How PayLens calculates take-home pay

PayLens is a free estimate of what an employee keeps from a gross salary. This page explains where the numbers come from, what each rate means, what we assume, and what we leave out. It is not tax advice.

From gross to net

You enter a gross salary and how often it is quoted (per year, month, week or hour). PayLens converts it to an annual figure — over 14 salaries in Austria, Portugal and Greece, where that is the norm — and applies that country’s rules for the selected tax year: income tax bands and allowances, tax credits that phase in or out, social-security contributions with their thresholds and caps, and options such as pensions or student loans where the calculator offers them. Take-home pay is gross salary minus all of those deductions. Per-month and per-week figures are the annual result divided evenly.

Everything is calculated in your browser. Your inputs are kept in the page address so you can bookmark or share a result; they are not sent to a PayLens server.

Official sources and testing

Rates are never typed from memory. Each country and tax year has its own data file that records the source address and the date it was checked, and each calculator lists those sources under Figures & sources. Automated “golden” tests lock the results in; where a government worked example or a reputable payroll reference exists, the tests require PayLens to reproduce it.

Effective vs marginal rate

Effective rate is the share of your whole gross salary that goes in tax and contributions: total deductions ÷ gross. It answers “how much of my pay do I keep overall?”.

Marginal rate is the share of your next unit of pay that goes in tax and contributions. PayLens measures it by recalculating at a slightly higher salary, so allowance tapers, credits that fade out and contribution caps are all captured. It answers “what happens to a pay rise?”. A marginal rate can be much higher than the effective rate — the UK’s £100,000–£125,140 band, where the personal allowance is withdrawn, is the best-known example — and it can also drop above a contribution ceiling.

Assumptions by country

Calculators let you change the main options (region, pension, student loan and so on). Salary pages such as “£35,000 after tax” use each calculator’s default settings, which are:

Australia

An Australian resident for the full year, super paid on top of the salary, no HELP/HECS debt and no Medicare levy surcharge.

Austria

The salary paid in 14 instalments, with the 13th and 14th salaries taxed at the special 6% rate; no commuter allowance.

Canada

An Ontario resident (federal and Ontario tax, including the Ontario surtax and health premium) with basic credits only.

Czech Republic

The basic taxpayer credit only, with no spouse or child credits.

Denmark

The national-average municipal tax rate, the standard employment deductions and no church tax.

Finland

The national-average municipal tax rate, a person under 65, no church tax and no voluntary pension.

Germany

Steuerklasse I, statutory health insurance at the average Zusatzbeitrag, no children and no church tax; the Midijob band is not modelled.

Greece

The salary paid in 14 instalments, for a single person over 30 with no children.

Ireland

A single PAYE employee with the personal and PAYE tax credits and no pension contribution.

Italy

An employee without dependants, with default regional and municipal surcharge (addizionali) rates.

Netherlands

A single employee below state pension (AOW) age with the general and labour tax credits, and no 30% ruling.

New Zealand

A 3.5% KiwiSaver employee contribution, the Independent Earner Tax Credit claimed where eligible, and no student loan.

Norway

National rates with the standard minstefradrag and personfradrag; municipal variations are not modelled.

Poland

An employment contract for someone over 26 with standard costs, no PPK and no joint filing.

Portugal

Mainland Portugal, 14 salaries, a single person without dependants and only the standard general-expenses credit.

Spain

The standard combined state and regional IRPF scale for a single person without dependants; regional scales such as Madrid or Cataluña differ.

Sweden

The national-average municipal tax rate and the annual final tax (monthly withholding tables differ slightly), no church fee, under 66.

United Kingdom

England, Wales & Northern Ireland rates (not Scotland), a standard tax code, no pension contribution and no student loan.

United States

A single filer in California (federal, FICA and California state tax including SDI), the standard deduction, no 401(k) and no local or city tax.

What is not included

• Other income (savings, dividends, rental, self-employment), benefits and allowances.
• Church taxes and fees (Germany, Denmark, Finland, Sweden).
• Most family and child credits, spouse credits and joint filing.
• Local and municipal differences where a national average or a single default is used.
• Special regimes, such as the Dutch 30% ruling, Germany’s Midijob band or Spain’s regional scales.
• Private health insurance, voluntary benefits, salary sacrifice beyond pensions, and benefits in kind.
• Your personal tax code or payroll adjustments for previous years.

Each calculator’s “Your details” panel states its own exclusions.

Annual tax vs payroll withholding

PayLens calculates the tax you owe for the whole year. Your employer’s payroll deducts tax each pay period using withholding tables or cumulative methods, which can differ month to month and are reconciled later (for example through a tax return or year-end adjustment). Over a full year at a steady salary the two should be close, but a single payslip may not match exactly. Sweden is a known example: Skatteverket’s monthly tables withhold slightly more than the annual final tax.

Updates and corrections

Tax figures change every year. When a new tax year’s official figures are published, we add a new data file with its sources and tests rather than editing the old one, so earlier years stay available. Countries still on an older year are flagged on their calculator and in the table above.

Found a figure that looks wrong? Please tell us which page, the salary and settings you used, and the source you are comparing against.