Bonuses are taxed exactly like salary — which means the slice that disappears can be a shock. See how much of your bonus you actually keep in 2026/27, including student loan and the £100,000 trap.
Workplace pension taken from your pay before tax (salary sacrifice). Leave at 0% to compare headline pay.
Does this apply to you? Tick the box only if you took a Postgraduate Loan for a Master's or PhD in England or Wales — it repays 6% above £21,000 on top of any plan above. Undergraduate-only? Leave it unticked.
Exactly like normal pay: income tax, National Insurance and student loan repayments all apply, worked out as if the bonus were part of your salary. What surprises people is the rate: your bonus stacks on top of your salary, so it is taxed at your highest marginal rate — and if it pushes you over £100,000 it also starts eating your Personal Allowance, at an effective ~62%.
Your payslip may look even worse in the month itself: payroll annualises the bonus payment, so tax is often over-deducted in bonus month and trued up over the following months (or via your tax code / self assessment). The figures here are the true annual position.
The classic counter-move is paying some or all of the bonus into your pension (ask payroll before it's paid — it must be arranged in advance). On £110,000 with a £10,000 bonus, sacrificing the full bonus costs you only about £3,800 of cash, as our £100,000 tax trap guide works through.
It depends on your salary. On £50,000 you keep about £5,840 (the bonus is taxed at 40% + 2% NI, because your salary already uses the basic band). On £40,000 you keep about £7,200. On £110,000 — inside the Personal Allowance taper — you keep only about £3,800.
No. There is no separate bonus tax in the UK — a bonus is ordinary earnings, taxed at your marginal rate. It feels higher because it stacks on top of your salary and is taxed at your top rate, not your average rate.
Payroll treats the bonus month as if you earned that much every month, so income tax is often over-deducted at first. It normally corrects itself through later payslips or your tax code; the annual figures here show the true end position.
Yes — a bonus sacrifice arranged with payroll before payment goes into your pension before tax and NI, and can restore your Personal Allowance if the bonus would push you over £100,000. It must be agreed before the bonus is due to be paid.