Maternity pay after tax calculator

Enter your average weekly earnings and, if your employer pays more than the legal minimum, the weeks of full pay and half pay it offers. The calculator works out Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP) under the 2026/27 rules, adds any extra pay, and takes each month through income tax, National Insurance, student loan and pension.

Average take-home a month

£811.25

£9,735.03 total take-home across the 12-month leave schedule.

Your details

Average weekly earningsBefore tax

Usual weekly payUsed for any enhanced pay

Enhanced full-pay weeks

Enhanced half-pay weeks

Where you pay income taxScotland has its own income tax ratesEngland, Wales or Northern IrelandScotland

Student loanNonePlan 1Plan 2Plan 4 (Scotland)Plan 5

Postgraduate loan as well

Pension methodNo pensionNet payRelief at sourceSalary sacrifice

Pension contributionPercent of salary

%

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At a glance

• £Statutory pay before deductions£9,652.56
• ↑Gross pay including any enhanced pay£10,012.56
• ✓Take-home across the schedule£9,735.03

Estimated pay month by month

Period	Gross pay	Income tax	NI	Student loan	Pension	Take-home
Month 1	£2,600.00	£310.35	£124.20	£0.00	£0.00	£2,165.45
Month 2	£1,518.19	£93.99	£37.66	£0.00	£0.00	£1,386.54
Month 3	£842.05	−£41.24	£0.00	£0.00	£0.00	£883.29
Month 4	£842.05	−£41.24	£0.00	£0.00	£0.00	£883.29
Month 5	£842.05	−£41.24	£0.00	£0.00	£0.00	£883.29
Month 6	£842.05	−£41.24	£0.00	£0.00	£0.00	£883.29
Month 7	£842.05	−£41.24	£0.00	£0.00	£0.00	£883.29
Month 8	£842.05	−£41.24	£0.00	£0.00	£0.00	£883.29
Month 9	£842.07	−£41.23	£0.00	£0.00	£0.00	£883.30
Month 10	£0.00	£0.00	£0.00	£0.00	£0.00	£0.00
Month 11	£0.00	£0.00	£0.00	£0.00	£0.00	£0.00
Month 12	£0.00	£0.00	£0.00	£0.00	£0.00	£0.00

How this was worked out

1. Tax year: 2026/27
2. Average weekly earnings: £600.00.
3. Statutory pay over the schedule: £9,652.56.
4. Enhanced full-pay weeks: 6.
5. Enhanced half-pay weeks: 0.
6. Full or half pay includes statutory pay; it is not added a second time.
7. The cumulative estimate starts with no earlier earnings in the tax year.
8. Each month represents 52 weeks divided by 12.

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What the calculator assumes

• The 2026/27 rates for SMP, income tax and National Insurance.
• You meet the SMP conditions on length of service and notice. The calculator checks only your earnings.
• Your leave starts at the beginning of the tax year, with no pay earlier in that year.
• Full pay means your usual weekly pay, and half pay means half of it. This pay includes SMP, so in each week you get whichever is higher.
• Each month holds one twelfth of a 52-week year. The table covers twelve months, so the last few show no pay.
• You have the standard tax code and pay the standard rate of employee National Insurance (category A).
• Income tax uses the rates for England, Wales and Northern Ireland unless you choose Scotland, which has its own rates.

How Statutory Maternity Pay is worked out

SMP is paid for up to thirty-nine weeks. For the first six weeks you get 90% of your average weekly earnings before tax. For the next thirty-three weeks you get £194.32 a week, or 90% of your earnings if that is lower. GOV.UK states that SMP is paid in the same way as your wages and that tax and National Insurance are deducted from it.

If your average weekly earnings are below £129, no SMP is due, and the calculator counts only the extra pay you enter. Our Statutory Maternity Pay calculator shows the SMP sum on its own, for the first six weeks and for the rest.

Why the tax column can show a refund

Payroll works out income tax on your pay for the tax year so far. Each month it compares the tax due on everything you have been paid since the tax year began with the tax already taken. When your pay drops to SMP, the tax-free allowance built up over those months can be more than you have earned, so payroll hands back some of the tax it took earlier. The table shows this as a minus figure in the income tax column, and it adds to your take-home for that month.

The calculator starts this count with no earlier pay in the tax year. If your leave begins later in the year, you will already have paid tax on your full salary for some months. The refunds then start at a different point and come to a different amount. National Insurance, student loan and pension are worked out on each month's pay alone, so none of them is ever paid back. Once monthly pay falls below the National Insurance threshold, none is taken.

Extra pay from your employer

An employer can pay more than SMP under its own maternity scheme. Some schemes pay a number of weeks at full pay, then a number at half pay, then SMP alone. Enter those weeks and your usual weekly pay, and the table shows how your take-home steps down as each stage ends. Your contract or staff handbook sets out the terms, including any conditions attached to the extra pay. The statutory pay rates page lists this year's figures for maternity, paternity and sick pay.

What it leaves out

• Maternity Allowance, which some people who cannot get SMP can claim from the government instead.
• Shared Parental Pay and any pay for keeping in touch days.
• A pay rise during the period used to work out your average weekly earnings, which can change your SMP.
• Your employer's pension contributions while you are on leave.
• Holiday you build up during maternity leave.

Your partner may be able to get paternity pay. The Statutory Paternity Pay calculator works that out. To see your normal monthly pay for comparison, use the take-home pay calculator.

Official guidance

• Maternity pay on GOV.UK
• Statutory Maternity Pay and leave: employer guide on GOV.UK
• Maternity Allowance on GOV.UK

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