About Wagepage, and how the numbers are worked out
Wagepage is built by James Burfield. Here is who is behind it, and where every figure comes from.
Why this exists
Wagepage started as the take-home pay calculator, which I built for myself. It did the job, so I built the next one, and it carried on from there until there were nine.
That is also why every page shows its sources and the date they were checked. I wanted an answer I could check rather than one I had to take on trust, and if I was going to rely on these myself then the workings had to be visible.
Who builds this
I build search-focused websites and tools, and Wagepage is one of my own projects. My work and background are on my own site if you want to know who is behind the numbers. I want to be straight about what that means. I am not an accountant or a tax adviser, and nothing here is tax advice. The trust has to come from somewhere, so here is exactly where.
One thing worth saying plainly rather than leaving in the small print: every calculation on this site runs in your own browser. Nothing you type is sent here, stored or logged, and the privacy page shows you how to check that for yourself in your browser's developer tools.
Where the numbers come from
Every rate on this site is taken from gov.uk. Each calculator names its sources and shows the date its rates were last checked, once at the top of the page and again at the foot.
The maths is tested against figures HMRC publishes, including HMRC's own worked examples where they exist. The National Insurance calculation is pinned to the £58.66 that gov.uk gives for someone earning £1,000 a week. When a rate changes in April, those tests fail until the new figure is entered correctly, so a stale number cannot quietly ship.
What each tool assumes
Where a calculation makes an assumption, the page it affects says so. The take-home calculator assumes a standard tax code. National Insurance is worked out across the whole year, where real payroll charges it on each pay period, so a month containing a bonus is treated differently on an actual payslip. The company car tool leaves out private fuel benefit, which is taxed separately. Those notes live on the tools themselves, next to the numbers they change.
What this is not
It is an estimate, not your payslip. Your tax code, your employer's payroll and anything unusual about your year will move the real number. For a decision that matters, check with HMRC or a qualified adviser.
The take-home pay calculator is the best place to start, and if your payslip looks wrong the tax code checker is usually where the answer is. When a figure here turns out to be wrong, the corrections page says what happens next.
Rates current for the 2026/27 tax yearLast checked 16 July 2026