Your payslip explained, line by line

Your details

• Employer name, and often your employee or payroll number.
• Your National Insurance number.
• Your tax code, which tells your employer how much of your pay is tax-free.
• The pay date and the tax period — for example month 6 or week 26 of the tax year.

Payments

Everything you earned this period: basic salary or hours × rate, overtime, bonus, commission, holiday pay or sick pay. If your pay depends on the time you worked, the payslip must show the number of hours. The total of this section is your gross pay.

Deductions

Each amount taken off. The usual ones are PAYE Income Tax, National Insurance and workplace pension contributions, and for some people student loan repayments. Salary sacrifice arrangements may reduce the gross pay figure instead of appearing as a deduction.

Net pay

Gross pay minus deductions, plus anything paid back to you such as expenses. This is the amount that should arrive in your bank account.

Year to date

Running totals since 6 April for your taxable pay, tax paid and National Insurance. At the end of the tax year these should match your P60.

Questions