The Salary Calculator

Budget 2012 update

by Admin

Today, the Chancellor gave his annual budget speech in the House of Commons, outlining government spending plans for the next couple of years. The details of income tax and National Insurance from 6th April 2012 had already been provided, so as I have explained in a previous post, The Salary Calculator is up to date with the latest tax information.

However, the Chancellor took the opportunity to outline plans for income tax from April 2013, and there will be a few changes. Firstly, the under-65 tax free allowance will be increased from April 2013 to £9,205,  in line with the coalition pledge to increase the tax-free personal allowance to £10,000 before the next election. This is an increase of £1,100 on the April 2012 value, saving those on low and middle incomes up to £220 per year. However, the increased personal allowances currently available to those over 65 will be frozen and, for those not yet receiving the increased allowances, replaced by a single allowance for all ages (although this change will not take immediate effect).

Another change in 2013 will be to reduce the top rate of income tax, paid by those earning over £150,000 per year, from 50% to 45%. The 50% rate was introduced by the Labour government, where previously such income would have been taxed at 40%. This will be popular with traditional Tory voters but Labour are complaining that the richest are getting tax cuts in this time of austerity.

The Salary Calculator will be updated with the April 2013 values nearer the time – in the meantime, you can see what the April 2012 changes will make to your pocket each month by checking The Salary Calculator 2012. There is also a comparison utility so you can easily see the difference between 2011 and 2012.

Tags: 50% tax, April 2012, April 2013, Economy, HMRC, income tax, national insurance, Pay As You Earn, personal allowance, tax rates, The Salary Calculator

New – graphical representation of salary deductions

by Admin

To help you to visualise where your income deductions are going, and how much of your money you get to keep (take-home pay), I thought I would add some pie charts to The Salary Calculator. Now, when you have entered your details and are viewing the table of results, there is an option to see a graphical representation of that information:

Click on this link, and an overlay will pop up, to show you an interactive pie chart that clearly explains where your money goes each year:

Of course, it will also show pension and student loan deductions if those apply to your calculations. To get started, head over to The Salary Calculator and enter your details. I hope you find this new tool useful – please use the comments section below to leave any feedback or suggestions for improvements.

Tags: income tax, national insurance, Pay As You Earn, Pensions, personal allowance, tax rates, The Salary Calculator

Modifications to the Salary Calculator design

by Admin

Firstly, apologies for the long wait since the last update on the Salary Calculator blog. It’s been a busy summer and now the autumn is keeping me active, too!

However, I have been able to spend some time making minor alterations to the way The Salary Calculator is displayed in some browsers. The original site was built at a time when few computers had widescreen or high-resolution monitors, which is now not the case. When users with widescreen monitors viewed the old layout, bits of the site were displayed very far apart, making it difficult to use.

The new layout is fixed to a width that should be accommodated by almost all browsers, and should provide a better experience to those on widescreen monitors. I would really appreciate any feedback on how the new layout is working for you. At a later date, I’d love to improve the site design further, and to add those extra features you have all asked me for.

Tags: The Salary Calculator

Bonus payments added!

by Admin

As requested by a large number of visitors to the site, The Salary Calculator has been updated to allow you to enter bonus payments. If you might earn a bonus from your employer one month, you can now use the calculator to see what kind of a difference it will make to your payslip that month.

Bonuses are typically paid as a one-off extra on top of your usual salary. Your employer will work out what extra deductions (tax, National Insurance and Student Loan) will be required that tax year because of this extra payment, and will add these on top of your usual deductions for that month. Yes, this unfortunately means that you’ll pay a lot of tax, NI and Student Loan that month (boo!) – but some of your bonus will be left for you to enjoy!

For the purposes of displaying the information The Salary Calculator assumes that your salary is normally paid monthly, and shows you what a bonus month would look like compared to a normal month. Similar calculations will be done by your employer if you are paid weekly. To get started, click here to check out The Salary Calculator with bonus payments.

Tags: bonus, bonuses, income tax, national insurance, Pay As You Earn, pension, tax rates, The Salary Calculator

April 2011 rates applied

by Admin

The April 2011 tax and National Insurance rates have been applied to The Salary Calculator.

In comparison to last year, when rates for most of us were unchanged, there are a number of differences which will mean that your payslip will be different next month.

The standard personal allowance (the amount you can earn tax-free) is increasing by a thousand pounds to £7,475, but this is mitigated in some way for higher earners by the threshold for 40% tax being lowered to £35,000. Similarly, NI rates increased by one penny in the pound (to 12% and 2%) but the threshold for paying NI increased so lower earners may not be too badly affected.

To see how you’re affected, try out The Salary Calculator with your salary. The details of the figures used by The Salary Calculator are available on the About page.

Useful links:

• HMRC Income Tax info sheet
• HMRC National Insurance info sheet

Tags: April 2011, HMRC, income tax, national insurance, Pay As You Earn, pension, personal allowance, tax rates, The Salary Calculator