Direct answer
Short, direct answers to the questions that come up when a payslip does not look right. Each one explains what the deduction is, why it changed, and what to check if the figure still looks wrong.
UK pay and tax questions answered
Plain-English answers to the questions people ask about payslips, tax codes, National Insurance, pension deductions and student loan repayments.
How answers is worked out
Short, direct answers to the questions that come up when a payslip does not look right. Each one explains what the deduction is, why it changed, and what to check if the figure still looks wrong.
A worked example
On £35,000 a year, a standard 2026/27 tax code and no pension or student loan, the figures work out like this. Open a calculator to put your own numbers in.
Gross salary£35,000
Take-home a year£28,720
Take-home a month£2,393
Take-home a week£552
Checks worth making on answers
Assumptions used here
| Tax/source year | 2026/27 |
|---|---|
| Region | England/Wales/Northern Ireland |
| Tax code basis | 1257L where the page uses PAYE defaults |
| Pension basis | No pension deduction unless this example says otherwise |
| Student loan basis | No student loan unless selected in this example |
Source and methodology context
| What is not decided here | PayBreakdown does not decide payroll correctness, lender approval, benefit entitlement or employer compliance, and does not give regulated financial, mortgage, debt, tax, payroll or legal advice. |
|---|
What the answers estimate assumes
The figures on this page use the values below. Open the calculator if your example salary differs.
Example salary£40,000 annual gross
How this page should be used
Short, direct answers to the questions that come up when a payslip does not look right. Each one explains what the deduction is, why it changed, and what to check if the figure still looks wrong. Read the result and assumptions first, then use the related calculators only when you need to change inputs or continue into a wider plan.
- Use the visible assumptions and caveats before relying on any estimate.
- Keep personal planning data in local workspace pages when you need saved figures.
- Use source and methodology links to understand where rules or rates come from.
Limits of the estimate
PayBreakdown is an informational calculator and household-finance modelling tool. It does not provide legal, tax, employment, payroll, benefits, lending, accounting or regulated financial advice.
Before acting on the result
Check whether the page uses a fixed scenario, a simple default, or your own local inputs. Fixed scenarios are useful for orientation, but personal decisions should use current payslips, bills, provider documents, official sources, and professional support where the decision is important.
What makes the estimate useful
A useful estimate shows the key inputs, the calculation area, the assumptions and the limits in the same place. If a page does not match the user situation exactly, use it to understand direction and sensitivity first, then move into the relevant calculator or local workspace to adjust the numbers.
Make the estimate your own
Use the visible result as a starting point, then change the assumptions that apply to your situation. For salary pages, that usually means tax year, region, tax code, pension method, student loan plan, bonus, overtime and salary-sacrifice settings. For borrowing, debt or budget pages, it means the real payment amount, term, interest rate, balance, bill timing, savings target and any expected income change. Keep the result separate from advice or approval decisions: PayBreakdown helps you model the numbers, while official sources, employer records, provider documents and professional support are still the right place for final checks. If a change is close to a threshold, rerun the calculation with a cautious higher-cost or lower-income scenario before relying on the result.
Every answer
41 pages in this set, each showing the calculation for a different figure.
Frequently asked questions
Why is my take-home pay lower than I expected?
The three usual causes are a wrong tax code, a pension contribution you had not accounted for, and student loan repayments starting once you cross the plan threshold. Comparing your payslip line by line against a calculator estimate normally identifies which one it is.
Who works out these answers?
They are written against the published GOV.UK and HMRC rates for the current tax year, and each answer links to the official source it relies on so you can check it yourself.
Last updated 2026-08-19. Estimates are for planning and should be checked against official records where the decision matters.