PAYE & Net Pay Calculator
Work out what actually lands in your account each month. Enter a gross monthly salary and you'll see the estimated take-home pay, with the PAYE and statutory deductions that got you there.
Enter a monthly gross salary and choose Calculate. Everything else is optional — you do not need the advanced fields to get an estimate. Free, and no sign-up.
Calculated using rates effective . Last reviewed by an automated check against the source legislation (pending partner sign-off).
Everything above is worked out in your browser. Nothing you type is sent to us, stored, or logged.
These tools give estimates and general information. They are not tax, accounting or legal advice, and they don’t account for the specifics of your business. Always confirm what applies to your situation before acting on a result.
This calculator provides an estimate for general information. Your actual payroll deductions may differ depending on your circumstances and the rules applicable to your payroll.
What this actually works out
Gross pay in, and then in order: NSSF on the tiered bands, SHIF, the Affordable Housing Levy and any pension contribution come off to give taxable pay. The PAYE bands apply to that figure, personal relief comes off the tax, and what remains is the PAYE due.
The last line is the one most employers have never seen: the total cost of employing that person, including the employer's own NSSF and Housing Levy contributions. It is consistently higher than the salary people budget for.
Where this gets employers into trouble
Filing late. Late PAYE is the single most common penalty we clean up, and it is entirely avoidable — the deadline does not move and the amount is known weeks ahead. PAYE is due by the 9th of the following month; the KRA filing calendar has that one and the rest, each with the section it comes from.
Treating allowances as untaxable. House allowance, transport allowance and most cash allowances are part of gross pay for PAYE. Paying them separately does not change that.
Casuals treated as outside payroll. Casual employees have their own rules and there is a point at which they stop being casual. Getting this wrong is expensive at audit.
Get quick answers to your concerns
If your question is not here, message us. We answer questions without opening a file on you.
Is SHIF deducted before or after PAYE is calculated?
Before. SHIF, the Affordable Housing Levy and NSSF all come off gross pay to arrive at taxable pay, and PAYE is then worked out on what is left. Personal relief comes off the tax itself, not off the pay. Getting that order wrong is the most common mistake we see in spreadsheets — it overstates the tax due on every employee.
Why is the employer cost higher than the gross salary?
Because the employer matches the NSSF contribution and pays its own share of the Housing Levy. A salary line in your budget is not what the person costs you — the figure at the bottom of this calculator is.
Does this handle benefits, allowances and non-cash pay?
No. It works on a cash gross figure. Housing benefit, car benefit, low-interest staff loans and non-cash benefits above the threshold are all taxable and all have their own rules. If your payroll includes any of them, the number here will be wrong — talk to us.
What if the employee has a pension or insurance policy?
Pension contributions are deductible from taxable pay up to a monthly ceiling, and there is a separate insurance relief on life, health and education premiums. The pension field is in the calculator. Insurance relief is not, because it is the less common case and every extra field costs completions — we apply it when we run your payroll.
Can I use this for a payroll filing?
Use it to sanity-check a figure, not to file. Rates move with every Finance Act, benefits and reliefs are not covered here, and the responsibility for what is filed sits with the employer. If you are filing on these numbers, have someone check them.
Want help making sense of the result?
Talk to Cerullo about your business and we’ll help you understand what to do next.