Answers · UK 2025/26

What is my take-home through an umbrella company on a £550 day rate in 2026/27?

On a £550 day rate through an umbrella over about 220 days, your assignment income is roughly £121,000. After the umbrella deducts employer National Insurance, the Apprenticeship Levy, its margin, then your Income Tax and employee National Insurance, take-home is typically around £65,600 to £72,900 a year.

Last updated: 10 July 2026Last reviewed: 10 July 2026How we verify

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An umbrella company employs you and runs your pay through PAYE, which is common for inside-IR35 contracts. The day rate quoted to an umbrella is the assignment rate, out of which the umbrella must cover employment costs before working out your gross salary. On a £550 day rate over about 220 days, assignment income is roughly £121,000. From this the umbrella deducts its weekly or monthly margin (often £15 to £30 a week, roughly £1,200 a year), employer National Insurance at 15% on pay above £5,000, and the 0.5% Apprenticeship Levy, leaving a gross taxable salary of roughly £104,200, on which you pay Income Tax of about £29,960 (with the Personal Allowance starting to taper above £100,000) and employee National Insurance of about £4,090. Because the employer costs are funded from the assignment rate rather than added on top, take-home is lower than a naive percentage-of-day-rate estimate suggests, typically landing around £65,600 to £72,900 a year depending on the margin and pension treatment. Salary sacrifice pension contributions become especially valuable at this level because they help mitigate the Personal Allowance taper as well as cutting Income Tax and National Insurance. Use the take-home pay calculator to model the salary after umbrella deductions and pension.