klarai
Guide · updated 17 September 2026
The UK Payslip Guide
A payslip shows what you earned (gross), what was taken (tax, NI, pension, student loan) and what hit the bank (net / take-home). This is educational information, not financial advice. Klarai is not a bank and is not FCA-regulated.
Gross pay
Full earnings for the period before deductions. A £28,000 salary is about £2,333.33 gross a month (£28,000 ÷ 12). Every other line starts here.
Your tax code
The most common code is 1257L — £12,570 Personal Allowance. The number is the allowance ÷ 10. L is standard. BR often means a second job; 0T means no allowance; W1/M1 is an emergency code. A wrong code is a common way people overpay tax.
Income Tax (PAYE)
Pay As You Earn: your employer collects Income Tax from wages instead of you paying HMRC in one bill. Bands change each tax year — check GOV.UK for the current rates.
National Insurance (NI)
A separate deduction from Income Tax. It funds state benefits including the State Pension. The letter on your NI category (often A) sits next to the amount.
Pension contributions
Workplace pensions are usually deducted before or after tax depending on relief method (net pay vs relief at source). The line is easy to miss and easy to confuse with NI.
Student loan repayments
Taken through PAYE once you earn over the plan threshold. The plan number on the slip matters. This is not extra tax — it is the loan being collected.
Net pay
What should match the bank credit, give or take timing. If it does not, check unpaid hours, salary sacrifice, or an emergency tax code.
Why months look different
Three paydays in a month, bonuses, unpaid leave, or a tax-code change will move net pay even if the contract salary did not.