Guide
Autumn Budget 2026: Check Your Take-Home Pay
A Budget headline is only the start of a pay calculation. Your tax region, pay period, pension and student loan can change the answer. Use this checklist to record today’s position and make a useful comparison when the official measures are available.
Quick answer
HM Treasury has confirmed the Budget for Wednesday 28 October 2026. This guide is preparation, not a forecast of tax changes. The calculator and salary tables currently model 2026/27 rules. Before applying an announcement to your payslip, check its effective date, who it covers and whether it changes an employee deduction.
On this page
What is confirmed before the Budget?
HM Treasury’s dated announcement confirms 28 October 2026. The current tax year runs from 6 April 2026 to 5 April 2027. Those dates do not mean that every Budget measure will start on Budget day or at the next payday.
This page was reviewed on 16 October, before the Budget. It does not predict a tax rise, a threshold change or a pension-policy change. The tools linked here provide a baseline under their stated tax year; a result is not a calculation of unannounced Budget measures.
After an announcement, look for the relevant Treasury or HMRC policy document and its commencement date. A proposal, a future-year change and a rule already in force should not be put into the same “after Budget” calculation.
Make a current take-home pay baseline
- Choose the same gross salary and tax region. Scottish Income Tax has different bands. Do not compare an England estimate with a Scotland estimate and treat the difference as a Budget effect.
- Start with the salary table. It shows one-job annual estimates with a standard Personal Allowance, including its income taper, and employee NI. Pension and student loan deductions are excluded. Monthly figures are the annual estimate divided by 12.
- Add your actual assumptions in the calculator. Use the relevant pension method and contribution basis, assigned student loan plan, tax code and any salary sacrifice. A pension percentage alone does not describe the whole arrangement.
- Keep a copy of the assumptions. The downloadable salary-table CSV includes its tax year, region, assumptions and source links. Keep those labels if you reuse the figures in a budget or an offer comparison.
For example, comparing a £40,000 salary before a change with £42,000 afterwards combines a pay rise with any rule change. To isolate the rule change, first compare £40,000 under both sets of confirmed rules with all other inputs held constant. Then calculate the effect of the separate pay rise.
Save your current pay baseline
Download the public regional table with its assumptions, or calculate your own estimate before comparing any confirmed changes.
Which part of an announcement could affect your pay?
Use this as a reading checklist when measures are published. It is not a list of expected announcements.
| If an announcement concerns | What to check before comparing |
|---|---|
| Income Tax rates or thresholds | The affected band, the tax region and the effective tax year. A rate for one band does not apply to every pound of gross salary. |
| National Insurance | Whether the measure concerns employee or employer contributions, which category applies and the start date. Employer NI is a separate employer cost, not the employee NI line deducted from take-home pay. |
| Pensions or salary sacrifice | The arrangement covered, contribution basis, tax and NI treatment, and any transition rules. Use your employer’s confirmed arrangement rather than assuming all pension methods work alike. |
| Student loans or income-related support | The repayment plan or scheme, the relevant income definition, household or individual conditions and the date used by that scheme. A payroll estimate alone does not establish eligibility. |
Write down the exact measure and source next to each changed input. If the necessary detail has not been published, leave the “after” figure unresolved rather than supplying an assumed rate.
Separate the announcement date from the payslip date
For each confirmed measure, record four things: announcement date, effective date, affected tax year and affected pay line. Then check the period covered by your payslip. A payment made after Budget day does not by itself show that a Budget measure has been applied.
Annual estimates divided by 12 are useful for comparing salaries. They are not a guarantee of an exact monthly deduction where pay varies, a tax code changes, employment starts part-way through a year or cumulative PAYE adjustments apply.
If you are comparing two payslips, start with gross pay and each deduction separately. A bonus, unpaid leave, changed pension contribution or new loan deduction can alter net pay independently of the Budget.
When an updated calculation is useful
A useful comparison states the rules used on both sides, the effective dates and the assumptions kept constant. Check the calculator’s selected tax year and methodology before relying on its output for a newly announced measure.
For a current payslip question, use the checker to compare the figures you enter with an estimate. For a future salary decision, use the calculator with confirmed rules. For an unexplained change between payments, the payslip comparison tool helps identify which amounts moved; it cannot establish why payroll changed them.
Keep your own pay records private. You do not need to post a payslip or your salary to use this preparation checklist. The public regional salary table can be shared without including personal figures.
What to check
- Save your current tax year, tax region, gross salary and pay frequency.
- Keep your tax code, pension method, student loan plan and salary-sacrifice assumptions alongside the estimate.
- For each measure, record the official source, affected people, effective date and deduction it changes.
- Compare the same salary and assumptions before attributing a take-home change to the Budget.
What to do next
- Start with the current regional salary table, or add your own pension and loan settings in the calculator.
- Read the published measure rather than applying a headline percentage to all of your salary.
- When a change takes effect, compare the relevant payslip lines and ask payroll about unexplained differences.
Try the tool
Check your payslip or model a change.
Use the checker if you already have a payslip. Use the calculator if you want to model take-home pay or salary-sacrifice changes before payday.
About this guide
Published by IsMyPayRight to help you understand pay and deductions. Guides use official reference material and practical examples, with AI assistance in content preparation.
This is general guidance, not a professional review of your circumstances. Read our editorial process and corrections information.
Methodology and sources
See how the calculations work, which sources they use, how results are tested, and which payroll details the estimates cannot verify.
Common questions
- When is the Autumn Budget 2026?
- HM Treasury has confirmed Wednesday 28 October 2026. This preparation guide was reviewed on 16 October, before the Budget.
- Does this calculator already include the October 2026 Budget?
- Before the Budget, the calculator and salary tables model their stated 2026/27 rules. They do not predict unannounced changes. Check the selected tax year, published methodology and effective date before using a calculation for a new measure.
- Will my next payslip automatically change after Budget day?
- An announcement date alone does not establish when a measure affects payroll. Check the measure’s effective date, who it covers and the pay period. Gross pay, pension, loan or tax-code changes may also alter your next payment.
- How do I make a fair before-and-after comparison?
- Keep salary, tax region, pension, student loan and other assumptions the same. Change only the confirmed rule being compared, use its effective date and label the tax year. Calculate a separate pay rise separately.
Official sources
Official sources
Use these references to check the rules behind this guide. Check the tax year and your circumstances before applying an example to your own pay.