Answers · UK 2025/26

How much tax do I pay on a £20,000 bonus in the UK?

A £20,000 bonus is taxed at your marginal rate. A basic-rate taxpayer whose bonus stays under the higher rate threshold keeps about £14,400 after 20% Income Tax and 8% National Insurance; a higher-rate taxpayer keeps about £11,600 after 40% tax and 2% NI.

Last updated: 3 July 2026Last reviewed: 3 July 2026How we verify

Full answer

A bonus is taxed as ordinary earnings at whatever marginal rate it falls into once added to your salary, for 2026/27. Two worked examples. Basic-rate taxpayer (salary £25,000, bonus taking total to £45,000, still under the £50,270 higher rate threshold): the £20,000 bonus sits entirely in the 20% band, so Income Tax is £4,000 and National Insurance at 8% is £1,600, leaving £14,400 net. Higher-rate taxpayer (salary £70,000, already above £50,270): the bonus is taxed entirely at 40% = £8,000 plus 2% NI = £400, leaving £11,600 net. At £20,000, a bonus is highly likely to push total income across at least one important threshold -- £50,270 (higher rate), £60,000 (start of the High Income Child Benefit Charge taper) or £100,000 (start of the Personal Allowance taper) -- so the split of the bonus across bands often matters more than a single flat-rate estimate. Anyone with a salary already close to one of these thresholds should model the exact split using a bonus tax calculator rather than assuming the whole bonus is taxed at one rate. Salary-sacrificing a large bonus like this into a pension is one of the most effective ways to avoid crossing these thresholds altogether, since sacrificed amounts do not count towards adjusted net income for the Personal Allowance taper or the Child Benefit Charge.