A £34,214 redundancy package leaves about £31,575 after tax and National Insurance.
Your £34,214 package includes £10,514 statutory redundancy (14 weeks). About £25,514 is tax-free; after £2,426 Income Tax, £213 employee National Insurance you keep around £31,575.
Your package, line by line
| Component | Gross | Net |
|---|---|---|
| Holiday pay Income Tax + NI | £1,200 | £931 |
| PILON / PENP (notice pay) Income Tax + NI | £7,500 | £5,130 |
| Statutory redundancy Tax-free | £10,514 | £10,514 |
| Enhanced redundancy Tax-free | £15,000 | £15,000 |
| Total | £34,214 | £31,575 |
The net figures per row are an illustrative allocation calculated in the order shown — the total tax and take-home are unaffected by row order.
How it's taxed
| Total package | £34,214 |
| Tax-free (termination award, up to £30k) | £25,514 |
| Taxable earnings (salary, holiday, PILON, bonus) | £8,700 |
| Taxable termination (over £30k) | £0 |
| Income Tax | −£2,426 |
| Employee National Insurance | −£213 |
| Estimated take-home | £31,575 |
Tax on redundancy over £30,000
The first £30,000 of your termination award — statutory redundancy plus any enhanced redundancy or other compensation for losing your job — is tax-free. The rest is added to your income for the tax year and taxed at your top rate of Income Tax. You pay no National Insurance on it: your employer pays 15% Class 1A instead. Notice pay, holiday pay, bonuses and unpaid wages don't use the £30,000 and are taxed in full, like salary.
Example: you had earned £25,000 in the tax year before leaving, with no student loan, on 2026/27 rates for England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
| Termination award | Taxed | Income Tax | You keep |
|---|---|---|---|
| £30,000 | £0 | £0 | £30,000 |
| £40,000 | £10,000 | £2,000 | £38,000 |
| £60,000 | £30,000 | £6,946 | £53,054 |
| £80,000 | £50,000 | £14,946 | £65,054 |
| £100,000 | £70,000 | £22,946 | £77,054 |
| £120,000 | £90,000 | £33,946 | £86,054 |
Your employer's 15% Class 1A on the taxed part — £7,500 on an £80,000 award — doesn't come out of your payment. Two things push your tax up. Above £100,000 of total income you lose £1 of personal allowance for every £2, so part of a large award is taxed at an effective 60%: going from a £100,000 to a £120,000 award here adds £11,000 of tax on the extra £20,000. And timing matters, because the award is taxed on top of what you have already earned that tax year: a £60,000 award costs £5,486 in tax if you had earned £10,000 before leaving, but £9,946 if you had earned £40,000.
Frequently asked questions
How is statutory redundancy pay calculated in 2026?
You get a number of weeks’ pay based on your age in each complete year of service: half a week for years under 22, one week for years aged 22 to 40, and one and a half weeks for years at 41 or over. Service is capped at 20 years, and weekly pay is capped at £751 from 6 April 2026 (£783 in Northern Ireland). Example: 10 full years all aged 41+ on £40,000 a year gives 15 weeks × £751 = £11,265, all tax-free.
What is the maximum statutory redundancy pay in 2026?
With the £751 weekly cap and the 20-year service cap, the maximum is 30 weeks × £751 = £22,530 (from 6 April 2026, England, Wales and Scotland). Anything your employer pays above the statutory minimum is enhanced redundancy — still tax-free within the overall £30,000 termination exemption.
How much of my redundancy is tax-free?
The first £30,000 of a genuine termination award — statutory redundancy, enhanced redundancy and other genuine compensation for losing your job — is free of Income Tax and National Insurance. Any genuine termination award above the combined £30,000 exemption is subject to Income Tax; the employee does not pay National Insurance on that excess, although the employer normally pays Class 1A NI on it. Earnings like PILON, holiday pay, outstanding salary and bonuses are not part of the £30,000 and are taxed in full.
How much tax will I pay on redundancy over £30,000?
The part above £30,000 is added to the rest of your income for the tax year and taxed at your top rate of Income Tax. For example, if you had earned £25,000 before leaving, an £80,000 award leaves £50,000 taxable, which costs £14,946 in Income Tax, so you keep £65,054. You pay no National Insurance on it; your employer pays 15% Class 1A instead.
Is this the official HMRC redundancy calculator?
No, it isn’t an official tool. GOV.UK’s statutory redundancy calculator works out statutory redundancy pay only, from your age, weekly pay and years of service. This one follows HMRC’s rules to work out the tax on the whole package, including enhanced redundancy, notice pay, holiday pay and the £30,000 exemption.
Is statutory redundancy pay taxed?
No. Statutory redundancy pay is part of the tax-free termination award, so as long as your total termination award is under £30,000 it is paid in full with no Income Tax or National Insurance.
Why is my PILON taxed when redundancy is not?
Notice pay is taxed as earnings — Income Tax and employee National Insurance — and does not count towards the £30,000 exemption, which only covers genuine compensation for loss of the job. Where the payment is not already taxable as contractual PILON, HMRC’s Post-Employment Notice Pay (PENP) rules identify the part of a severance or enhanced redundancy figure that relates to unworked notice and treat it as earnings. Use the PILON/PENP amount your employer or settlement agreement gives.
Do I pay National Insurance on redundancy over £30,000?
Not as the employee. The part of a termination award above £30,000 is subject to Income Tax but not employee National Insurance — your employer pays Class 1A National Insurance on it instead. Earnings such as PILON and holiday pay do attract employee NI.
Why was so much tax taken from my redundancy payment?
If part of the payment is made after your P45 is issued, your employer often uses an emergency 0T tax code, which gives no personal allowance and can over-deduct tax up front. HMRC reconciles this after the tax year, so you may be due a refund or owe a little depending on your total income.
Related calculators & guides
Sources — official UK figures
- GOV.UK — Redundancy pay: weekly pay capped at £751 from 6 April 2026 ↗
- nidirect — Redundancy pay in Northern Ireland (weekly cap £783) ↗
- GOV.UK — Termination payments: what you pay tax and National Insurance on ↗
- GOV.UK — Calculate your statutory redundancy pay ↗
- HMRC — Relevant termination awards & PENP (EIM13874) ↗
- HMRC — National Insurance rates ↗
Weekly pay caps (£751, or £783 in Northern Ireland) and HMRC’s £30,000 rule checked on 27 September 2026 · How we calculate →
An estimate for the chosen tax year. It works out statutory redundancy from your age, service and capped weekly pay, applies the £30,000 tax-free exemption to the termination award, and taxes the rest — earnings (salary, holiday, bonus, PILON/PENP) at Income Tax, employee NI and student loan, and the termination excess at Income Tax only (your employer pays Class 1A NI on it). Income Tax stacks on the income you enter for the year; NI and student loan use the earnings period you select. It relies on your employer's split between taxable notice pay (PILON/PENP) and the tax-free award — it doesn't calculate PENP for you. It also assumes a genuine redundancy and complete years of service (statutory notice can occasionally extend the relevant date), and doesn't model pension from the package, foreign-service relief or injury exemptions. Your payslip can differ if a 0T code is used. Check your settlement agreement and, for large sums, take advice. Not financial advice.