Agency Care Worker Tax UK 2026/27: Multiple Payslips, NI and Mileage
Care workers placed by agencies with multiple clients or care homes often get several payslips a month. Full worked example on £24,000 income and how mileage between visits is treated.
Why agency care work looks complicated on payslips
Agency care workers often see several line items or even separate payslip references across a pay period, reflecting different clients, contracts or shift types the agency has placed them on. This can look like multiple jobs, but for tax purposes it's normally still a single PAYE employment with one tax code applied — the complexity is in the agency's internal billing and rostering, not in how HMRC treats your income.
Take-Home Pay Calculator
Calculate your net salary after income tax, National Insurance and student loan deductions.
Open Take-Home Pay calculatorWorked example: £24,000 income
Gross annual income: £24,000
Income tax: (£24,000 − £12,570) × 20% = £11,430 × 20% = £2,286
Employee National Insurance: (£24,000 − £12,570) × 8% = £11,430 × 8% = £914
Total tax and NI: £3,200
Take-home: £24,000 − £3,200 = £20,800
Fuel Cost Calculator
Calculate the fuel cost for any journey based on distance, MPG and fuel price.
Open Fuel Cost calculatorMileage between visits: an easy claim to miss
If your agency doesn't reimburse mileage at all, or pays a rate below HMRC's approved 45p/mile (first 10,000 miles) figure, you're entitled to claim Mileage Allowance Relief on the difference — reducing your taxable income by the gap between what you were paid and the HMRC rate. For a care worker driving between several visits a day, this can add up to a meaningful amount across a year, and it's claimed either via a simple P87 form for smaller amounts or through Self Assessment if you're already required to file for other reasons.
National Living Wage and travel time
Care work has historically been an area HMRC and the Low Pay Commission have flagged for compliance issues, particularly around whether travel time between client visits is correctly counted as working time when calculating whether the National Living Wage has been met. If your effective hourly rate, once travel time between visits (not just visit time itself) is included, falls below the current National Living Wage, that's worth raising with your agency or reporting to HMRC's minimum wage enforcement team.
Minimum Wage Calculator
Check the UK National Living Wage and National Minimum Wage rates for 2025.
Open Minimum Wage calculatorFiling and paying
As a PAYE employee, tax and NI are deducted automatically each pay period. If you want to claim mileage relief your agency hasn't already reimbursed, use a P87 form for claims under £2,500 a year, or include it in a Self Assessment return if you already file one for other reasons.
uk-mileage-allowance-amap-complete-guide-2026Frequently asked questions
Are agency care workers employed or self-employed?
The great majority of agency care workers are employees of the care agency for tax purposes, with PAYE income tax and employee National Insurance deducted from each payslip, even though they're placed with different clients or care homes. Genuinely self-employed domiciliary care work exists but is less common and depends on real independence over hours, rates and how the work is carried out.
Can care workers claim mileage between home visits?
Yes, in most cases. Travel between different care visits during a shift (not the first journey from home to your first visit, or the last journey home) is generally treated as a deductible business journey, at 45p/mile for the first 10,000 miles. Many care agencies pay a mileage allowance directly; if yours doesn't (or pays less than the HMRC rate), you may be able to claim Mileage Allowance Relief on the shortfall through Self Assessment or a P87 form.
What if my care agency pays less than 45p a mile?
You can claim tax relief on the difference between what your employer pays and the HMRC-approved 45p/25p rates, via a P87 form (for claims under £2,500) or through Self Assessment (for larger claims), reducing your taxable income by the shortfall amount.
How much tax does an agency care worker pay on £24,000 income?
Income tax and employee National Insurance combined come to roughly £3,600, leaving take-home pay of approximately £20,400 across the year, before accounting for any additional mileage relief that might further reduce the tax bill.
Do I need to check the National Living Wage applies to my care work?
Yes — care workers, especially those doing sleep-in shifts or back-to-back visits with minimal travel time built in, have historically been an area where employers under-calculated National Minimum/Living Wage compliance once travel time between visits is properly counted as working time. It's worth checking your effective hourly rate against the current National Living Wage once travel time between visits is included.
Try the calculators
Take-Home Pay Calculator
Calculate your net salary after income tax, National Insurance and student loan deductions.
Fuel Cost Calculator
Calculate the fuel cost for any journey based on distance, MPG and fuel price.
Minimum Wage Calculator
Check the UK National Living Wage and National Minimum Wage rates for 2025.
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