Salary Sacrifice Calculator

Savings depend on your tax band and scheme type. A basic rate taxpayer (20% tax, 8% NI) saves 28p for every £1 sacrificed into a pension. A higher rate taxpayer (40% tax, 2% NI) saves 42p per £1. On a £5,000 pension sacrifice, that's £1,400 for a basic rate taxpayer or £2,100 for a higher rate taxpayer per year.

With pension salary sacrifice, your employer pays the contribution directly to your pension as an employer contribution. Your gross salary is reduced, which means your pensionable pay (for defined benefit schemes) may be affected. Always check with your pension provider — most modern schemes treat salary sacrifice contributions the same as standard contributions for benefit calculation purposes.

No. Your employer is legally required to refuse a salary sacrifice arrangement if it would bring your pay below the National Minimum Wage — currently £12.21 per hour (2025/26), which equates to approximately £23,809 per year for a full-time worker. The calculator warns you if your sacrifice amount would breach this limit.

It can. Mortgage lenders assess affordability based on your declared gross salary. If your salary sacrifice reduces your gross salary on paper, some lenders may offer a smaller mortgage. It's worth checking with your lender or broker before significantly increasing your salary sacrifice amount if you are planning to apply for a mortgage.

From 6 April 2029, the National Insurance exemption on pension salary sacrifice will be capped at £2,000 per year. Any pension sacrifice above £2,000 annually will become subject to employee NI at your marginal rate. For 2025/26, 2026/27, 2027/28 and 2028/29, the full NI saving is still available — so it is worth maximising your pension salary sacrifice before the cap comes into effect.

The Benefit in Kind rate for fully electric cars is 3% of the P11D value in 2025/26, rising to 4% in 2026/27 and 5% in 2027/28. Despite this BiK charge, electric cars remain by far the most tax-efficient company car option — petrol and diesel cars attract BiK rates of 26–37%. The CalcKit calculator shows your gross saving minus BiK tax so you can see the true net benefit.