£12,000 Bonus After Tax (2026/27)
A £12,000 bonus is taxed at your marginal rate on top of salary: on a £45,000 salary you keep about £7,698 (64%). Find your salary band below.
| Your salary | Bonus you keep | % kept |
|---|---|---|
| £25,000 | £8,640 | 72% |
| £35,000 | £8,640 | 72% |
| £45,000 | £7,698 | 64% |
| £55,000 | £6,960 | 58% |
| £70,000 | £6,960 | 58% |
| £90,000 | £6,560 | 55% |
| £110,000 | £4,560 | 38% |
For your exact salary use the bonus tax calculator.
How this is calculated
The full 2026/27 tax and NI computation runs twice — salary alone, then salary + £12,000 — and the difference is the true cost of tax on the bonus. Threshold effects (crossing £50,270, the £100k–£125k personal-allowance taper) are captured exactly. Standard tax code, no pension or student loan deductions assumed.
FAQ
How much of a £12,000 bonus do I take home?
It depends on your salary, because the bonus is taxed at your marginal rate: on £25,000 you keep about £8,640 (72%), on £45,000 about £7,698, on £70,000 about £6,960, and on £110,000 — inside the personal-allowance taper — only about £4,560 (38%). The table on this page shows the exact 2026/27 computation for seven salary levels.
Why was even more deducted in the month my bonus was paid?
PAYE annualises whatever you earn in a month: the payroll system briefly assumes you will earn salary-plus-bonus every month and taxes that month at a higher effective rate. Over the following payslips the cumulative system corrects itself and the over-deduction flows back automatically — no claim needed. The figures on this page are the correct full-year position after that correction.
Can I reduce tax on a £12,000 bonus?
The main lever is paying part or all of it into your pension via bonus sacrifice before it is processed: sacrificed bonus escapes income tax AND National Insurance entirely, so £1 sacrificed puts £1 in your pension versus ~58p of cash for a higher-rate earner. It is especially powerful between £100,000 and £125,140, where the personal-allowance taper creates a ~62% effective rate and a sacrificed bonus can also restore free childcare eligibility. Ask HR before payroll cut-off — it usually cannot be done retrospectively.