Tax Burden Calculator
Enter your salary and see the full picture, not just Income Tax and National Insurance, but an estimate of VAT, Fuel Duty, and Insurance Premium Tax too, plus your effective tax rate and personal Tax Freedom Day.
Optional, assumes relief at source.
Optional, defaults to no plan.
Indirect taxes (estimated)
The rest is assumed saved or invested, not exposed to VAT.
Go deeper: break down your spending
Replaces the blended VAT estimate above with your own actual spending mix. Rent and groceries are mostly VAT-free, so this is often more accurate than the average.
Your tax burden
Enter a salary to see your tax burden.
Inputs
| Field | Required? | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Annual gross salary | Required | The only input you need to get a result. |
| Where you pay tax | Optional | Toggle: Rest of UK / Scotland. Defaults to Rest of UK. Changes Stage 1's Income Tax only. VAT, Fuel Duty, and Insurance Premium Tax are unaffected. See Scottish Income Tax Explained. |
| Pension contribution | Optional | Defaults to 0%. Assumes relief at source (for other methods, use the Salary Calculator instead). |
| Student loan plan | Optional | Defaults to "None." |
| % of take-home spent | Optional | Defaults to 90% (10% assumed saved). Drives the default VAT estimate. |
| Fuel spend | Optional | Monthly, defaults to £0. Feeds both VAT and Fuel Duty. |
| Insurance premiums | Optional | Annual, defaults to £0. |
| "Go deeper" spending breakdown | Optional | Replaces the blended VAT estimate with your own rent/groceries/retail/fuel split. |
Output
- Effective tax rate: total tax burden ÷ gross salary.
- Your personal Tax Freedom Day: the day of the year up to which your earnings, if every pound went straight to tax first, would cover your total tax bill for the year. See Your Total Tax Burden for further details.
- Stage 1, your payslip: the same breakdown as the Salary Calculator.
- Stage 2, spending it: estimated VAT, Fuel Duty, and Insurance Premium Tax, and what's left as real spending power.
A note on accuracy
Income Tax, National Insurance, take-home pay, and student loan repayments are exact, calculated the same way the Salary Calculator does. VAT, Fuel Duty, and Insurance Premium Tax are estimates. VAT uses a sourced blended rate (or your own spending breakdown, if you use "go deeper"); Fuel Duty assumes an average pump price to convert your fuel spend into litres; Insurance Premium Tax assumes the standard rate throughout. Council Tax isn't included at all. See Your Total Tax Burden for why, and Council Tax Explained to add your own figure by hand.
This tool provides an estimate for illustration only, not a substitute for your actual payslip, tax return, or personalised financial advice. See the disclaimer for more detail.
Calculations shown are based on 2026/27 Income Tax, National Insurance, VAT, Fuel Duty, and Insurance Premium Tax rates, see last review date below.