The salary behind £1,500 a month
£1,500 a month is £18,000 a year, or £346 a week. Working back from that figure, the table shows the gross salary that delivers it under the most common deduction patterns.
| Your situation | Salary needed | Income tax | National Insurance | Other deductions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Standard code, no pension or loan | £20,112 | £1,508 | £603 | |
| With a Plan 2 student loan | £20,112 | £1,508 | £603 | Loan £0 |
| With a 5% pension contribution | £21,295 | £1,532 | £698 | Pension £1,065 |
| Plan 2 loan and 5% pension | £21,295 | £1,532 | £698 | Loan £0, pension £1,065 |
| Scottish taxpayer, no pension or loan | £20,057 | £1,458 | £599 |
How the working goes
Take-home pay cannot be turned back into a salary with a single percentage, because the deductions are layered: nothing on the first £12,570, then 20% income tax and 8% National Insurance up to £50,270, then 40% and 2%, with the personal allowance withdrawn between £100,000 and £125,140. The calculator behind this page finds the salary by searching for the gross figure whose take-home equals £18,000 exactly, and then repeats the search with each deduction added.
On the standard pattern, deductions take £2,112 of the £20,112 salary, 10.5% of it. Because the salary is within the basic rate band, each extra pound of take-home you want costs about £1.39 of gross pay at the margin, since 20% tax and 8% National Insurance come off first. The net to gross calculator runs the search for any target and any combination of deductions.
What the salary works out at
| Gross salary | £20,112 |
| Gross a month | £1,676 |
| Gross a week | £387 |
| Gross an hour, 37.5 hour week | £10.31 |
| Gross an hour, 40 hour week | £9.67 |
| Take-home an hour, 37.5 hour week | £9.23 |
Job adverts quote the gross figure, so £20,112 is the number to look for, or £10.31 an hour for a full-time hourly role. The hourly rate ladder shows every hourly rate as a yearly figure, and the salary after tax pages work in the other direction.
Why the other patterns need more
A student loan takes 9% of pay above the plan threshold before the money reaches you, so the salary has to be high enough to cover the repayment as well as the tax on it: £0 more on Plan 2. A 5% pension contribution needs £1,183 more in salary, less than the £1,065 contribution itself, because the contribution reduces the pay that is taxed. In Scotland the salary needed is £55 lower, because Scottish income tax has a 19% starter rate that takes less at this level. The take-home pay calculator confirms the monthly figure for any salary and pattern.