates, with the UK government rate reduced and the Welsh Government adding the same amount back.
Student loan repayments come off your take-home pay but are not tax. They go to the Student Loans Company to pay off your loan, so they are left out of the spending split. Payroll works them out each pay period and rounds down, so your payslips may differ by a few pounds.
The calculator ignores pension contributions, benefits in kind, savings and dividends. Use HMRC's own tools for your exact bill. This is an estimate, not tax or financial advice.

Frequently asked questions

Where does my income tax go?

Income tax and National Insurance go into one pot that pays for public services. The largest areas are social protection (benefits and pensions, about a third), health (about a fifth), debt interest, education and economic affairs such as transport. Enter your salary above to see your own split in pounds.

What is the UK Personal Allowance in 2026/27?

The standard Personal Allowance is £12,570, the amount you can earn before paying income tax. It reduces by £1 for every £2 of income above £100,000 and is zero at £125,140. It is the same for 2024/25 and 2025/26.

How much National Insurance do employees pay?

For 2024/25 to 2026/27 the Class 1 employee rate is 8% on earnings between £12,570 and £50,270 a year, and 2% above £50,270.

Is income tax different in Scotland?

Yes. Scotland sets its own income tax bands on earnings, with six rates from 19% to 48%. Wales and Northern Ireland use the same bands as England. Select where you live above to see the difference, or see tax by salary in Scotland.

How much student loan will I repay?

You repay 9% of your earnings above your plan's threshold, or 6% for a Postgraduate loan. For 2026/27 the yearly thresholds are £26,900 for Plan 1, £29,385 for Plan 2, £33,795 for Plan 4, £25,000 for Plan 5 and £21,000 for Postgraduate loans. Plan 5 repayments start in April 2026. If you have a Postgraduate loan as well as another plan, you repay both. Pick your plan above to see the amount and your take-home pay.

Which tax year does this tool use?

You can choose 2026/27, 2025/26 or 2024/25. Spending figures are from HM Treasury outturn data for 2025-26 and 2024-25, and every source is linked at the bottom of the page.

Data sources

Income tax rates and Personal Allowance, 2024/25 to 2026/27 (England, Wales, Northern Ireland): GOV.UK, Income Tax rates and Personal Allowances. £12,570 allowance, 20% to £50,270, 40% to £125,140, 45% above. Allowance falls by £1 for every £2 over £100,000.
Scottish income tax, 2025/26 and 2026/27: GOV.UK, Income Tax in Scotland. Starter 19%, basic 20%, intermediate 21%, higher 42%, advanced 45%, top 48%. The starter, basic and intermediate thresholds differ by year; see the table below.
Scottish income tax, 2024/25: Scottish Government, Scottish Income Tax 2024-25 factsheet.
National Insurance, 2024/25 to 2026/27: HMRC, Rates and allowances: National Insurance contributions. Class 1 employee rate 8% between £12,570 and £50,270 a year, 2% above. The same in all three years.
Student loan repayments, 2024/25 to 2026/27: GOV.UK, Repaying your student loan: what you pay and HMRC, How to make student loan deductions. 9% above the threshold for Plans 1, 2, 4 and 5, 6% above £21,000 for Postgraduate loans. Plan 5 repayments start from April 2026.
Spending by function, 2025-26 outturn: HM Treasury, Public Expenditure Statistical Analyses 2026 (CP 1624, published July 2026), chapters 4 and 5. Total managed expenditure of £1,360.1bn is in Table 1.1. See also the Public Spending Statistics release, July 2026.
Spending by nation, 2024-25 outturn: HM Treasury, Country and Regional Analysis: 2025 (published November 2025). Identifiable spending per resident in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland for health, education, public order and safety, social protection, economic affairs, and housing and community amenities.
Tax and spending since 1976/77: see the tax history page and its sources.
Function figures as compiled for this page: Where Your Money Goes, Public spending in full (Tekstak Ltd, CC BY 4.0, snapshot of 28 September 2026), which republishes the PESA 2026 function totals including the debt interest line. The five largest areas match the House of Commons Library briefing, Public spending: a brief introduction (9 September 2026).

Scottish bands used, by year

Band (income above allowance)	2026/27	2025/26	2024/25
Starter 19%	£12,570 to £16,537	£12,570 to £15,397	£12,570 to £14,876
Basic 20%	£16,537 to £29,526	£15,397 to £27,491	£14,876 to £26,561
Intermediate 21%	£29,526 to £43,662	£27,491 to £43,662	£26,561 to £43,662
Higher 42%	£43,662 to £75,000	£43,662 to £75,000	£43,662 to £75,000
Advanced 45%	£75,000 to £125,140	£75,000 to £125,140	£75,000 to £125,140
Top 48%	over £125,140	over £125,140	over £125,140