Monthly Salary Sacrifice Calculator
Free UK calculator — instant, accurate results for monthly salary sacrifice
💰 Salary Sacrifice Calculator
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Monthly Salary Sacrifice Calculator
This calculator shows the monthly impact of salary sacrifice on your pay packet. Enter your gross monthly salary and the sacrifice amount to see your new gross, tax, NI, and net pay side by side. The tool is useful for modelling different sacrifice amounts before committing to a scheme.
Salary sacrifice works on a monthly basis: your contractual gross is permanently reduced by the sacrifice amount, and you receive the benefit in kind instead. HMRC treats the reduced gross as your new salary for tax and NI purposes.
Monthly Impact at Different Salary Levels
| Monthly Gross | Sacrifice | New Gross | Net Pay Change | Actual Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| £2,000 | £100 | £1,900 | -£72 | £72 (28% saving) |
| £2,500 | £200 | £2,300 | -£144 | £144 (28% saving) |
| £3,500 | £250 | £3,250 | -£180 | £180 (28% saving) |
| £5,000 | £500 | £4,500 | -£290 | £290 (42% saving) |
Basic rate taxpayers save 28% (20% tax + 8% NI) on each sacrificed pound. Higher rate taxpayers save up to 42% (40% tax + 2% NI above upper limit). This makes sacrifice schemes substantially better value for higher earners.
Popular Monthly Sacrifice Schemes
Pension: Additional employer pension contributions via sacrifice. The most common scheme — most employers now offer this. See our salary sacrifice tax calculator for annual projections.
Cycle to Work: Typically £50-£100/month over 12-48 months for a bicycle and equipment worth up to £5,000. Net cost is 28-42% less than retail price.
Electric Vehicle: £300-£700/month for an EV lease, with ultra-low BIK rates (2% for 2025/26). Combined with sacrifice savings, EVs can be 40-50% cheaper through salary sacrifice versus personal leasing.
For base salary figures, use the pro rata calculator. To check your pro rata earnings after sacrifice, see the take-home calculator.
How to Use the Monthly Salary Sacrifice Calculator
Using our monthly salary sacrifice calculator is straightforward. Follow these steps to get accurate results for your situation:
- Enter your full-time salary — This is the annual salary for the equivalent full-time role, before any deductions. You'll find this on the job advert or your contract.
- Set the full-time hours — The standard working week for the role. Most UK employers use 37.5 or 40 hours per week.
- Enter your actual hours — Your contracted weekly hours. This is the number you actually work.
- Enter your sacrifice amount — The monthly or annual amount being sacrificed towards your pension, cycle-to-work, or other scheme.
- Click Calculate — The monthly salary sacrifice calculator displays your results instantly, with annual, monthly, weekly, daily, and hourly breakdowns.
Worked Example: Monthly Salary Sacrifice Calculator
Here's a practical example using the monthly salary sacrifice calculator. Emma earns £35,000 and sacrifices £200/month into her employer's pension scheme.
Before sacrifice:
- Gross salary: £35,000 (£2,917/month)
- Income tax: £4,486/year — 20% on £22,430 (above £12,570 personal allowance)
- Employee NI: £2,702/year — 8% on £22,430 (above £12,570)
- Net annual pay: £27,812
After £200/month sacrifice:
- New gross salary: £32,600 (£2,717/month)
- Income tax: £4,006/year — saving £480/year
- Employee NI: £2,402/year — saving £300/year
- Net annual pay: £26,192
The actual cost of the £2,400 pension contribution is only £1,620 thanks to tax and NI savings. That's a 32.5% boost to your pension at no extra cost, making the monthly salary sacrifice calculator an essential tool for anyone considering salary sacrifice.
Important Rules for Salary Sacrifice in the UK
- Your pay cannot fall below NMW: Salary sacrifice cannot reduce your cash pay below the National Minimum Wage. If it would, you can only sacrifice down to the NMW level.
- It reduces your pensionable pay: Your State Pension entitlement won't be affected (employers pay the difference), but your private pension base salary will be lower.
- Not all benefits qualify: Tax-efficient salary sacrifice only works for pensions, cycle-to-work, ultra-low emission cars, childcare vouchers (pre-2018 schemes), and a few other HMRC-approved benefits.
- Employer NI savings: Your employer also saves NI (13.8%) on the sacrificed amount. Many employers pass some of this saving to you as extra pension contributions — always ask.
For detailed rules, see HMRC's salary sacrifice guidance.
Pro Rata Holiday Entitlement
Under the Working Time Regulations 1998, all UK workers are entitled to a minimum of 5.6 weeks' paid holiday per year (28 days for full-time). If you work part-time, your entitlement is calculated pro rata based on your actual hours or days worked.
| Days Worked/Week | FTE Ratio | Statutory Days/Year | Bank Holidays (pro rata) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 days (full-time) | 1.0 | 28 days | 8 days |
| 4 days/week | 0.8 | 22.4 days | 6.4 days |
| 3 days/week | 0.6 | 16.8 days | 4.8 days |
| 2.5 days/week | 0.5 | 14 days | 4 days |
| 2 days/week | 0.4 | 11.2 days | 3.2 days |
Holiday entitlement is always rounded up — never down — when the result is not a whole number, per ACAS guidance on holiday entitlement. Bank holidays may be included in or added on top of your statutory 28 days, depending on your contract.
All calculations on this page follow ACAS pro rata pay guidelines and are consistent with the UK Employment Rights Act 1996. Tax figures use HMRC 2025/26 rates. The April 2025 National Living Wage of £12.21/hour is applied where relevant.
Related Salary Calculators
Our monthly salary sacrifice calculator is just one of the tools available on ProRataCalculator. You may also find these useful: pro rata calculator, term-time salary calculator, overtime calculator.
Last updated: February 2026. Verified against HMRC 2025/26 tax rates and April 2025 National Living Wage (£12.21/hour).
Frequently Asked Questions
Salary sacrifice is an arrangement where you agree to reduce your gross salary in exchange for a non-cash benefit, most commonly pension contributions. This reduces your income tax and National Insurance.
You save income tax and NI on the sacrificed amount. For a basic rate taxpayer sacrificing £200/month: tax saving = £200 × 20% (tax) + £200 × 8% (NI) = £56/month.
With salary sacrifice pension schemes, your employer pays the contributions directly, so you save on NI. However, the sacrificed amount reduces your "reference salary" which may affect mortgage applications.
Yes. If your gross salary is just above a tax threshold, salary sacrifice can bring you below it. For example, sacrificing enough to drop below £50,270 would avoid the 40% higher rate tax band.