You've had a big bonus or pay rise
A big bonus can lose half or more to tax once it crosses £60,000 with children, or £100,000. See what it's worth as cash, and how much more you'd keep by putting it in your pension.
Your answer
Enter your salary and your bonus or pay rise to see what it's worth and how to keep more of it.
About this calculator
For anyone with a big bonus or pay rise this tax year. It shows what you'd keep as cash, the share lost to income tax, National Insurance, student loan and the Child Benefit charge.
Then it compares what else you could do with it: swap it into your pension through your employer, pay it into a personal pension, give it to charity with Gift Aid, or pay just enough into a pension to get your income back under £100,000 or £60,000.
What happens to your answers
We don’t keep them. Your answers go to our server to do the sums and aren’t stored or logged. If you copy a link to your answers, they’re in the link itself, so only share it with people you trust.
How it’s worked out
We work out your take-home pay with and without the bonus, using this year's income tax, National Insurance and student loan rates. Income over £100,000 loses £1 of tax-free allowance for every £2, so between £100,000 and £125,140 you lose 60p or more of each pound. With children, 1% of your Child Benefit is paid back for each £200 of income over £60,000.
Swapping a bonus into your pension (bonus sacrifice) means no income tax or National Insurance on it, and your employer saves its National Insurance too. A personal pension gets income tax relief: the provider adds 20% and you claim the rest on your tax return. Both lower your income for the £100,000 and Child Benefit tests, and so does Gift Aid.
Pension payments count against your yearly pension allowance of £60,000 (less for very high earners), together with what your employer pays. Unused allowance from the last 3 years can be carried forward.
Worked example
As cash you'd keep £18,131 of your £35,000 bonus (48.2% goes in tax and the Child Benefit charge). Swap it into your pension and you'd have £16,869 more between cash and pension.
2026/27 tax year · England · salary £70,000 after any pension taken before tax · bonus paid this tax year · Child Benefit for 2 children · no student loan · no other income
| Your bonus | £35,000 |
|---|---|
| Income tax, including £2,500 of tax-free allowance lost over £100,000 | − £15,000 |
| National Insurance | − £700 |
| More Child Benefit paid back (the Child Benefit charge) | − £1,169 |
| You keep as cash (48.2% lost) | £18,131 |
| Swap it into your pension: £35,000 given up from your pay, so your pension gets | £35,000 |
| Swap it into your pension: cash you keep | £0 |
| Swap it into your pension: cash plus pension, more than taking it as cash | £16,869 |
| Pay it into a personal pension: £35,000 paid in (£28,000 from your bank, the provider adds the rest), so your pension gets | £35,000 |
| Pay it into a personal pension: cash you keep after the higher-rate relief you claim back | − £700 |
| Pay it into a personal pension: cash plus pension, more than taking it as cash | £16,169 |
| Give it to charity with Gift Aid: you give £28,000 and the charity gets | £35,000 |
| Give it to charity with Gift Aid: cash you keep after the gift and any tax back | − £700 |
| Pension to get back to £100,000: £5,000 given up from your pay, so your pension gets | £5,000 |
| Pension to get back to £100,000: cash you keep | £16,231 |
| Pension to get back to £100,000: cash plus pension, more than taking it as cash | £3,100 |
| Pension to get back to £60,000: £35,000 given up from your pay, £10,000 paid in (£8,000 from your bank, the provider adds the rest), so your pension gets | £45,000 |
| Pension to get back to £60,000: cash you keep after the higher-rate relief you claim back | − £4,831 |
| Pension to get back to £60,000: cash plus pension, more than taking it as cash | £22,037 |
Worked out using HMRC's published rates for the 2026/27 tax year (6 April 2026 to 5 April 2027), on a yearly basis.
Questions people ask
Is it worth putting my bonus in my pension?
Often, if your bonus takes you over £60,000 with children or over £100,000: each pound in your pension can cost you 40p or less. But you can't usually take pension money out until you're 55 (57 from April 2028), and it's taxed when you do, with a quarter usually tax-free.
When do I have to ask for bonus sacrifice?
Before the bonus is paid, and ideally before you're entitled to it. HMRC only accepts a swap agreed before the pay is earned. Ask your employer what they offer and whether they add their National Insurance saving.
What if I go over my pension allowance?
There's a tax charge on the excess, at your top rate. You can use unused allowance from the last 3 tax years first, if you were in a pension scheme in those years. Talk to us before paying in a large amount.
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