PAYE & Net Salary Calculator Take-Home Pay After Tax for Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, South Africa & the UK

What this calculator does

This tool takes your gross salary, the country you work in, and whether you contribute to a pension, and returns three figures: your net take-home pay, your total deductions, and your effective tax rate. It applies the current tax bands, statutory deduction rates, and pension rules for Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, South Africa, and the United Kingdom.

The purpose is simple. Gross salary is the number on your offer letter. Net salary is the number in your bank account. The gap between them is what this calculator shows you. In some countries the gap is modest. In others it is substantial, and knowing the real figure before you accept a job or negotiate a raise is worth the two minutes it takes to check.

Everything runs inside your browser. The salary you enter is never uploaded to a server, and no data is stored on AfriWidget's systems. If you press the AI insight button, only an anonymous summary of your gross salary range, country, and computed net salary is sent to a small serverless function that runs once and then stops.

How PAYE works

PAYE stands for Pay As You Earn. It is the system most employers use to collect income tax from employees. The employer calculates the tax due on each pay run, deducts it from the employee's gross salary, and sends it to the national tax authority. The employee receives the balance.

The tax itself is progressive. That means the rate rises as income rises. The first slice of your income is taxed at a low rate, or not at all. The next slice is taxed at a higher rate. The slice above that is taxed at a higher rate still. The bands are set by each country's tax authority and are usually adjusted each year to account for inflation.

Because the system is progressive, the tax you pay is not a flat percentage of your salary. A person earning a very high salary does not pay the top rate on the whole amount. They pay the lower rates on the first bands and the top rate only on the portion above the top threshold. This is why the effective tax rate, which is total tax divided by gross salary, is always lower than the highest marginal rate that applies to you.

Nigeria PAYE and pension

Nigeria's tax rules changed significantly from January 2026 under the Nigeria Tax Act. The old consolidated relief allowance was removed, and the personal income tax bands were restructured into a progressive six-band system running from 0 percent to 25 percent.

Pension contributions are deductible under the Pension Reform Act. Employees typically contribute a percentage of their gross salary to a retirement savings account, and that contribution reduces chargeable income. The calculator applies the standard contribution rate when the pension toggle is on.

Ghana PAYE and SSNIT

Ghana's income tax amendments took effect from September 2026. The revised annual bands are shown below. The monthly equivalent is calculated by dividing each band by twelve.

SSNIT contributions are the standard pension deduction in Ghana. The employee contribution is deducted from gross salary before PAYE is calculated, which reduces the tax due. The calculator applies the standard SSNIT employee rate when the pension toggle is on.

Kenya PAYE, SHIF, and NSSF

Kenya has three main statutory deductions from salary: PAYE, SHIF, and NSSF. Each works differently.

PAYE is the income tax and runs on a progressive scale from 10 percent to 35 percent after a personal relief is applied.

SHIF replaced NHIF in 2026. It is a flat 2.75 percent of gross monthly income, with a minimum contribution of KES 300. There is no upper ceiling, so high earners contribute proportionally more than they did under the old NHIF banded system.

NSSF is the retirement savings contribution. As of 2026 it is 6 percent of pensionable pay from the employee, split into two tiers. Tier I covers income up to KES 9,000 per month. Tier II covers income between KES 9,001 and KES 108,000 per month. The maximum employee contribution is KES 6,480 per month.

South Africa PAYE and rebates

South Africa's PAYE system uses annual tax brackets with a system of rebates that reduce the tax payable. The rebates are what make the first portion of income effectively tax-free for most people.

The primary rebate for the 2026/27 tax year is R17,820. That amount is subtracted from the tax calculated using the brackets above. The result is the actual PAYE payable for the year. The calculator applies the primary rebate automatically.

United Kingdom income tax and National Insurance

The UK operates a personal allowance system alongside the tax bands. The first £12,570 of income is tax-free, and the bands above that are taxed at 20 percent, 40 percent, and 45 percent.

National Insurance is a separate deduction from income tax. The employee rate is 8 percent on earnings between £12,570 and £50,270 per year, and 2 percent above that. The personal allowance tapers above £100,000, which creates an effective 60 percent marginal rate on income between £100,000 and £125,140. The calculator applies the standard employee rates.

A worked example

Take a worker in Nigeria with a gross monthly salary of NGN 500,000. That is NGN 6,000,000 per year.

First, the pension contribution is deducted. Assuming a standard employee contribution, chargeable income falls below the annual gross figure.

Next, the chargeable income is run through the tax bands. The first NGN 800,000 is tax-free. The next NGN 2,200,000 is taxed at 15 percent, producing NGN 330,000. The remaining chargeable income falls into the 18 percent band.

The total tax is divided by twelve to give the monthly PAYE. Subtract that from the gross monthly salary, and the result is the net take-home pay. The calculator does all of this automatically and shows every line of the calculation.

Common mistakes when comparing salaries

Comparing gross salaries across countries. A gross salary of 500,000 in one currency is not comparable to a gross salary of 500,000 in another. Even within the same currency, a gross salary of £60,000 in the UK and a gross salary of R60,000 in South Africa produce completely different net figures because the tax systems and cost of living are different.

Forgetting pension contributions. Pension contributions reduce taxable income, which means they reduce the tax you pay. A person who contributes to a pension takes home less cash each month but pays less tax overall. The calculator lets you toggle this on and off so you can see both scenarios.

Assuming the top rate applies to everything. Progressive tax systems do not work that way. Only the income above each threshold is taxed at the higher rate. The effective tax rate is always lower than the marginal rate.

Ignoring statutory health contributions. In Kenya, SHIF is a separate deduction from PAYE and NSSF. In other countries there may be similar levies. The calculator includes all the standard deductions for each country so you see the full picture.

Where this calculator stops

This tool estimates net salary from the information you enter and the standard tax rules for each country. It does not know your personal circumstances. Tax codes vary. Some people have multiple income sources, rental income, or investment income that changes their tax position. Some people are entitled to additional reliefs or allowances that this calculator does not model.

In the UK, Scottish taxpayers have different income tax bands from the rest of the UK. The calculator applies the England, Wales, and Northern Ireland bands. If you are a Scottish taxpayer, your figures will differ. The personal allowance taper above £100,000 is applied, but other reliefs such as marriage allowance or blind person's allowance are not.

The calculator also does not model employer contributions. The figures shown are employee deductions only. Your employer pays additional contributions on top of your salary, but those do not affect your take-home pay directly.

For an exact figure, your payslip and your national tax authority are the definitive sources. Use this calculator to plan, compare, and understand, then confirm the final numbers with your payroll department.

Sources

The tax bands, deduction rates, and pension rules described on this page come from the sources listed below. Every source is public and can be checked directly.