Rules you can inspect.
Primary sources for the 2026/27 comparison. These rules inform the calculation; your pay, childcare quotes and circumstances determine the inputs.
England · 2026/27 · Model 2026-09-06.1 · Reviewed 6 September 2026
Owner: Decisions, made easier. Retrieved and reviewed 6 September 2026. Rates are committed constants in the pure model, with boundary tests; no live feed is called while you calculate. Guidance is paraphrased. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0 where applicable. Source links retain the provider’s notices. No private household dataset is used.
HMRC · 6 April 2026–5 April 2027
PAYE rates and thresholds for employers, 2026/27 ↗
England Income Tax bands; monthly employee NI thresholds of £1,048 and £4,189, with 8% and 2% rates. Standard employee NI only, or an explicit exemption.
HMRC · 2026/27
Income Tax rates and allowances ↗
£12,570 personal allowance, tapered by £1 per £2 of adjusted net income above £100,000. Basic taxable band £37,700, with rates of 20%, 40% and 45%.
HMRC · Guidance reviewed September 2026
Adjusted net income ↗
Income definition for the allowance taper, Child Benefit charge and childcare upper income test. Deduct gross relief-at-source contributions and grossed-up Gift Aid once.
HMRC · Guidance reviewed September 2026
Tax relief on private pension contributions ↗
Net pay and relief-at-source methods. Relief at source assumes the member pays 80% of a gross contribution; extra tax relief is included in annual cash when due.
HMRC · 2026/27 comparison only
Salary sacrifice and PAYE ↗
Pension salary sacrifice reduces cash earnings for Income Tax and NI. Model checks the selected minimum wage floor against remaining base pay. Employer NI savings are not added to the pension.
Department for Work and Pensions · 2026/27
Automatic enrolment earnings bands, 2026/27 ↗
Optional pension basis of gross cash earnings between £6,240 and £50,270. The alternative basis is all base pay. This is not an enrolment eligibility engine.
GOV.UK · Guidance reviewed September 2026
Workplace pension qualifying earnings ↗
Qualifying earnings include bonuses. The model includes the entered bonus within the qualifying-earnings band, while its other pension bases use salary only. Check which pay definition the employer actually uses.
NHS Business Services Authority · Contribution tiers from 1 April 2026
NHS Pension Scheme pay and contributions ↗
Actual annual pensionable base pay determines the contribution rate on the whole amount: 5.2%, 6.5%, 8.3%, 9.8%, 10.7% or 12.5%. Tier starts are £0, £13,260, £28,855, £35,156, £52,779 and £67,669.
NHS Business Services Authority · 2015 Scheme; May 2024 member guide
NHS 2015 Scheme member guide ↗
One year adds 1/54 of pensionable earnings as annual pension income for retirement, before subsequent revaluation. It is not a pension pot or a current cash payment.
HMRC · 2026/27
Student and Postgraduate Loan deduction tables ↗
Monthly Plan 1/2/4/5 thresholds £2,241.66/£2,448.75/£2,816.25/£2,083.33 at 9%; postgraduate threshold £1,750 at 6%. Each deduction is rounded down to whole pounds per month.
HMRC · 2026/27
Child Benefit payment rates ↗
£27.05 weekly for the eldest eligible child; £17.90 for each additional eligible child. Model annualises with 52 weeks, regardless of actual payment dates.
HMRC · 2026/27
High Income Child Benefit Charge ↗
One charge for the household, using the higher individual adjusted net income: 1% of benefit per full £200 over £60,000, up to 100% at £80,000.
HMRC · Rules reviewed September 2026
Tax-Free Childcare ↗
Government pays 20% of eligible childcare bills, capped at £500 per three months per child, or £1,000 for an eligible disabled child. Model assumes equal invoices in all four quarters.
HMRC · Rules reviewed September 2026
Tax-Free Childcare eligibility ↗
Tests each adult’s earnings and £100,000 adjusted net income cap. Eligibility also depends on child age, immigration status and other conditions that the user must confirm. Minimum earnings reflect 16 hours a week at the relevant minimum wage.
Department for Education · England; reviewed September 2026
Working-parent funded childcare eligibility ↗
Up to 30 funded hours for 38 weeks in an eligible term from nine months until school age. Age, term, application and other conditions are explicitly confirmed; income and minimum-earnings tests are calculated.
Department for Education · England; reviewed September 2026
Universal early education entitlement ↗
Universal funded hours for eligible three- and four-year-olds are included in the provider quotes on both sides of a working-parent eligibility change.
Department for Work and Pensions · Guidance reviewed September 2026
Universal Credit and earnings ↗
Universal Credit is sensitive to household earnings and assessment periods. This tool requires an external award estimate for each working pattern and does not calculate entitlement.
Department for Work and Pensions · Guidance reviewed September 2026
Universal Credit childcare costs ↗
A user-supplied Universal Credit award must include childcare reimbursement. Childcare invoices are deducted once and Tax-Free Childcare is disabled on this route.
HMRC · Guidance reviewed September 2026
National Insurance credits ↗
Lower earnings can affect qualifying years, but credits can apply. State Pension changes are not inferred from working-day reductions.