The forward calculator goes salary, take-home. This one goes the other way. Type the number you want to clear after tax and see the gross figure that gets you there in 2026/27.
Gross salary you need
£64,557
Roughly £5,380 a month before tax. Your employer also pays £8,934 in employer NI on top.
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Income tax
£13,255
Employee NI
£3,302
Take-home
£48,000
Total tax + NI
25.6%
UK tax stacks in three layers. The first £12,570 is tax-free. Income from £12,570 to £50,270 gets taxed at 20% income tax plus 8% employee NI on the band above £12,570 (so around 28p per pound, plus a little NI on the lower portion). Income from £50,270 to £125,140 gets 40% income tax plus 2% NI, around 42p per pound. Above £125,140 it's 45% income tax plus 2% NI.
Between £100,000 and £125,140 there's a hidden fourth layer: the personal allowance tapers away, and that lost allowance is taxed at 40% on top of everything else. Effective marginal rate in this band: about 62%. The reverse calculator handles this taper automatically, so the gross figure it returns will jump faster than you expect once your target take-home pushes you into the trap.
Want to see exactly what you'd pay at each band, or model pension contributions and student loans? Open the income tax calculator and start from the gross figure here. Comparing two target take-homes? Try /compare.
Sources & last reviewed
Updated for 2026/27 · last reviewed 29 April 2026 · view changelog →
Bands, thresholds and reliefs on this page come directly from the following official sources. Tax rates are checked against these references whenever a Budget or in-year change is announced.