Answers · UK 2025/26

What is my take-home through an umbrella company on a £650 day rate in 2026/27?

On a £650 day rate through an umbrella over about 220 days, your assignment income is roughly £143,000. 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 £73,300 to £81,000 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 £650 day rate over about 220 days, assignment income is roughly £143,000. 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 £123,300, on which you pay Income Tax of about £41,390 (with the Personal Allowance tapering across most of this income) and employee National Insurance of about £4,480. 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 £73,300 to £81,000 a year depending on the margin and pension treatment. At this level, sacrificing part of the salary into a pension can meaningfully reduce the impact of the £100,000-£125,140 Personal Allowance taper zone. Use the take-home pay calculator to model the salary after umbrella deductions and pension.