The Real Number · Work & childcare

The £100k Check

Will you stay under the childcare income limit?

Start with your latest payslip, then add anything it does not show — such as a future bonus or yearly work benefits.

Your estimate ↓

Start with the numbers you know

Your annual salary plus one line from a normal payslip is enough for a useful first check. Use taxable pay — not what lands in your bank.

Your annual salary £ / YEAR · gross

The headline figure from your contract, job offer or payslip. We use this as a sense-check; the monthly taxable-pay figure below drives the estimate.

Taxable pay on a normal month £ / MONTH

On your payslip, find “taxable pay this period” or work it out from the regular lines. For example: £8,500 basic pay − £500 pension sacrifice − £100 cycle scheme + £150 allowance = £8,050. Enter that total once — not annual salary, not “year to date” and not take-home pay. If this month includes a bonus, use the usual amount instead and add the bonus below.

Leave out your employer’s pension payment. It does not add to, or reduce, your adjusted net income for this check.

What normally lands in your bank? £ / MONTH · optional

On a payslip this is usually called “net pay” or “net payment”. Add it if you want us to show the estimated monthly amount left after the extra pension sacrifice.

Bonus or commission still to come £ / YEAR · optional

Work benefits taxed through your tax code optional

Add Bupa healthcare, Bupa dental, a company car or anything else taxed through your code as separate lines. If HR gives a monthly amount, choose “Monthly” and we annualise it. Leave out an allowance already inside your monthly taxable-pay total — it is already counted.

I get work benefits, but I do not know their yearly taxable value or whether they are already in my payslip.

Other taxable income £ / YEAR · optional

For example rental income, savings interest or dividends. Do not include ISA interest.

Anything paid outside payroll?

Leave these blank if they do not apply. Workplace pension or salary sacrifice already inside your taxable-pay figure does not need adding again.

Personal pension paid from your bank £ PAID THIS TAX YEAR

We add basic-rate tax relief: £80 paid into a relief-at-source pension usually counts as £100 for this check.

Gift Aid donations you paid £ PAID THIS TAX YEAR

We also gross this up: £80 donated through Gift Aid usually counts as £100.

Paydays left before 5 April NUMBER · optional

Only needed if you want a rough monthly salary-sacrifice figure to discuss with HR.

How much breathing room would feel right?

The official line is £100,000, but a buffer can help if a bonus or benefit is still uncertain.

Right on £100k £1k buffer £3k buffer

Save these figures to this deviceOnly this browser remembers them. They are not sent to us.

Your estimated adjusted net income

£0

What we have included

Your estimated income, then the reductions you entered. This is the part to sanity-check against your payslip, P11D and pension details.

Your next step

Use this as a planning check, not a final tax calculation or childcare decision. This tool cannot confirm your eligibility for Tax-Free Childcare or free childcare for working parents, your HMRC tax position, or your pension annual allowance. The monthly cash view is an estimate based on standard tax and National Insurance rules; your tax code, payroll and other deductions can change the exact amount. Do not make a pension or bonus-sacrifice election from this result alone. Before acting, check your payslip, P11D/rewards statement, pension provider and HMRC guidance — and ask HR whether the employer allows the change, its payroll cut-off and the total going into your pension. This tool does not provide tax, pension, benefits or financial advice.