Second job tax calculator
Two jobs or a side hustle on payroll? See your combined take-home pay for 2026/27, how much tax and National Insurance each job pays, and exactly what the second job adds to your month.
Last updated for the 2026/27 tax year · How we calculate
Your two jobs
What do you earn from each?
Your highest-paying job — this is normally where your personal allowance sits.
Your side job or extra employment, before any deductions.
Student loan is assessed on your combined income across both jobs.
Combined net monthly pay
£2,821.63
Per job (annual)
| Main job | Second job | |
|---|---|---|
| Gross | £35,000 | £8,000 |
| Pension | − £1,750 | — |
| Income tax | − £4,136 | − £1,600 |
| National Insurance | − £1,654 | − £0 |
| Take-home | £27,460 | £6,400 |
Combined (annual)
- Combined gross
- £43,000
- Pension contribution
- − £1,750
- Income tax
- − £5,736
- National Insurance (both jobs)
- − £1,654
- Combined take-home
- £33,860
What your second job really earns you
+ £533.33/ month
That’s £6,400 extra a year. You keep roughly £80 of every £100 the second job pays, because your personal allowance is already used up by the main job.
Estimates for the rest of UK (excl. Scotland) for 2026/27. Income Tax is worked out once across both jobs; National Insurance is charged separately on each employment, so each job gets its own threshold. Not financial advice.
How tax works when you have two jobs
Having a second job in the UK doesn’t mean paying tax twice, and it doesn’t mean paying a special “second job tax rate”. What changes is where your tax-free personal allowance sits, and how National Insurance is worked out. Understanding those two mechanics explains almost every surprise on a second payslip.
- Income Tax is charged on your total income. HMRC adds both jobs together. For 2026/27 the first £12,570 is tax-free, the next £37,700 of taxable income is taxed at 20%, then 40% up to £125,140 and 45% above that. Two jobs paying £20,000 each are taxed like one £40,000 salary.
- Your personal allowance normally sits with one job. HMRC gives your main employer a standard code (usually 1257L) and your second employer a BR code, which taxes every pound at 20% from the very first pound. That’s why the second job feels heavily taxed even though your overall bill is unchanged.
- National Insurance is charged per job. NI thresholds apply to each employment separately, so each job only pays NI on earnings above £12,570 a year (£1,048 a month) in that job. If your second job pays under the threshold, it usually pays no NI at all — a genuine quirk in your favour.
- Student loan is based on combined income. Repayments are ultimately worked out on everything you earn, so a second job can push you over your plan’s threshold and start repayments.
Worked example: £35,000 main job plus a £8,000 second job
Here’s how a typical two-job setup breaks down for 2026/27, with no pension and no student loan, using rest-of-UK rates.
| Main job | Second job | Combined | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross pay | £35,000 | £8,000 | £43,000 |
| Income tax | £4,486 | £1,600 | £6,086 |
| National Insurance | £1,794 | £0 | £1,794 |
| Take-home | £28,720 | £6,400 | £35,120 |
The second job keeps £80 of every £100 — 20% basic rate tax, and no National Insurance because £8,000 is under the £12,570 NI threshold for that employment. Figures are rounded; run your own numbers in the calculator above for an exact split.
Tax codes to expect on a second job
- 1257L — the standard code, normally on your main job. It gives you the full £12,570 tax-free.
- BR — basic rate on everything. The most common code for a second job when your main job already uses the allowance.
- D0 / D1 — everything taxed at 40% or 45%. Used when your main job already fills the basic or higher rate band.
- 0T — no allowance and no rate assumption. Often applied temporarily when a new employer has no starter details; it usually corrects itself, and overpaid tax is refunded through PAYE.
If your main job pays less than £12,570, ask HMRC to split your allowance across both jobs so you aren’t taxed at 20% on income that should be tax-free. You can do this in your personal tax account, and any overpayment is repaid.
Is a second job actually worth it?
Financially, the question is how much of the extra pay you keep after tax, NI, student loan and any knock-on effects. A basic-rate earner typically keeps around 80% of second-job pay (no NI if it’s under the threshold), which is often more than they keep from overtime in the main job. Once combined income crosses £50,270 the keep rate drops to about 58% — 40% tax, 2% NI — and between £100,000 and £125,140 the tapering allowance makes the effective rate roughly 60% before NI.
Other things worth checking before you commit: whether your main contract allows other work, whether extra income affects Universal Credit or childcare support, and whether a bigger pension contribution in the main job would be a better use of the same effort. If the goal is a specific monthly figure, the salary goal calculator shows the single salary that would get you there, and the salary comparison calculator shows whether one better-paid job beats two.
What if the second income is self-employed?
This calculator models two PAYE employments — both jobs pay you through payroll. If your side income is freelance or self-employed instead, the mechanics differ: you get a £1,000 trading allowance, you report the income through Self Assessment by 31 January, you pay Class 4 National Insurance on profits above the threshold, and no tax is taken at source, so you need to set money aside yourself. The Income Tax rates are the same, and the income still stacks on top of your employment income when deciding which band applies.
Second job tax — frequently asked questions
- How much tax do you pay on a second job in the UK?
- There's no special second job tax rate. HMRC adds both jobs together and taxes the total: 0% on the first £12,570 for 2026/27, 20% on the next £37,700 of taxable income, 40% up to £125,140 and 45% above. Because your personal allowance is usually already used by your main job, the second job is often taxed at 20% (or 40%) from the very first pound.
- Why is my second job taxed so much?
- Because your tax-free allowance sits with your main job. Your second employer is normally given a BR tax code, which taxes every pound at basic rate with no allowance. Your overall tax bill is the same as if you earned the total in one job — it just looks heavier on the smaller payslip.
- Do I pay National Insurance on both jobs?
- NI is worked out separately for each employment, so each job only pays NI on earnings above £12,570 a year (£1,048 a month) in that job. If your second job pays less than the threshold, it usually pays no National Insurance at all — one genuine advantage of two jobs over one bigger salary.
- What tax code will my second job have?
- Usually BR (all pay taxed at 20%). If your main job already fills the basic rate band you may get D0 (40%) or D1 (45%). A new second job sometimes starts on 0T until HMRC has your details; any overpaid tax is refunded automatically through PAYE.
- Do I need to tell HMRC about a second job?
- You don't need to report a second PAYE job yourself — your new employer reports it and HMRC issues the tax codes. You should contact HMRC if the codes look wrong, for example if you're being taxed at 20% on a second job while your main job pays under £12,570.
- Can I split my personal allowance between two jobs?
- Yes. If your main job pays less than £12,570, ask HMRC to split your allowance across both employments so unused allowance isn't wasted. You can request this through your personal tax account, and overpaid tax from earlier in the year is repaid.
- Is a second job worth it after tax?
- For a basic-rate earner, second job pay typically keeps around 80% after 20% tax and often no NI — usually a better keep rate than overtime once NI is factored in. Once combined income passes £50,270 the keep rate falls to roughly 58%, and between £100,000 and £125,140 the tapering personal allowance makes it around 40%.
- Will a second job push me into a higher tax bracket?
- It can. Brackets apply to your combined income, so if your two jobs together exceed £50,270 for 2026/27, the amount above that is taxed at 40%. The calculator flags this as soon as your combined figure crosses a band edge.
- How does student loan work with two jobs?
- Repayments are ultimately based on your combined income, so a second job can start repayments even if each job alone is under the threshold. Each employer deducts based on what it pays you, and HMRC reconciles the total at the end of the year.
- Does this calculator work for self-employed side income?
- It models two PAYE employments. Self-employed side income works differently: you get a £1,000 trading allowance, report profits through Self Assessment by 31 January, pay Class 4 National Insurance, and set the tax aside yourself because nothing is deducted at source. The Income Tax rates and bands are the same.
- Does this cover Scottish taxpayers?
- The calculator uses rest-of-UK Income Tax bands (England, Wales and Northern Ireland). Scotland has different rates and bands, so a Scottish taxpayer's split between the two jobs will differ, though National Insurance is identical UK-wide.
Other calculators
- Take-home pay calculator — one salary, full breakdown.
- Compare two salaries — is one better-paid job worth more than two?
- Salary goal calculator — the salary you need for a target take-home.