Our Advice Column: Understanding your payslip

I’ve just returned to work after a long time out of the workforce and I’m slightly embarrassed to say I don’t understand what all the different sections of my payslip refer to. How do I know what each means?

Payslips contain lots of information which can be overwhelming at first but are important to understand. All employers are required to give employees a payslip showing your pay and deductions. This might be provided on paper or via an online platform. It’s a good idea to keep your payslips for up to six years if possible as you can be asked for them for various things.

Your payslip must contain specific information, you can read about this on the ACAS website. It should include your employer's details along with your name and payroll or employee number.

You’ll also see lots of different numbers and codes. The paymentdate is when your pay will normally arrive in your bank account, it can bemonthly or weekly and fall on any day of the month. Your payslip might alsoshow a tax period (the tax year starts in April and ends in March). The numberhere corresponds to the period in which you’re being taxed, eg. if you’re paidmonthly, 01 will represent the tax period in April, while 12 would mean March.

Your National Insurance (NI) number refers to your unique numberand you need one to work in the UK.  It’sused to make sure all your NI contributions are recorded so you can get anystate benefits you’re entitled to, including state pension later in life.

Next is your tax code. This is decided by HM Revenue and Customs(HMRC) and is made up of several numbers and a letter. The numbers refer to how much tax-free income you get, while the letters mean different things depending on your circumstances. You can find out what they mean on the government website.

When you start a new job it’s important to provide your employer all the information they need to make sure your tax code is correct and to prevent you being put on an  ‘emergency’ code that ends with a W1, M1 or X and could see you initially paying more tax.

Your payslip will also show your total ‘gross’ pay and deductions. ‘Gross’ pay means how much you’ve earned before anything is deducted. It will usually itemise your ‘basic’ pay and then any additional allowances, such as travel allowance. If you are paid by the hour, your payslip must show your hourly rate and how many hours you worked.  If you are an ‘irregular hours worker’ your employer may have opted to include holiday pay with your normal pay - if so, this should be itemised separately.  

Deductions are amounts taken from your gross pay, such as income tax, national insurance, pension or student loan payments. Income tax is used to fund public services, the amount deducted will vary depending on your earnings. You can look up the different rates on the government website.  The rates for NI payments can also be found online.

Most payslips will add up all the deductions from your pay into a single amount to make it easier for you to see how much is taken from your pay each month. Your net pay is the amount of money you will receive after all the deductions have been made.

Lastly, taxable pay is the amount of your salary, to date in the current tax year, that has been subjected to tax. This will usually appear next to your net pay figure. Anything you think might be wrong should be raised, first, with your employer.

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