What salary do you need
to take home £X?

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 pay 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 home figures? Try /compare.