£1,500/month take-home → roughly £20,100 gross
Reverse lookup: the approximate gross UK salary that nets £1,500 per month.
Short answer
To take home £1,500/month (£18,000/year after tax), you need a gross salary of approximately £20,100 — using 2024/25 UK income tax and NI rates.
Why the gap is what it is
Gross salary minus income tax minus National Insurance equals take-home. At this salary you’re in the basic-rate band: 20% tax on income above £12,570 and 8% NI.
Rough monthly breakdown
- Gross salary: £20,100/year (£1,675/month)
- Take-home: £18,000/year (£1,500/month)
- Tax + NI deductions: roughly £2,100/year
- Effective keep-rate: 90% of gross
- Marginal rate at this salary: 28% (20% tax + 8% NI)
What changes the answer
- Pension salary sacrifice: 5% sacrificed reduces gross taxable pay — to still net £1,500/month with 5% sacrifice, you would need a gross of around £21,200.
- Student loan: Plan 2 adds 9% on earnings above £27,295. With Plan 2 active you would need gross roughly £0 higher to land on the same take-home.
- Scotland: Scottish income tax bands are 19%, 20%, 21%, 42% and 47% — the same gross typically nets a few hundred pounds less than in England.
- Tax code: A K code, BR code, or reduced personal allowance changes the answer materially.
Assumptions
2024/25 England/NI rates. Full personal allowance (£12,570). No student loan, no benefits-in-kind, no pension auto-enrolment deduction. For a precise figure including your specific deductions, run the numbers through the salary calculator.