Start from the take-home you actually need each month and work backwards to the gross salary that delivers it. We apply 2026/27 Income Tax and National Insurance and search for the exact figure that hits your target.
England, Wales & NI · 2026/27
Most salary tools go forwards: enter a gross salary, see the take-home. This one runs the other way. You tell it the monthly net pay your budget requires, and it searches through gross salaries — applying the 2026/27 Income Tax bands and National Insurance at each candidate — until the resulting take-home matches your target. The maths is the same engine as our forward tools, simply iterated.
This is genuinely useful when you are planning around the cost of living. Rather than guessing whether a £35,000 role covers your outgoings, you can state “I need £2,300 a month clear” and read off the salary that delivers it.
Say you need £2,500 take-home each month — that is £30,000 a year clear. The tool searches upward and finds that a gross salary of roughly £40,200 produces it:
For a precise breakdown of that gross figure, drop it into the income tax calculator.
Pair the result with your essential outgoings — rent or mortgage, bills, food and travel — to judge whether a role is viable. If the required salary looks out of reach, a pension contribution or salary-sacrifice arrangement can change the picture by reducing taxable pay. This tool is a planning aid, not advice.
Roughly £40,200 gross in 2026/27. The tool tests salaries until the net pay matches your target.
It starts from your desired take-home and searches upward through gross salaries, applying 2026/27 tax and NI until the net matches.
No — it solves for Income Tax and NI only. With a student loan or pension you would need a slightly higher gross.
The gap is tax and NI. Above £12,570 you lose 20% to Income Tax and 8% to National Insurance on each extra pound.