Salary sacrifice calculator 2026/27
Compare estimated take-home before and after sacrificing contractual salary into a workplace pension.
How the comparison works
The first scenario uses salary with no pension deduction. The second reduces contractual cash salary by the entered sacrifice before the standard Income Tax, employee NI and supported student-loan calculations. The sacrificed amount is shown separately as pension value, not take-home cash.
Cash cost and pension value are different. A £6,000 sacrifice does not normally reduce take-home by the full £6,000 because some tax and NI deductions are avoided. The employer’s pension credit and any sharing of employer NI savings depend on scheme rules.
Checks the calculator cannot make
- Whether your employer offers salary sacrifice or accepts the chosen amount
- Whether reduced cash pay would breach National Minimum Wage rules
- Effects on statutory pay, life cover, mortgage references or salary-linked benefits
- Pension annual allowance, tapering, carry-forward or lifetime planning
- Employer contributions or sharing of employer NI savings
Official sources
- HMRC: salary sacrifice and the effects on PAYE
- GOV.UK: tax relief on private pension contributions
- GOV.UK: pension annual allowance
Read salary sacrifice, net pay and relief at source compared before treating one pension method like another.