How much tax do I pay on £21,000 in the UK?

Full answer

On a £21,000 annual salary in 2026/27, the first £12,570 is covered by your tax-free Personal Allowance. The remaining £8,430 is taxed entirely within the 20% basic rate band, producing £1,686 in Income Tax. National Insurance is charged at 8% on earnings between the £12,570 Primary Threshold and the £50,270 Upper Earnings Limit, so 8% of £8,430 gives £674.40. Combined deductions of £2,360.40 leave £18,639.60 take-home pay a year, roughly £1,553.30 a month or £358.45 a week. £21,000 is comfortably above the 2026/27 National Living Wage floor for a full-time worker, so this figure is typical for an entry-level administrative, retail supervisor, or junior clerical role. In Scotland the calculation is slightly different because of the extra starter and intermediate bands: taxable income of £8,430 attracts starter rate (19%) on the first £3,967 and basic rate (20%) on the rest, giving roughly £1,646.33 Income Tax -- about £40 less than the rest of the UK. If you have a Plan 5 student loan, no repayment applies at £21,000 because the 2026/27 threshold is £25,000, and your salary is below it. Someone on Plan 1 or Plan 4, whose thresholds are £26,900 and £33,795 respectively, would also pay no student loan repayment at this income level. Always check whether your payslip shows the correct 1257L tax code, since an incorrect code can mean paying more or less tax than this example.

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