Where do my taxes go? Calculator

Enter your pay to see your 2026/27 Income Tax and National Insurance split across public services. The split uses the latest spending breakdown the government has published, which is for 2024/25: the same one HMRC uses in its Annual Tax Summary. Tap any part of the chart, or any line below it, to see what that area pays for and the working behind it.

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Choose Salary and dividends if you are a company director who pays yourself partly in dividends. Dividend tax is part of Income Tax, so it is included in the split, just as it is in HMRC's summary.

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Your gross pay for the year, before Income Tax and National Insurance. Include any bonus. Your P60 or your final payslip of the tax year shows it as "pay" or "taxable pay to date".

Tailor it to you: Scottish tax
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Scotland has its own Income Tax bands on salary. Choose Scotland if your tax code starts with an S. National Insurance and dividend tax are the same across the UK.

Assumptions (6)
  • Your tax includes Income Tax and National Insurance on salary, and dividend tax on dividends. If you enter your own tax code, it is applied to your salary; any tax-free allowance your salary does not use counts towards your dividends.
  • Two different years. Your tax is worked out at this year's (2026/27) rates. The spending split is from 2024/25, the most recent year the government has published. A year's split can only be worked out after that year ends, so it is always a year or two behind. The shares change only slowly, and we update the split as soon as a newer one is published.
  • How your tax is split. We give each area the same share of your tax as its share of government spending. For example, the government spent £241.8 billion on health out of £1,156.2 billion in total: £241.8bn ÷ £1,156.2bn = 0.2091, so 20.9p of every £1 of your tax is counted as health. HM Treasury also shows rounded percentages, but they add up to 100.1%, so using them would split slightly more than all of your tax; using the actual £ billion amounts splits it exactly.
  • The split is illustrative: taxes are not earmarked for particular services, and spending is also paid for by other taxes and by borrowing (a £153 billion deficit in 2024/25).
  • Covers Income Tax and National Insurance only, like HMRC's summary. VAT, Council Tax, student loan repayments and your employer's National Insurance are not included.
  • Figures are worked to the penny. Each area is rounded to the nearest penny; if the rounded areas differ from your total by a penny or two, that difference is shown as its own line so everything adds up exactly.

Figures used

Your tax2026/27 rates
How it is split2024/25 government spending

The split is published by HM Treasury (updated 4 March 2026) and is the latest available. A year's split can only be worked out after that year ends, so there is no 2026/27 split yet. We will update it when the next one is published.

£6,280.40
your 2026/27 Income Tax and National Insurance, split using 2024/25 spending
The biggest share, £1,336.80, goes on welfare. Health takes £1,313.44 and the State Pension £748.52. That is £6,280.40 ÷ 12 = £523.37 of tax a month.
Your tax£6,280.40Tap a slice to see where it goes

Tap or hover over a slice or a line to see where that part of your tax goes, and what it pays for.

How the split works: the government spent £1,156.2 billion in 2024/25, the latest year published. Each area gets the same share of your tax as its share of that spending. Health was £241.8 billion: £241.8bn ÷ £1,156.2bn = 0.2091, so 20.9p of every £1 of your tax is counted as health.

Rounding to the pennyeach area is rounded to the nearest penny, and the 15 areas add up to £6,280.39. £6,280.40 − £6,280.39 = £0.01, shown here so the list adds up to your total exactly£0.01
Your total tax£6,280.40
Show the workings

1. Your tax for 2026/27

Salary£35,000.00
Personal Allowancethe first £12,570 of income is tax-free£12,570.00
UK Income Tax on salary£22,430.00 at 20% = £4,486.00£4,486.00
National Insurance on salary8% of salary between £12,570 and £50,270 = £1,794.40£1,794.40
Your total tax£4,486.00 + £1,794.40 = £6,280.40£6,280.40

2. How it is split

In 2024/25, the latest year published, the government spent £246.1bn + £241.8bn + £137.8bn + £124.7bn + £118.7bn + £63.6bn + £51.4bn + £46.4bn + £40.4bn + £23.0bn + £22.3bn + £17.1bn + £14.5bn + £7.7bn + £0.7bn = £1,156.2bn across the 15 areas. Each area gets the same share of your tax as its share of that spending: your tax × the area's spending ÷ total spending. For health: £241.8bn ÷ £1,156.2bn = 0.2091, or 20.9p in every £1, and your share is £6,280.40 × £241.8bn ÷ £1,156.2bn = £1,313.44. Each line in the list shows the same working for its area. We use the £ billion amounts because they add up exactly; HM Treasury's rounded percentages add up to 100.1%.

Check it with HMRC

These figures follow HMRC's published rules and rates. To read them in full, or to check a figure:

Calculated at sjecapital.co.uk/where-do-my-taxes-go. Spending split: HM Treasury, How public spending was calculated in your tax summary (2024/25). Illustrative, not advice. SJE Capital Limited, company no. 15837169.

Run a limited company? Read how to pay yourself tax-efficiently as a director. See your full take-home pay in the salary calculator, or compare salary and dividends in the director take-home calculator. Source: HM Treasury, How public spending was calculated in your tax summary.

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