Income tax and National Insurance, 2026/27

£40,000 a year is £32,320 in your pocket

That's £2,693 a month, or £622 a week. Top 30% of UK earners — more than 69% of taxpayers.

Income tax 13.7%National Insurance 5.5%Yours 80.8%

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 £40,000 goes

Line	Per year
Personal allowanceTax-free	£12,570
Basic rate income tax20% of £27,430	£5,486
National Insurance8% up to £50,270, 2% above	£2,194
Take-home pay	£32,320

Effective rate

19%

of your pay goes to HMRC

Marginal rate

28p

of your next pound goes to HMRC

Cost to employer

£45,250

Your salary plus £5,250 employer's National Insurance

All-in rate

29%

of the total cost of employing you ends up with HMRC

Working for the Treasury until

12 March

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.