The short answer
How to read a UK payslip in 2026/27: gross and net pay, tax codes, National Insurance, pension, student loans, benefits and year-to-date figures.
A UK payslip explains how your employer turned your earnings into the amount paid to your bank account. It normally shows pay before deductions, deductions such as Income Tax and National Insurance, and pay after deductions. It may also show your tax code, National Insurance category, pension contribution, student-loan repayment, employer contributions and totals so far in the tax year.
For the 2026/27 tax year, the tax year runs from 6 April 2026 to 5 April 2027. The exact layout depends on your employer and payroll software, but the main questions are consistent: what was included in gross pay, what was treated as taxable pay, which deductions were made, and whether the year-to-date figures make sense? GOV.UK says employees and workers must be given a payslip on or before payday, and that it can be printed or provided electronically.
A payslip is not the same as a P60, P45 or P11D. A payslip records one payment or pay period. A P60 summarises the employment's pay and deductions for the tax year. A P45 records pay and tax when employment ends. A P11D records relevant benefits and expenses that are not handled through another reporting method. The UK P60 guide and P11D guide cover those documents separately.
Start with gross and net pay
Tax code drives PAYE
Check deductions separately
What a UK payslip must show
GOV.UK says a payslip must show your earnings before and after deductions, the amount of deductions that can change each time you are paid, and the number of hours worked when your pay varies according to time worked. The running-payroll guidance describes these as gross wages, deductions such as tax and National Insurance, and net wages. An employer must also explain fixed deductions, such as a season-ticket loan repayment, either on the payslip or in a separate written statement supplied before the first payslip.
Your employer can use different labels. “Gross pay”, “gross earnings” or “total earnings” may refer to the pre-deduction amount. “Net pay”, “take-home pay” or “amount paid” may refer to the post-deduction amount. Some payrolls show employer pension or employer National Insurance as information-only items. Those employer costs should not be subtracted again when you reconcile your bank transfer.
| Payslip area | What it helps you check |
|---|---|
| Pay date and pay period | Which payment is being made and the period or work covered |
| Basic pay | Contracted salary, hourly pay or ordinary hours |
| Overtime, bonus, commission or holiday pay | Variable additions and whether the gross amount is correct |
| Gross pay | Earnings before the listed employee deductions |
| Taxable pay | Pay used for PAYE tax in the relevant payroll calculation |
| Tax code | The code used by the employer to calculate Income Tax |
| Income Tax or PAYE | Tax deducted or refunded for this period and often year to date |
| National Insurance | Employee NICs calculated under the applicable category and earnings rules |
| Workplace pension | Employee contribution and sometimes employer contribution or salary sacrifice |
| Student or postgraduate loan | Repayment deducted under the relevant plan or loan type |
| Other deductions | Items such as union fees, payroll giving, court orders, loan repayments or authorised benefits |
| Net pay | The amount normally sent to your bank account |
| Year-to-date totals | Pay and deductions accumulated in the tax year |
Not every payslip must display every optional field. However, the information should be sufficient to understand your pay and the required deductions. If your hours vary but the payslip does not show the hours or a clear breakdown, ask the employer how the variable pay was calculated.
Gross pay, taxable pay and net pay
Gross pay is the amount before deductions such as Income Tax and National Insurance. It can include more than basic salary: overtime, commission, bonuses, holiday pay, statutory pay and other earnings can all change the gross amount for a particular period. A monthly payslip with a bonus is not expected to look like a normal monthly payslip.
Taxable pay is the amount used to calculate PAYE Income Tax for the payment. It may differ from gross pay because of pension arrangements, salary sacrifice, benefits, expenses or other payroll treatment. The employer's Full Payment Submission to HMRC separately reports taxable pay, tax deducted or refunded, student-loan repayments, pay after statutory deductions and deductions from net pay. This is why “gross pay minus tax” is not a complete way to reproduce net pay.
Net pay is what remains after the deductions and adjustments shown on the payslip. If the amount transferred to your bank differs from net pay, check for a separate expense payment, advance, split payment, attachment, repayment or banking correction. Do not add employer-only contributions to your employee deductions.
The UK salary calculator can provide a scenario estimate, but it cannot see your HMRC tax code, pension setup, loan plan, benefits, attachment orders or employer-specific payroll rules. Use it for planning and use the payslip for reconciliation.
Tax code and PAYE Income Tax
Your tax code tells your employer how to calculate Income Tax from your pay. HMRC supplies the code, and you can usually find it on the payslip, in your HMRC online account or on a tax-code notice. You can have a different code for each employment or pension. A code can change when HMRC updates expected income, pension income, benefits, reliefs or an earlier underpayment.
The code is not a direct tax rate. It is an instruction that generally reflects the tax-free amount and adjustments HMRC expects to apply through PAYE. A changed code can therefore change the tax deduction even if your salary, hours and pension contribution are unchanged. Check the UK tax codes guide when the code looks unfamiliar, and use HMRC's official tax-code service before asking payroll to override it.
Some codes include a Week 1 or Month 1 indicator. HMRC's payroll reporting guidance identifies this as a separate indicator in the Full Payment Submission. It means the payroll calculation is not being operated on the usual cumulative basis in the same way. A new job, second job, pension or correction can create a timing difference, so compare the current code and basis with the previous payslip rather than judging one deduction in isolation.
If your payslip shows an emergency or temporary code, the correct response depends on why it was issued. Check your HMRC record and provide the employer with the information they require. Payroll cannot invent an HMRC code, and HMRC cannot correct your employer's hours or salary figure. The two records may need separate corrections.
National Insurance
Employee National Insurance is a separate deduction from Income Tax. It depends on your earnings, pay period, National Insurance category letter and the rules for the relevant tax year. The category letter can be shown on the payslip, although the exact presentation varies. A higher gross payment can increase National Insurance even when the tax-code number has not changed.
Do not interpret a fall in National Insurance as proof that your Income Tax is wrong. The two calculations use different rules and can respond differently to a bonus, salary sacrifice, pension contribution, statutory payment or change in category. If you changed age, employment status or qualifying circumstances, check whether the National Insurance category or eligibility changed.
Employer National Insurance may appear in an employer-contributions section. It is an employer cost and is not part of the employee net-pay calculation. If you are comparing a job offer, it can be useful to know that it exists; if you are checking a payslip, keep it separate from deductions taken from your pay.
Workplace pension and salary sacrifice
A pension line can be an employee contribution, an employer contribution, a salary-sacrifice reduction or a combination of entries. The tax and National Insurance effect depends on the pension arrangement. GOV.UK payroll guidance says pension deductions are made after National Insurance and normally before tax in the usual workplace-pension setup, but the exact treatment should be checked with the pension provider and payroll.
Look for three distinct questions:
- What amount did you contribute this pay period?
- What amount did your employer contribute?
- Was the contribution taken from pay, made through salary sacrifice or handled by another relief method?
An employee contribution is not necessarily the same as the pension amount credited to the scheme if the employer adds a contribution or uses a relief-at-source arrangement. The payslip may show only the payroll deduction, while the pension account shows the total received. If the contribution percentage or qualifying earnings base changes, ask payroll or the scheme administrator for the calculation.
Student and postgraduate loan deductions
Student-loan deductions are not ordinary Income Tax. Payroll uses the plan type and the official threshold and repayment rules for that plan. GOV.UK lists separate rules for Plan 1, Plan 2, Plan 4, Plan 5 and postgraduate loans, so two employees with identical salaries can have different deductions.
Check the plan label, the pay-period deduction and the year-to-date figure. A student loan is normally deducted through payroll once the employer has the relevant instruction, but a payslip may not explain why the plan was selected. If the plan is wrong, contact the Student Loans Company or the relevant official service as well as payroll. Do not simply ask payroll to remove a deduction that is supported by an official notice.
Student-loan deductions also differ from pension contributions and PAYE in timing. A monthly salary, weekly pay, bonus or irregular payment can produce a different deduction for that period. The student loan repayment guide explains the plan and threshold questions; the payslip remains the evidence of what your employer actually deducted.
Benefits in kind and other deductions
Benefits in kind can affect a payslip even when they do not appear as cash. If an employer payrolls a benefit, the taxable amount may be added to taxable pay so Income Tax is collected through payroll. The bank payment does not necessarily increase by the value of the benefit. Other benefits may be reported at year end through a P11D instead. Read the P11D and benefits-in-kind guide if the payslip shows a benefit code or if a tax-code notice includes a benefit that you no longer receive.
Other deductions must have an appropriate basis. GOV.UK says deductions generally need to be required or allowed by law, agreed in writing, authorised by the contract, required by a public authority or covered by specific circumstances such as an earlier overpayment or court order. A fixed deduction should be explained on the payslip or in a separate statement. If an amount appears for the first time, ask what it is, who authorised it and whether it is a deduction from gross pay or from net pay.
Do not assume that every deduction can reduce pay below the National Minimum Wage. The official rules contain exceptions and special cases, so a disputed deduction should be checked against the exact reason and contract rather than a general online rule.
Year-to-date figures and pay frequency
Year-to-date figures accumulate pay and deductions from the beginning of the tax year or the start of the relevant payroll record. They are useful for checking whether one-off pay has been included, whether a tax refund has been processed and whether a pension or loan deduction is building as expected.
The tax year starts on 6 April, so a payslip issued in April may begin a new year-to-date column even though the calendar year has not changed. If you changed employers, the new payroll may not contain every earlier figure until the employer receives the relevant starter information. A P45, starter declaration, HMRC record and current payslip can therefore show different stages of the transition.
Pay frequency also matters. Weekly, fortnightly, four-weekly and monthly pay use different pay periods and can produce different timing for tax, National Insurance, pension and student-loan deductions. A monthly employee should not divide a weekly threshold or deduction by four without checking the official payroll method.
How to check whether your payslip is correct
Reconcile a UK payslip
- 1Confirm the employer, pay date, pay period, hours and bank payment match the work and contract you expected.
- 2Check basic pay, overtime, bonus, commission, holiday pay, statutory pay, expenses and benefits against the payroll or HR record.
- 3Separate gross pay, taxable pay and net pay; identify whether a salary sacrifice or pension arrangement explains a difference.
- 4Read the tax code, National Insurance category and pay frequency, then compare them with HMRC and your previous payslip.
- 5Review Income Tax, National Insurance, pension, student loan and other deductions as separate lines rather than one combined percentage.
- 6Compare year-to-date totals and ask payroll or HMRC about the first unexplained difference, keeping the payslip and written response.
HMRC's official “check if the tax on your payslip is correct” guidance recommends using the gross pay and tax code from the payslip when checking Income Tax. If the calculation does not match, first check whether the code, pay frequency, cumulative basis, pension, benefits or other taxable income explains the difference. The guide is about Income Tax; it does not prove that National Insurance, student-loan or pension deductions are correct.
What to do when something is wrong
Ask payroll or HR to correct errors in salary, hours, overtime, bonus, pension, benefits, pay date or an unauthorised deduction. Give the pay period, line label, expected amount and evidence. Ask whether the correction will be made in the next payroll and whether an amended submission will be sent to HMRC. HMRC's payroll guidance says employers can send a corrected Full Payment Submission when information changes or an error is found.
Contact HMRC when the issue concerns your tax code, expected benefits, multiple jobs, tax-free amount or PAYE record. Use the Student Loans Company or the official student-finance service for a wrong loan-plan instruction. Use the pension provider for a missing pension payment or a contribution that does not match the scheme account. These systems are connected through payroll but they are not the same authority.
If the employer refuses to explain or correct a deduction, keep the payslips, contract, written deduction statement and correspondence. GOV.UK's employee guidance explains the permitted bases for deductions and points employees towards ACAS, Citizens Advice, a trade union or an Employment Tribunal where appropriate. A payroll disagreement may be an employment-rights matter rather than a tax-code matter.
Common mistakes
Treating net pay as salary
Net pay is the cash after deductions for one payment. It can change because of a bonus, unpaid leave, pension, loan, code or benefit even when the annual salary is unchanged.
Treating the tax code as a tax rate
The tax code is an HMRC instruction used by payroll. It is not the same as the percentage deducted from gross pay and should not be used to estimate National Insurance or student-loan repayments.
Combining every deduction into one percentage
PAYE, National Insurance, pension and student loans have different rules. A combined effective deduction can describe the result after the event but cannot explain the next pay run reliably.
Counting employer contributions as employee deductions
Employer pension and National Insurance contributions may be shown for information. They are not automatically deducted from your net pay.
Comparing one payslip with a P60 or P11D without matching the purpose
A payslip is period-specific. A P60 is an end-of-year PAYE summary, and a P11D is a benefits record. Differences can be expected; compare the same category and period.
Frequently Asked Questions
What must be on a UK payslip?
What is the difference between gross and net pay?
Why did my take-home pay change when my salary did not?
Is my tax code the same as my tax rate?
Why is my student-loan deduction different from a colleague’s?
Does an employer pension contribution reduce my net pay?
Who fixes a wrong UK payslip?
Can I use a payslip as proof of income?
Official sources
This guide uses official GOV.UK and HMRC material for payslip rights, PAYE, tax codes, National Insurance, pension and student-loan deductions, payroll reporting and permitted deductions:
Related Guides
Bonus Tax 2026/27: PAYE and National Insurance
How UK bonuses are taxed in 2026/27: PAYE, employee National Insurance, payroll timing, tax codes and the difference between cash and non-cash awards.
Overtime Tax 2026/27: PAYE and National Insurance
How UK overtime is taxed in 2026/27: PAYE, employee National Insurance, separate payday rules, tax bands and why overtime is not taxed at a special rate.
Second Job Tax UK 2026/27: Tax Codes, Allowance and National Insurance
How tax works when you have a second job in the UK in 2026/27: Personal Allowance, BR and D0 tax codes, National Insurance, HMRC updates and overpayment checks.
Review notes and assumptions
Reviewed
2026-09-22
Assumptions
- This guide explains a general UK PAYE payslip for the 2026/27 tax year; the employer's payroll record, HMRC notices and pension or loan administrator records take priority.
- Tax treatment can differ for Scottish taxpayers, directors, multiple jobs, irregular pay, statutory payments, salary sacrifice and benefits in kind.
- The student-loan thresholds and rates mentioned in official guidance depend on the plan type; this guide does not assume that every graduate has the same plan.