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High Earner Tax Check
Five questions on your pay and your pension. See your tax, the traps you are in, and what matters most now
Is your pay walking into a tax trap?
Five questions for this tax year, rough figures are fine. See your tax and what matters most now.
5 quick questions
Your result
Enter your salary and answer the last question to see your tax and the traps you are in.
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What matters most now
Information, not personal advice. A simplified estimate of income tax for 2026/27, England only. National Insurance is not included.
The five stages, from the first tax trap to the pot.
Your result points to one of these. Each opens that stage of our guide.
What this check looks at, and why
As pay rises, a few bands take back far more than the headline rate. The Child Benefit charge starts at £60,000. Between £100,000 and £125,140 the personal allowance goes, and each extra pound is taxed at 60%.
This check works out your adjusted net income, the income tax on it and the personal allowance you keep. It shows any Child Benefit charge and your pension allowance after the taper. It then points to the matching part of our guide for high earners.
It leaves out National Insurance and treats your income as pay. For your full position, use the income tax and pension relief modeller, and the tapered annual allowance calculator near £260,000.
Frazer James is an independent, FCA-regulated firm of Certified Financial Planners based in Bristol. The first meeting is free.
Written for employees in England. Figures checked against gov.uk for 2026/27 on 18 October 2026. Scotland sets its own income tax bands. Information, not personal advice.
Key figures, 2026/27
The numbers that decide what you keep.
Sources: gov.uk income tax rates and allowances, the High Income Child Benefit Charge and the tapered annual allowance, for 2026/27, checked 18 October 2026. Scotland sets its own income tax bands.
Before you start
Three things worth knowing.
Adjusted net income is the number
The 60% band and the Child Benefit charge both work on adjusted net income. Pension contributions lower it, so they can take you out of both.
The taper only bites at the top
Your pension allowance is cut only when threshold income passes £200,000 and adjusted income passes £260,000. Below that, the full £60,000 applies.
Results straight away
Your figures and what matters most appear on this page as soon as you answer. Nothing you enter is sent to us.
Go further
A calculator for each stage.
Each one opens on this page and shows the workings behind the figures.
Stage 1 · Tax trapsYour whole tax positionSalary, bonus, savings and rent together, and exactly what a pension contribution changes.Open the calculator
Stage 2 · Tax reliefPension tax relief calculatorRelief at 20%, 40%, 45% or 60%, what arrives automatically, and what you have to claim.Open the calculator
Stage 3 · Pension allowancesTapered annual allowanceYour allowance after the taper, with threshold and adjusted income worked out the way advisers do it.Open the calculator
Stage 4 · Bonuses and sharesRSU tax calculatorWhat you keep when your RSUs vest, with the income tax and National Insurance on top of your salary.Open the calculator
Stage 5 · Building the potPension pot calculatorYour pot at the age you take it, how it builds up, and the tax-free cash it could give you.Open the calculatorSince working together, I feel more organised, more secure and more positive about the future. The advice has been exceptionally valuable, financially, professionally and personally.
Questions high earners ask
What is the 60% tax trap?
Between £100,000 and £125,140 of adjusted net income, the personal allowance is withdrawn at £1 for every £2. Each extra pound in that band costs 40% tax plus 20% from the lost allowance, so 60%, before National Insurance.
What is adjusted net income?
Your taxable income less certain deductions, mainly gross pension contributions and Gift Aid donations. It decides both the personal allowance taper and the Child Benefit charge.
How does the Child Benefit charge work?
If either partner has adjusted net income over £60,000, the higher earner repays 1% of the Child Benefit for every £200 above it. By £80,000 the charge equals the full benefit.
When does the pension annual allowance taper?
When threshold income is over £200,000 and adjusted income is over £260,000. The £60,000 allowance then falls by £1 for every £2 over £260,000, to a minimum of £10,000.
Is this check financial advice?
No. It gives information based on your figures and the rules in England for 2026/27. It is not a personal recommendation, and it leaves out National Insurance.
Before you go further
Who our advice is not for.
We would rather say so now than waste your time.
- You want a tax return done and nothing else.That is an accountant’s work, and they should do it.
- You want a product recommendation without a plan behind it.
- You own and run your own company.Our guide on how to pay yourself from a limited company fits you better.
Important information. This page gives information, not personal advice. Tax rules can change, and how they apply depends on your circumstances. The figures are for England in 2026/27.
The value of investments can fall as well as rise, and you may get back less than you invest. A pension is a long-term investment and cannot normally be accessed before age 55, rising to 57 in 2028.
If you want a recommendation for your own position, that is what our financial advice for professionals is for.
Reviewed by
BSc, MLIBF, PETR, Chartered ALIBF · Co-Founder and Chartered Associate
Chris has spent over a decade in financial planning and specialises in research and technical analysis. He checks every figure and calculation on this page before it is published.
EARNING WELL AND LOSING MORE TO TAX THAN YOU NEED TO?
Bring your figures to a free first conversation. We will talk through your pay, your pension and the allowances you are not using.