Umbrella company take home pay calculator (2026/27)

How does the umbrella calculator work?

Your contract or assignment rate isn’t the same as your taxable salary. The rate paid to the umbrella company also has to cover the costs of employing you.

We start with your assignment income, then deduct the umbrella margin and employment costs to arrive at your gross pay. PAYE tax, Employee National Insurance and any other deductions you’ve selected are then calculated.

If you’re new to umbrella working, our guide to umbrella assignment rates explains why the rate paid to the umbrella is higher than the gross pay shown on your payslip.

What is deducted from an umbrella assignment rate?

Before your gross pay can be calculated, the umbrella has to account for the costs associated with employing you. These typically include:

• the umbrella company’s margin;
• Employer National Insurance;
• the Apprenticeship Levy; and
• employer pension costs, where applicable.

These are employment costs, not deductions from your gross salary. That’s an important distinction. Employer NI, for example, shouldn’t simply be taken from an employee’s agreed gross pay.

Once gross pay has been established, the usual employee deductions are made, including PAYE Income Tax and Employee National Insurance. Pension and student loan deductions may also apply.

See our guide to umbrella employment costs and deductions for a full breakdown.

Tax rates used for 2026/27

The calculator uses the 2026/27 PAYE and National Insurance rates and thresholds.

For England, Wales and Northern Ireland, the standard Personal Allowance is £12,570. Income above the allowance is taxed at 20% within the basic rate band, 40% at the higher rate and 45% at the additional rate. The Personal Allowance is gradually withdrawn where adjusted net income exceeds £100,000.

Scottish taxpayers can select Scotland to use the separate Scottish Income Tax bands and rates.

Employee National Insurance is generally charged at 8% between the Primary Threshold and Upper Earnings Limit, and 2% above it. Employer NI is calculated separately as an employment cost.

You can check the current rates and thresholds directly in HMRC’s 2026/27 rates and thresholds for employers.

If you aren’t using the standard 1257L tax code, you can select a different tax code in the calculator.

Holiday pay – rolled up or accrued

As an umbrella employee, you’re entitled to paid holiday. How that holiday pay is handled affects what you see on your payslip.

With rolled-up holiday pay, holiday pay is added to your normal pay rather than being held back until you take leave. With accrued holiday pay, the money is retained and paid when you take holiday or otherwise become entitled to it.

There are specific rules governing when rolled-up holiday pay can be used. See GOV.UK’s holiday pay guidance and our guides to umbrella holiday pay and rolled-up holiday pay.

Pension contributions and salary sacrifice

If you’re enrolled in your umbrella’s workplace pension, you can include employee and employer pension contributions in the calculation.

Some umbrellas also offer salary sacrifice for pension contributions. You give up part of your salary and the umbrella pays the agreed amount into your pension as an employer contribution. This reduces the salary on which Income Tax and National Insurance are calculated.

Rules and charges vary between providers, so check the details with the umbrella if you’re planning to make substantial contributions. HMRC explains the tax treatment in its salary sacrifice guidance, while our guide to umbrella salary sacrifice pensions looks specifically at contractors.

Student loan repayments

Student loan repayments can also be collected through umbrella payroll. Select your repayment plan in the calculator and add a Postgraduate Loan if one applies.

The amount deducted depends on your earnings and the threshold for your particular plan. The official student loan repayment guidance on GOV.UK lists the current thresholds and rates.

We also have a guide to student loan repayments for contractors.

Why do umbrella calculators give different results?

It’s quite normal for umbrella calculators to produce slightly different figures, even with the same assignment rate.

There may be a simple explanation: different umbrella margins, working patterns, pension assumptions or treatment of holiday pay. Payroll rounding can create small differences too.

Large differences are another matter. If two umbrellas are using the same assignment rate and assumptions, one shouldn’t be able to produce dramatically higher PAYE take-home pay simply because its illustration looks more attractive.

Be particularly wary of unusually high umbrella take-home pay claims. HMRC warns workers about tax avoidance arrangements involving umbrella companies, including schemes where some or all of your remuneration is presented as something other than normal taxable pay.

Check the figures against your umbrella illustration

Before joining an umbrella, ask for an illustration based on your actual assignment rate and circumstances rather than relying on a generic take-home percentage.

Your agency should also provide a Key Information Document (KID), showing key information about the assignment and how you’ll be paid.

Once you start work, check your actual payslips. Our guide explains how to check umbrella payslip deductions, and the Government also provides an official umbrella company payslip checker.

Choosing an umbrella company

Don’t choose an umbrella simply because its illustration shows the highest take-home pay. Compare the margin, holiday pay arrangements, pension options and the support you’ll receive.

Be very wary of schemes claiming you can keep an unusually high proportion of your assignment income by receiving some of your pay outside normal PAYE. If the numbers look substantially better than a standard PAYE calculation, find out exactly why before signing up.

Our umbrella company comparison lists established providers. If you’re new to umbrella contracting, start with our guide to how umbrella companies work.

How accurate is the calculator?

We’ve built and tested the calculator to give a realistic estimate of umbrella take-home pay based on the information you enter and the 2026/27 tax rules.

Your actual payslip may differ slightly because PAYE is calculated by pay period, payroll systems apply rounding, and your tax position can change during the year. Umbrellas can also operate pension and holiday pay arrangements differently.

Use the result as a good indication of what you should expect to receive, rather than an exact prediction of an individual payslip.