Free Take-Home Pay Calculator — US 2026 · UK 2025/26 · India FY 2025-26

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

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.

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

Pre-tax flow: a $12,000 401(k) contribution and $3,300 HSA reduce the federal pre-deduction income to $104,700. Subtract the $15,750 single standard deduction and taxable income is $88,950. Federal tax across the 10/12/22% bands = $1,222.50 + $4,497 + $8,635 ≈ $14,355. FICA applies to $116,700 (gross − HSA): SS $7,235 + Medicare $1,692 ≈ $8,928. State tax at 5% of gross = $6,000. Annual net ≈ $75,418 → monthly ≈ $6,285. Effective tax rate ≈ 24.4%. Note the HSA detail: because it comes out before FICA is computed, it saved this earner roughly $253 of payroll tax on top of its federal benefit.

United Kingdom — £75,000 salary (rUK bands)

Full personal allowance of £12,570 (no taper — gross is under £100k). Taxable = £62,430. Income tax = (£37,700 × 20%) + (£24,730 × 40%) = £7,540 + £9,892 = £17,432. NI Class 1 = (£37,700 × 8%) + (£24,730 × 2%) = £3,016 + £495 ≈ £3,511. Total deductions £20,943. Net ≈ £54,057/yr → £4,505/mo. Effective rate ~27.9%. This earner is well into the higher-rate band — every extra £1 of salary is taxed at 40% + 2% NI = 42% marginal, which is why pension salary-sacrifice becomes the dominant optimization move above £50,270.

India — ₹15,00,000 salary, new regime (default)

Standard deduction of ₹75,000 → taxable income ₹14,25,000. Slab math: first ₹4L at 0% = ₹0; next ₹4L at 5% = ₹20,000; next ₹4L at 10% = ₹40,000; final ₹2.25L (portion of the 12L–16L band) at 15% = ₹33,750. Base tax ₹93,750. Section 87A rebate does notapply here — it caps at ₹12L taxable, and we’re at ₹14.25L. Cess 4% = ₹3,750. Total ₹97,500. Net ≈ ₹14,02,500/yr → ₹1,16,875/mo. Effective rate ~6.5%. That astonishingly low headline number is why the new regime wins for most salaried Indians without heavy old-regime deductions — and also why the exact same ₹15L package feels very different in purchasing power compared to a $120k US package.

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.

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.