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Take-Home Pay Calculator 2026 — Net Pay After Federal + State Tax

Multi-country net-pay calculator. US (2026 federal + FICA + 401k/HSA/state), UK (2025/26 PAYE + NI), India (FY 2025-26 new + old regime + 4% cess). Pick a country, drop a salary, see exactly what lands in your bank.

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Reviewed by CalcBold Editorial · Sources: IRS Pub 15-T (2026) + SSA wage-base 2026 + HMRC PAYE 2025-26 + NI 2025-26 thresholds + India CBDT FY 2025-26 + 50-state DOR withholding schedulesLast verified Methodology

Take-Home Pay Calculator

Drives the entire bracket table + currency symbol.

Pre-tax salary from your employer.

Drives the US bracket table + Additional Medicare threshold. Ignored for UK / India.

Ignored for US / UK. New regime is default since Budget 2023.

80C + 80D + HRA + interest etc combined. Only applied when regime = Old.

% of gross salary. Lowers federal taxable — NOT FICA.

Annual $ through payroll. Lowers federal AND FICA (triple-advantage).

0 if you live in TX / FL / WA / NV / SD / WY / AK / TN / NH.

Reverse: how much gross do I need for that net?

Pick a target take-home and we’ll back-solve the gross salary — using the same tax math as the calculator above.

You need a gross of $90,008/yr to clear that take-home — about $5,008/yr (5.9%) more than your current gross.

That’s $417/mo extra gross for the $294/mo more in take-home — the gap between gross and net is what makes a 10% raise feel like 6%.

Live · interactive

Where every dollar goes — gross to take-home

Each slice is one deduction. The center number is what actually hits your bank account after federal + state + payroll + retirement + insurance.

Take-home

$59,208

/ yr

  • Take-home$59,20862.3%
  • Federal tax$13,30014%
  • State tax$5,2255.5%
  • Social Security$5,8906.2%
  • Medicare$1,3781.5%
  • Retirement (pre-tax)$7,6008%
  • Insurance$2,4002.5%
Effective deduction rate: 37.7% — every $100 of gross becomes $62.32 in your account.

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Take-home pay is the net amount deposited in your bank after federal income tax (10–37%), FICA payroll tax (7.65%), state income tax (0–13.3%), and any pre-tax deductions are withheld from gross salary. For a $75,000 salary with no state tax, take-home is roughly $60,800/year. The gross-to-net gap is typically 20–35% for US W‑2 earners, 25–35% for UK PAYE earners, and under 10% for many Indian salaried workers on the new regime.

What Take-Home Pay Actually Means

Your gross salary is the number in your offer letter. Your take-home pay is the number that lands in your bank account after every mandatory deduction. The gap between them is usually 20–35% for US W-2 earners, 25–35% for UK PAYE earners, and — surprisingly — often under 10% for Indian salaried workers on the new regime up to around ₹15L. That wide spread is the entire reason this calculator exists in three country modes.

This calculator supports United States (projected 2026 federal brackets + FICA + optional state flat rate), United Kingdom (2025/26 rUK income-tax bands + Class 1 employee NI + personal-allowance taper), and India (FY 2025-26 new regime by default, or old regime with a lump-sum deductions input). Pick the country, enter your gross, and the calculator swaps currency, rules, and labels automatically.

The 2026 US Federal Brackets — The Math

2026 US federal income tax (single filer)

taxable_income = gross − standard_deduction − pre_tax_401k − pre_tax_hsa federal_tax  = Σ (bracket_amount × bracket_rate)
2026 single brackets: 10% to $12,225 · 12% to $49,700 · 22% to $105,950 · 24% to $202,300 · 32% to $256,800 · 35% to $642,000 · 37% above

Standard deduction (2026): $15,750 single · $31,500 MFJ · $23,625 HoH · $15,750 MFS. Brackets are marginal — only the dollars above each threshold are taxed at the higher rate. Effective rate (total tax ÷ gross) is always lower than your marginal rate.

Source:IRS Rev. Proc. 2024-40 — 2026 inflation adjustments· Internal Revenue Service

FICA payroll tax (US, 2026)

FICA = SS + Medicare + add_medicare SS         = MIN(wages, $181,000) × 6.2% Medicare   = wages × 1.45%   (no cap) add_medicare = MAX(0, wages − threshold) × 0.9%
Additional Medicare thresholds: $200K single · $250K MFJ · $125K MFS · $200K HoH

FICA is the second mandatory deduction. Has no standard deduction, so for incomes under ~$60K FICA often exceeds federal income tax. The SS wage base ($181K projected for 2026) is published by the SSA each October; Additional Medicare thresholds are frozen by statute since 2013 (not inflation-adjusted).

Source:SSA — Social Security & Medicare tax rates· Social Security Administration

A crucial thing to remember: these are marginalbrackets. Hitting the 22% bracket doesn’t mean 22% of your salary is taxed at 22% — only the portion of your taxable income that falls intothat bracket is taxed at that rate. The dollars below are taxed at lower rates. That’s why your effective tax rate (total federal tax ÷ gross) is always lower than your marginal rate.

FICA — The Payroll Tax Most People Underestimate

  • Social Security: 6.2% of wages up to the annual wage base ($181,000 projected for 2026). Wages above the base are not taxed for SS — a common source of pay-stub confusion for high earners when their paychecks get bigger mid-year.
  • Medicare: 1.45% of all wages. No cap.
  • Additional Medicare: 0.9% on wages above $200,000 (single), $250,000 (MFJ), $125,000 (MFS), $200,000 (HoH). These thresholds are not inflation-adjusted — they’re frozen by statute since 2013, which means they’re slowly affecting more earners every year.

FICA is a flat 7.65% on most earners (6.2% + 1.45%). Because it has no standard deduction, FICA often exceeds federal income tax at incomes under roughly $60,000. At higher incomes, federal takes the lead.

The UK System — Income Tax + National Insurance

Two parallel deductions run off a UK payslip. Income tax uses a £12,570 personal allowance, then 20% on the next £37,700, 40% on everything up to £125,140, and 45% above. National Insurance (Class 1 employee) uses its own thresholds — 8% between £12,570 and £50,270, then 2% above. NI does not respect your personal allowance; it starts at its own primary threshold.

There is one nasty edge: the personal-allowance taper. Between £100,000 and £125,140 of gross income, you lose £1 of personal allowance for every £2 earned, which creates an effective marginal rate of roughly 60% in that band. Earning £101,000 nets you barely more than earning £100,000 — a common reason UK employees at that income tier push for pension salary-sacrifice to dodge the taper. The calculator applies the taper automatically.

The India System — New Regime vs Old Regime

India gives salaried taxpayers a choice. The new regime (default since Budget 2023, revised again in Budget 2025) uses lower rates across seven slabs (0% / 5% / 10% / 15% / 20% / 25% / 30%) but forbids most deductions beyond the ₹75,000 standard deduction. The old regime uses higher rates across four slabs (0% / 5% / 20% / 30%) but lets you claim 80C (up to ₹1.5L), 80D, HRA, NPS, home-loan interest, and more.

Rebate under Section 87A zeroes out tax for taxable income up to ₹12,00,000 in the new regime and ₹5,00,000 in the old. A 4% Health & Education Cess sits on top of whatever tax (and surcharge, if any) remains. Surcharge kicks in above ₹50L and ramps up to 25% (new regime cap) or 37% (old regime). The calculator models all of this — including the 87A rebate and cess — so you can compare both regimes on one gross figure.

Pre-Tax Deductions — Where the Real Leverage Is

Two optional US-side deductions dramatically shift take-home:

  • Traditional 401(k) contribution. Reduces federal taxable income dollar-for-dollar, but FICA still applies. A $10,000 contribution at the 24% marginal rate saves $2,400 in federal tax. The money is tax-deferred until retirement.
  • HSA contribution via payroll.The only deduction that reduces both federal AND FICA taxes. $3,000 through payroll at the 24% marginal rate saves $720 federal + $230 FICA = $950. The “triple advantage” kicks in even more downstream because the account grows tax-free and qualified medical withdrawals are tax-free.

UK-side, the parallel lever is pension salary-sacrifice(reduces income tax + NI + employer NI). India-side on the old regime, it’s Section 80C + 80D + NPS (up to ₹2L in deductions common at mid-level salaries). The new regime deliberately removes most of these levers in exchange for lower headline rates.

How to Use This Calculator

  1. Pick your country. The form reshapes — US shows filing status + 401(k) + HSA + state rate; UK is gross-only (the rest is automatic); India shows a regime toggle and, in old regime, a deductions input.
  2. Enter your gross annual salary in the local currency. If you earn hourly, multiply hours × weeks.
  3. (US) Pick your filing status — this changes bracket thresholds, standard deduction, and Additional Medicare threshold.
  4. (US) Optional: enter your 401(k) contribution percentage, annual HSA contribution, and effective state tax rate (0 in TX, FL, WA, NV, SD, WY, AK, TN, NH; ~9% California high-earners; ~6% New York; ~5% Virginia).
  5. (India) Pick new (default) or old. If old, enter total deductions (80C + 80D + HRA + NPS + home-loan interest, summed) — the calculator treats this as a lump sum subtracted before the slabs apply.

Three Worked Examples — One Per Country

Real scenarios with the exact numbers this calculator produces. Copy any of them into the tool above to see the full per-line breakdown.

Example 1 — United States

$120,000 salary, single filer, 10% 401(k), $3,300 HSA, 5% state

Gross
$120,000
401(k)
$12,000 (10%)
HSA
$3,300
State rate
5%

  1. Pre-tax 401(k) + HSA reduce federal pre-deduction income.

    120,000 − 12,000 − 3,300 = $104,700

  2. Subtract single standard deduction to get taxable income.

    104,700 − 15,750 = $88,950

  3. Federal tax across 10/12/22% bands.

    1,222.50 + 4,497 + 8,635 ≈ $14,355

  4. FICA on $116,700 (gross minus HSA — HSA bypasses FICA).

    (116,700 × 6.2%) + (116,700 × 1.45%) ≈ $8,928

  5. State tax at 5% of gross.

    120,000 × 0.05 = $6,000

Annual net ≈ $75,418 → monthly ≈ $6,285. Effective tax rate ≈ 24.4%.

HSA saved ~$253 of FICA payroll tax on top of its federal benefit — that's the 'triple advantage' in action.

Example 2 — United Kingdom

£75,000 salary, rUK income-tax bands

Gross
£75,000
Personal allowance
£12,570 (no taper)
Tax bands
20% / 40%
NI Class 1
8% / 2%

  1. Taxable income after personal allowance.

    75,000 − 12,570 = £62,430

  2. Income tax across the 20% and 40% bands.

    (37,700 × 20%) + (24,730 × 40%) = £7,540 + £9,892 = £17,432

  3. National Insurance Class 1 (NI uses own thresholds, ignores PA).

    (37,700 × 8%) + (24,730 × 2%) = £3,016 + £495 ≈ £3,511

  4. Total deductions.

    17,432 + 3,511 ≈ £20,943

Annual net ≈ £54,057 → monthly ≈ £4,505. Effective rate ~27.9%.

At this income, every extra £1 is taxed at 40% + 2% NI = 42% marginal. Pension salary-sacrifice becomes the dominant optimization above £50,270.

Example 3 — India

₹15,00,000 salary, new regime (default since Budget 2023)

Gross
₹15,00,000
Standard deduction
₹75,000
Regime
New (115BAC)
Slab structure
7 slabs 0–30%

  1. Taxable income after standard deduction.

    15,00,000 − 75,000 = ₹14,25,000

  2. First ₹4L at 0% (basic exemption).

    4,00,000 × 0% = ₹0

  3. Next ₹4L at 5%, next ₹4L at 10%.

    (4L × 5%) + (4L × 10%) = ₹20,000 + ₹40,000 = ₹60,000

  4. Remaining ₹2.25L in the 12L–16L band at 15%.

    2,25,000 × 15% = ₹33,750

  5. Base tax + 4% Health & Education Cess. (87A rebate does NOT apply — caps at ₹12L taxable.)

    93,750 + (93,750 × 4%) = ₹97,500

Annual net ≈ ₹14,02,500 → monthly ≈ ₹1,16,875. Effective rate ~6.5%.

The new regime wins for most salaried Indians at this income without heavy 80C/80D/HRA deductions — simpler and cheaper than old regime here.

When This Calculator Decides For You

Four decisions where the output maps directly to a choice:

  1. Comparing offers across countries.A US$120k offer, a UK £92k offer, and an India ₹1.2Cr offer may all quote “roughly the same seniority” but land dramatically different net numbers — and purchasing-power parity then shifts the ranking again. Run all three in the calculator; then sanity check rent, healthcare, and schooling costs separately before you sign.
  2. Maximizing pre-tax buckets. US: 401(k) up to the annual limit + HSA for triple-tax-advantaged dollars. UK: pension salary-sacrifice to dodge 40% (and above £100k, the 60% taper band). India old regime: 80C (₹1.5L) + 80D + NPS (₹50k extra) to push taxable income below the old-regime break-even point.
  3. Choosing India’s new vs old regime.Rule-of-thumb: the new regime wins below roughly ₹17L gross when you don’t have major deductions. The old regime wins when your 80C + 80D + HRA + home-loan interest stack exceeds ~₹4L. Run both in the calculator on the same gross — the cheaper one is your regime for the year.
  4. Planning a relocation.If you’re moving for a job, plug the target-country offer into the relevant mode before agreeing to the number. A £95k UK offer nets less per month than a $120k US offer at 5% state tax, despite the stronger GBP — something that only becomes obvious once tax + NI stack up.

Common Mistakes

  • Confusing marginal rate with effective rate.Hitting the 32% bracket doesn’t mean 32% of your salary goes to federal — the effective rate on a $250,000 single filer is closer to 25%. “I don’t want a raise because it pushes me into the next bracket” is almost never correct.
  • Adding state tax to FICA and calling it “tax.” FICA isn’t income tax — it’s a dedicated contribution to Social Security and Medicare. Label and track it separately; you’ll be glad you did at retirement.
  • Not contributing to a 401(k) because “I can’t afford it.” The contribution’s immediate tax savings mean your take-home drops by less than the contribution amount. A $10,000 contribution at 24% effectively costs $7,600 of take-home — and you have $10,000 earning compound interest.
  • Forgetting employer match.If your employer matches 50% up to 6% of salary, you’re turning down a 3%-of-salary raise by skipping contributions. That’s the single highest-leverage financial move in most salaried jobs.
  • Ignoring the UK personal-allowance taper. Between £100k and £125,140 your effective marginal rate is ~60% thanks to PA withdrawal plus 40% tax plus 2% NI. A £2,000 raise in this band can land less than £800 in-pocket — salary-sacrificing the whole raise into pension is often the rational move.
  • Picking India’s old regime out of habit. Pre-2023 it was usually right. Post-Budget-2025 (87A rebate up to ₹12L taxable, new-regime std ded ₹75k, wider 0–30% slab spread) the default is new regime for a reason — unless your 80C/80D/HRA stack is genuinely large, the new regime is simpler and cheaper.

What This Calculator Doesn’t Model (Honest Limits)

Every tax engine has a boundary. Here’s where this one stops:

  • United States. No city-level income tax (New York City adds ~3.9%, San Francisco levies a payroll expense tax on employers that indirectly compresses offers, Philadelphia ~3.8% resident rate). No salary-sacrifice / cafeteria-plan arrangements outside 401(k) + HSA. No capital gains, no RSU / ISO / ESPP vesting mechanics, no bonus supplemental-withholding (22% flat up to $1M, 37% above). No self-employment tax (SE tax doubles FICA).
  • United Kingdom. No Scottish income-tax bands (different rates and thresholds from rUK — 19% starter, 20% basic, 21% intermediate, 42% higher, 45% advanced, 48% top). No pension contributions outside salary-sacrifice. No benefit-in-kind charges (company cars, private medical, P11D). No student-loan repayments (Plan 1/2/4/5 each add a separate deduction). Dividend income, capital gains, and self-employed Class 2/4 NI are out of scope.
  • India. HRA exemption is notmodelled mechanically — in old regime it’s treated as part of the lump-sum deductions input. Surcharge marginal-relief edge cases (where income just crosses ₹50L, ₹1Cr, ₹2Cr, ₹5Cr) are modelled as hard cliffs; the actual tax formula gives a small smoothing relief close to each threshold. Section 89 relief (arrears / advance salary), LTA exemption mechanics, and 87A marginal relief close to ₹12L taxable are not separately surfaced. Professional tax (state-levied, ₹200/month typical) is not modelled.

Each calculator page is the start of the conversation, not the end. For a definitive figure, pair the output with a recent payslip (or Form 16 / P60) and — at the higher-stakes end — a CPA / chartered accountant review.

About Our Numbers

US 2026 brackets and standard deductions are projected from 2025 IRS Rev. Proc. 2024-40 plus a ~2.5% inflation adjustment; we refresh against the official Rev. Proc. once the IRS releases it (typically October preceding the tax year). The Social Security wage base ($181,000 projected) is published by the SSA each October. UK 2025/26 rates come from gov.uk income-tax-bands and the NI Class 1 primary-threshold table; we refresh against the Spring Statement once published. India FY 2025-26 (AY 2026-27) slabs follow the Budget 2025 revised 115BAC schedule, with rebate u/s 87A capped at ₹12L taxable in the new regime.

How Take-Home Pay Differs Across Common US Salary Levels

Same federal + FICA rules, different gross income, no state tax assumed. The table below shows how the effective rate scales as you climb the bracket ladder.

2026 US single filer · no state tax

Effective tax rate and monthly take-home by gross salary (no state, standard deduction only)

Effective tax rate and monthly take-home by gross salary (no state, standard deduction only)
ScenarioFederal taxFICANet (annual)Effective rate
$50,000 gross~$3,975~$3,825~$42,20015.6%
$75,000 gross~$8,475~$5,738~$60,78718.9%
$100,000 gross~$14,000~$7,650~$78,35021.7%
$150,000 gross~$25,500~$10,825~$113,67524.2%
$250,000 gross~$50,400~$13,550 + $450 add'l~$185,60025.8%

Add state tax for your actual state (0% in TX/FL/WA/NV/SD/WY/AK/TN/NH · ~5% Virginia · ~6% New York · ~9.3% California top bracket). The 51 state-paycheck calculators handle this state by state.

Take-Home Pay Glossary — Quick Reference

Eight terms that show up on every payslip + offer letter. Skim the snippet line; expand the card for the longer explanation.

Quick reference

Payroll terminology

Gross Salary

The headline number in your offer letter, before any deductions. Equals annual base pay; excludes bonuses and equity in most contexts.

Lenders, landlords, and many benefit calculations use gross. Always confirm whether a quoted figure is gross or net — the gap is typically 20-35% in the US, 25-35% in the UK, and 5-15% in India.

Net Take-Home Pay

What lands in your bank account after every mandatory deduction. The number to use for budgeting + affordability decisions.

US: gross − federal − FICA − state − city − pre-tax (401k/HSA). UK: gross − income tax − NI Class 1. India: gross − slab tax − cess − surcharge (87A rebate applied if eligible).

Marginal Tax Rate

The rate applied to your NEXT dollar of income. Determines the tax cost of a raise, bonus, or extra contribution.

Tied to which bracket your top dollar lands in. A US single filer at $90K is in the 22% marginal bracket — but their effective rate is ~16% because earlier dollars are taxed lower.

Effective Tax Rate

Total tax divided by gross income. The actual percentage of your salary that disappears to tax.

Always lower than marginal rate in a progressive system. Tells you how much of your gross you actually keep. Two earners at the same gross can have different effective rates depending on deductions.

FICA

Federal Insurance Contributions Act — the US payroll tax funding Social Security (6.2%) + Medicare (1.45%). 7.65% combined for most earners.

Social Security caps at the annual wage base ($181K projected for 2026). Medicare has no cap. Additional Medicare (0.9%) applies above $200K single / $250K MFJ — thresholds frozen since 2013, so an increasing share of earners hit it each year.

Source: SSA — Wage base & tax rates

Standard Deduction

Fixed amount subtracted from gross income before federal tax brackets apply. 2026: $15,750 single · $31,500 MFJ.

Inflation-adjusted annually by the IRS. Replaces the older itemized-deduction-only system for ~88% of US filers. UK equivalent = personal allowance (£12,570). India equivalent = ₹75,000 standard deduction in new regime.

Source: IRS Rev. Proc. 2024-40

PAYE

Pay As You Earn — the UK system where employers deduct income tax + NI from each payslip before the employee receives it.

Used in the UK, Ireland, Australia (called PAYG), New Zealand, and Kenya. Codes (e.g. 1257L) tell the employer how much personal allowance to apply. Year-end reconciliation via P60 / P45.

Section 87A Rebate

India tax credit that zeroes out tax for taxable income up to ₹12L (new regime) or ₹5L (old regime). Effectively raises the tax-free threshold.

Introduced in 2013, expanded in Budget 2023 (₹7L) and again in Budget 2025 (₹12L). Applies AFTER tax computation but BEFORE cess. Marginal-relief smoothing applies just above the cap.

Background

A Brief History of Modern Income Tax

The US federal income tax in its modern form dates to the Sixteenth Amendment, ratified in 1913, which removed the constitutional barrier to direct federal income taxation [1]. The original 1913 schedule had just 7 brackets ranging from 1% to 7%, with the top bracket starting at $500,000 (equivalent to ~$15M in 2026 dollars). Wartime expansion pushed the top rate to 77% (1918) and 94% (1944); modern brackets settled into their current 7-tier 10-37% structure after the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017.

FICA — the dedicated payroll tax for Social Security and Medicare — was established by the Social Security Act of 1935 and the Medicare Act of 1965 [2]. The combined 7.65% employee + 7.65% employer rate has been stable since 1990. The wage base for the Social Security portion is indexed to the National Average Wage Index and revised every October by the Social Security Administration; the Additional Medicare 0.9% surtax (added by the ACA in 2013) is statutorily frozen at $200K single / $250K MFJ — meaning the tax slowly affects more earners each year as wages drift upward against a fixed threshold.

The UK system, by contrast, evolved from the Income Tax Act of 1842 (Sir Robert Peel's reintroduction of income tax to fund post-Corn-Laws fiscal balance) [3] into the modern PAYE system established in 1944. National Insurance — the parallel UK payroll deduction — was introduced under the National Insurance Act of 1911 (predating SS by 24 years). India's modern income-tax framework comes from the Income-Tax Act of 1961; the dual-regime structure (115BAC) was introduced in Budget 2020 and substantially revised in Budget 2023 and Budget 2025 to make the new regime the default for most salaried earners.

  1. 16th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution · National Archives · 1913
  2. Social Security History — Brief History · Social Security Administration · 1935 / 1965
  3. Income Tax Act 1842 — UK historical record · UK National Archives (legislation.gov.uk) · 1842

Take-Home Pay by State — All 51 Calculators

Federal income tax and FICA are identical in every state, but state income tax swings your net pay by thousands of dollars a year — from $0 in the nine no-income-tax states to over 13% at California’s top bracket. Each calculator below applies that state’s 2026 brackets, any local or municipal income tax, and SDI / PFML payroll programs where they exist, then compares your net to the state’s median household:

Pair It With

Take-home pay is the input to almost every other life decision. Our Salary to Hourly calculator converts the gross number into a rate per scheduled hour; the True Hourly Rate calculator subtracts commute time and work expenses to reveal what your hour is actually worth once the full cost of showing up is priced in. Once you know your real monthly take-home, feed it into the Can I Afford This? tool to check whether a house, a car, or a loan genuinely fits the after-tax cash flow — not the gross number on the offer letter.

Sources & Methodology

The formulas, thresholds, and benchmarks behind this calculator are anchored to the primary sources below. Where a study or agency document is the underlying authority, we link straight to it — not a summary or republished version.

  1. IRS Publication 15 (Circular E) — Employer's Tax Guide· Internal Revenue Service

    Federal payroll-tax authority defining federal income-tax withholding tables, FICA, and supplemental wage rules used in net-pay computation.

    Accessed

  2. IRS Publication 15-T — Federal Income Tax Withholding Methods· Internal Revenue Service

    Primary federal source for the percentage method and wage-bracket method of federal withholding underpinning paycheck arithmetic.

    Accessed

  3. Social Security Administration — Contribution and Benefit Base· Social Security Administration

    Federal authority for the Social Security wage base and OASDI rate (6.2%) deducted from gross to compute net pay.

    Accessed

  4. CMS — Medicare Tax and Additional Medicare Tax· Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services

    Federal reference for Medicare HI tax (1.45%) plus 0.9% additional Medicare tax on high earners — required net-pay deductions.

    Accessed

  5. Tax Foundation — State Individual Income Tax Rates and Brackets· Tax Foundation

    Independent compilation of state-by-state income-tax brackets sourced from each state Department of Revenue.

    Accessed

  6. BLS — Employer Costs for Employee Compensation· U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

    Federal dataset on benefit-cost ratios benchmarked against gross pay used to validate pre-tax-deduction defaults.

    Accessed

Frequently Asked Questions

The most common questions we get about this calculator — each answer is kept under 60 words so you can scan.

  • Which countries are supported, and what taxes are modeled?
    Three full systems. **United States 2026** — federal income tax (projected brackets), Social Security 6.2% up to ~$181k wage base, Medicare 1.45% on all wages, additional Medicare 0.9% on wages over $200k single / $250k MFJ, plus optional 401(k), HSA, and state-tax effective-rate inputs. **United Kingdom 2025/26** — Income tax (rUK bands: 20% basic / 40% higher / 45% additional) with personal-allowance taper above £100k, plus Class 1 employee National Insurance at 8% / 2%. **India FY 2025-26** — Section 115BAC new regime (default) with revised Budget 2025 slabs and Section 87A rebate up to ₹12L, plus the old regime with ₹50K standard deduction and optional 80C/80D/HRA deductions. Both Indian regimes apply 4% Health and Education Cess.
  • Why are 2026 US brackets and 2025/26 UK + India figures 'projected'?
    US — IRS releases official annual figures (standard deduction, bracket thresholds, Social Security wage base) in October preceding the tax year (October 2025 for 2026). Until then we use 2025 values inflated by ~2.5%. UK — current values are HMRC's published 2025/26 figures, refreshed against Spring Statement updates. India — current values reflect Budget 2025 changes effective from FY 2025-26. Expect post-publication results to move by less than 0.5% from current projections.
  • Do 401(k) contributions reduce my taxes?
    Traditional 401(k) contributions reduce federal taxable income dollar-for-dollar — so a $10,000 contribution at a 24% marginal rate saves you $2,400 in federal taxes. FICA still applies. Roth 401(k) contributions do the opposite — no up-front deduction, but withdrawals in retirement are tax-free.
  • Why does HSA reduce both federal AND FICA?
    An HSA contribution made through payroll (a 'cafeteria plan') is legally exempt from both federal income tax and payroll taxes — uniquely among tax-advantaged accounts. That's the 'triple advantage': no tax going in, no tax on growth, no tax on qualified medical withdrawals.
  • Does this calculator handle state income tax?
    Only via a user-entered effective rate. State tax systems are dramatically different (some flat, some progressive, some none at all) and there are 50+ of them. Enter 0 if you live in a no-state-tax state (TX, FL, WA, NV, SD, WY, AK, TN, NH). Otherwise enter your state's approximate effective rate.
  • What is 'effective tax rate'?
    Total taxes paid (federal + FICA + state) divided by gross salary. Unlike marginal rate (the bracket your last dollar fell in), effective rate is the real portion of income going to tax. A single filer earning $100,000 is in the 22% bracket but pays an effective rate closer to 20%.
  • Is my tax really the 'Largest deduction'?
    For most W-2 earners at typical incomes, yes — federal income tax is the single biggest line item. Above $175,000 or so, federal tax plus state tax together usually exceed FICA. At $40,000–$60,000, FICA and federal are close; under $40k the standard deduction zeroes out most federal tax and FICA becomes the biggest.
  • How accurate is this for a real paycheck?
    Very close for a typical W-2 earner with standard deduction. It doesn't model pre-tax health insurance premiums, life insurance, or commuter benefits — and it doesn't model capital gains or self-employment tax. For a precise number run a recent pay stub through a payroll-accurate tool once a year.
  • Why is my first US paycheck of the year taxed more than my last one?
    Two effects. (1) FICA — Social Security (6.2%) stops at the $181k wage base; once you hit it your take-home jumps for the rest of the year. A $300k earner stops paying SS around early August. (2) Bonus withholding — supplemental wages are flat-withheld at 22% federally (37% above $1M), which usually over-withholds high earners and under-withholds low earners until tax-filing reconciles. Spreading income evenly through the year smooths neither — it's a withholding artifact, not real tax owed.
  • Which UK tax code does the calculator assume?
    1257L — the standard 2025/26 code for an employee with one job, full personal allowance (£12,570), and no adjustments. If your code is different (BR, 0T, K-prefix, Scottish S-prefix) your take-home won't match. Scottish taxpayers face a different rate schedule (19–48% vs rUK 20–45%) — we don't yet model that; use HMRC's official calculator or a Scottish-specific tool. Welsh rates currently match rUK, so the calculator is accurate for Wales.
  • Should I pick the Indian new regime or old regime for FY 2025-26?
    New regime wins for most salaried earners after the Budget 2025 changes. The ₹12L rebate ceiling under 87A means zero tax on income up to ₹12.75L (factoring the ₹75k standard deduction) — old regime can't match that without aggressive 80C/80D/HRA deductions. Old regime still beats new when you have HRA (metro renter), home loan interest over ₹2L, NPS employer contribution, and maxed 80C — combined deductions above ~₹4–5L. Run both in the calculator and go with the higher take-home.
  • How much will my US take-home change if I max my 401(k)?
    On a $120,000 salary in the 22% federal bracket with a 5% state effective rate, maxing the 2026 $24,000 (projected) 401(k) limit reduces take-home by roughly $16,200 — not $24,000, because federal (~$5,280) and state (~$1,200) tax savings offset the contribution. You invest $24,000 but only feel $16,200 leaving your paycheck. FICA still applies. At higher brackets (32%+) the offset is even more generous — the same $24k costs under $14k of after-tax.