Take-home pay calculator
What your day rate is really worth.
A day rate multiplied by a full year is a fantasy figure. This shows what lands in your account once costs, income tax and National Insurance have taken their share, and how much of every invoice you should be putting aside.
Your year
Not days worked, but days a client pays for. 180 is a realistic year for many freelancers.
Software, accountant, insurance, equipment, travel.
What lands in your account
You keep
£50,751
a year, about £4,229 a month
- Invoiced
- £72,000
- Business costs
- −£4,000
- Taxable profit
- £68,000
- Income tax
- −£14,632
- Class 4 National Insurance
- −£2,617
- Take-home pay
- £50,751
2026/27 rates for England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Sole trader, no other income.
Set aside from every invoice
24%
Move this much of each payment into a separate account the day it lands, and January stops being frightening.
Why the set-aside matters
Tax on self-employment is not deducted before you get paid. The whole invoice hits your account, feels like yours, and gets spent. Then a bill arrives months later covering income tax, Class 4 National Insurance, and often a payment on account for the year ahead. Moving a fixed percentage into a separate account on the day each invoice clears is the single habit that prevents this.
Income tax is charged on profit above your personal allowance of £12,570, at 20% up to £50,270, then 40%, then 45% above £125,140. The allowance itself is withdrawn by £1 for every £2 you earn over £100,000, which quietly creates a 60% band between £100,000 and £125,140.
Class 4 National Insurance is 6% on profits between £12,570 and £50,270, then 2% on everything above. The mandatory Class 2 charge was abolished in April 2024, though you can still pay it voluntarily to protect your State Pension record.