afterax

UK 2026/27 · personal tax

Bonus Tax Calculator UK 2026/27

See how much of your bonus you keep after income tax, National Insurance, student loans and optional pension salary sacrifice.

Tax Region

You keep

£5,800

out of £10,000 gross · 42% effective hit

From a £10,000 bonus, you take home £5,800. £4,200 goes to income tax and National Insurance.

Annual take-home after bonus

Before bonus
£45,357
After bonus
£51,157
Increase
+£5,800

Where every £10,000 goes

You keep£5,800
Income tax£4,000
Employee NIC£200

Bonus (gross)

£10,000

Income tax

40%

- £4,000

Employee NIC

2%

- £200

Net to you

58%

£5,800

Threshold warning

This bonus crosses the £60k Child Benefit charge zone.

It may reduce your Child Benefit entitlement.

Other watched thresholds

  • £100k personal allowance taper
  • £125,140 additional rate

Want to reduce the tax hit?

Try pension salary sacrifice

Putting some of your bonus into pension could reduce the tax you pay and increase your pension contribution.

Try pension salary sacrifice

Or try a common shape

Small bonuses

Higher earners

Pension examples

Next useful routes

Child Benefit charge

Your adjusted net income sits in the HICBC taper band.

Open HICBC

More guides and tools

6 related links

Show

Side by side

Live tool

Compare cash vs pension sacrifice

Same bonus, two outcomes. See the take home pay you keep vs the pension you grow, with the 60% trap baked in.

Pension route

Live tool

Salary sacrifice calculator

Model how much take home pay you give up and how much lands in your pension after tax and NI savings.

Background reading

7 min read

Is salary sacrifice worth it?

See why sacrificing a bonus can be unusually efficient, and the trade-offs to check first.

Background reading

6 min read

The 60% tax trap, explained

Why a bonus crossing £100k can lose more than ordinary higher-rate tax.

High earners

4 min read

Find the right high-earner route

Bonus crossing £100k, pension sacrifice, student loans and Child Benefit thresholds.

Thresholds

Live tool

Adjusted net income calculator

See whether salary, bonus, pension or Gift Aid pushes you across key thresholds.

Background reading

How UK bonuses are taxed in 2026/27

Show

A bonus stacks on top of your salary, so the rate it's taxed at depends entirely on what you already earn. The killer number is not the rate on the bonus. It is the marginal rate on the next £1, which can be anywhere from 28% (basic + NIC) to 62% (60% trap).

  • Is a bonus taxed differently from salary?

    No, a bonus is taxed at the same income tax and National Insurance rates as your salary. It just feels different because the whole amount lands in one pay period at your top marginal rate, so a single payslip can show a much higher deduction than usual. Across the tax year it averages back out.

  • Why does my bonus get taxed so much?

    A bonus stacks on top of your salary, so it's taxed at your marginal rate: the rate on the last pound you earned. For most higher-rate taxpayers that's 42% (40% income tax + 2% NIC). If the bonus pushes you past £100,000 you also lose 50p of personal allowance for every extra £1, taking the marginal rate to ~62%. None of this is the bonus being treated specially. It's just stack mechanics.

  • Why was my bonus taxed even more on my payslip?

    PAYE assumes the rate of pay in the bonus month continues all year. If you get a £10,000 bonus in October on top of a £5,000 monthly salary, that month HMRC pretends you earn £15,000/month every month, so it withholds tax at the highest applicable rate. By the next pay run it self-corrects, and at the year end you've been taxed on your real total, not the projected one. You don't lose anything; you are just owed it back through later payslips.

  • Can I redirect my bonus into pension to avoid tax?

    Many employers offer 'bonus sacrifice'. The full gross amount goes into your pension and you pay no income tax or employee NIC on the sacrificed slice. It can be very tax-efficient if you are in the £100k taper zone or HICBC band, but it depends on employer rules and pension allowance limits.

  • Does a bonus affect my student loan repayment?

    Yes. Student loan is charged on income above the plan threshold at 9% (6% for postgrad). A bonus pushes more of your income above the threshold, so an extra ~9% comes off the bonus on top of income tax and NIC.

  • Will a bonus push me into the 60% tax trap?

    If your salary plus bonus is between £100,000 and £125,140, yes. Every £2 above £100,000 reduces your personal allowance by £1. The common name is the 60% tax trap because of the income-tax effect; standard employee examples are about 62% including 2% NIC. Bonus sacrifice can reduce the portion over £100,000 if your employer offers it.