What is your day rate really worth?

Enter your day rate, days per week, and weeks per year. The calculator deducts pension contributions, allowable expenses, accountant fees, and your salary to find taxable profit. After corporation tax, the remaining profit is paid as dividends — taxed at 8.75% (basic rate) or 33.75% (higher rate). Your net take-home is salary plus after-tax dividends. Switch the breakdown tab to Monthly to see per-month figures.

Outside IR35 you operate via a limited company, paying yourself a low salary plus dividends at lower tax rates. Inside IR35 your income is treated as employment — you pay full PAYE income tax and National Insurance. The take-home difference varies significantly by day rate. Our side-by-side comparison shows the exact figures for your situation, and the Smart Insights section highlights which scenario is better and by how much.

Switch to "Reverse Calculator" mode and enter your desired monthly take-home pay. The tool uses a binary search algorithm through the UK tax system to find the exact day rate required both inside and outside IR35, rounded up to the nearest £5. Results update instantly as you type. Useful for negotiating a new contract rate or deciding whether an inside-IR35 offer is financially viable.

Most contractor accountants recommend either £12,570/year (uses your full personal allowance, incurs a small NI cost of ~£252) or £9,100/year (the secondary NI threshold — avoids all employer and employee NI but doesn't fully use your personal allowance). The calculator defaults to £12,570 but you can adjust this to see the exact impact. At higher day rates with higher dividend tax, the difference is relatively small.

Employer pension contributions from your limited company are fully deductible against corporation tax. Every £1 contributed reduces your taxable profit by £1, saving between 19p and 25p in tax depending on your profit level. A 5% pension contribution on £100,000 revenue (£5,000) effectively costs only £3,750–4,050 after the corporation tax saving. The calculator models this automatically.

The equivalent salary calculation accounts for benefits contractors don't receive: employer pension (5% statutory minimum), 28 days paid holiday, employer NI, sick pay, and job security. Our calculator estimates the gross permanent salary that would give you equivalent net take-home pay — typically applying an 18–22% premium to your net take-home to reach the gross equivalent. Use this when comparing contract vs permanent role offers.

Click the Share button at the top of the calculator. This generates a URL containing all your inputs (day rate, IR35 status, pension, expenses, etc.) as URL parameters and copies it to your clipboard. Anyone who opens the link will see your exact calculation — useful for sharing with a partner, accountant, or recruiter. Note: income and personal details are not included in the shared link.