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PayClear UK

Contractor day rate calculator

Estimate only

Set the income you want to take home, then see the day rate and revenue that a sole trader would need to reach it.

Tax year 2025/26 · rules last reviewed 22 August 2026 · engine v1.0.0 · calculated 16 October 2026

Illustrated payslip and tax calculation charts
£

A full-time contractor often bills 200–230.

£
£

Scotland has its own income tax bands. Rates for the rest of the UK are the same.

Estimated day rate required

£311.99

£39.00 an hour across 200 billable days

Day rate
£311.99
Hourly equivalent
£39.00
Revenue needed
£62,398
Take-home achieved
£45,000

How the revenue is used

Revenue needed£62,397.58
Business expenses− £4,000.00
Profit£58,397.58
Pension contributions− £0.00
Income tax− £10,791.03
National Insurance− £2,606.55
Student loan− £0.00
Estimated take-home£45,000.00
Effective rate on profit22.9%

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Some links on this site are commercial partnerships. If you use them we may be paid a fee, at no cost to you. Partnerships never change how a calculator works or what a result says, and we do not rank partners by how much they pay.

How this calculator works

  • The engine searches for the revenue whose profit, after tax and National Insurance, leaves your target income.
  • Expenses and pension contributions are removed before tax is applied.
  • That revenue is divided by your billable days to produce the day rate.

Assumptions

  • You operate as a sole trader — limited company, umbrella and inside-IR35 arrangements are not modelled.
  • Billable days already exclude holiday, sickness and non-billable time.
  • You are aged under State Pension age and pay Class 1 employee National Insurance where relevant.
  • You have the standard tax code with no adjustments, restrictions or underpayments carried forward.
  • Income is spread evenly across the tax year, so no month-by-month PAYE smoothing effects are modelled.
  • No other taxable income, taxable benefits in kind, salary sacrifice arrangements or Marriage Allowance transfers are included unless entered.
  • Pension contributions are treated as a net pay (salary sacrifice equivalent) deduction taken before income tax is applied.

Limitations

  • Corporation tax, dividends, VAT and IR35 status are outside this calculation.
  • Unpaid invoices, late payment and gaps between contracts are not modelled.
  • Business insurance and equipment should be entered as expenses if you want them covered.

Sources for 2025/26

This calculator estimates figures from what you entered and the published rates for 2025/26. Your actual position depends on your tax code, your employer's payroll, other income and reliefs. This is not tax advice — you may wish to seek professional advice. See our calculation methodology.

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