What is PAYE on a payslip?
PAYE on a payslip is the Income Tax your employer has deducted from that pay and will pass to HMRC. PAYE stands for Pay As You Earn: HMRC’s system for collecting Income Tax and National Insurance from employment through payroll, so tax is paid a little each payday rather than in one bill.
What PAYE means
GOV.UK describes PAYE as “HMRC’s system to collect Income Tax and National Insurance from employment”. Your employer works out the deductions each time you are paid, takes them from your gross pay, and sends them to HMRC.
On most payslips the line labelled PAYE, PAYE tax or Income Tax is the Income Tax part only. National Insurance usually has its own line, often labelled NI or NIC.
How the PAYE amount is worked out
Your employer uses your tax code to work out how much of your pay is tax-free and how much is taxed. The tax code is usually printed on the payslip near your name or National Insurance number. If the code is wrong, the PAYE figure will be wrong too.
PAYE is cumulative for most people: each payday takes account of your pay and tax so far in the tax year, which runs from 6 April to 5 April. That is why the amount can change from one month to the next even when your pay does not.
What else is collected through payroll
Alongside Income Tax and National Insurance, GOV.UK lists other deductions an employer may need to make, such as student loan repayments and pension contributions. Each should appear as its own line on your payslip.
| Line | What it is |
|---|---|
| PAYE / Income Tax | Income Tax deducted under your tax code. |
| NI / NIC | Your National Insurance contributions. |
| Pension | Your contribution to a workplace pension. |
| Student loan | Repayments of a student or postgraduate loan, where they apply. |
Questions
Why is there no PAYE on my payslip?
Usually because your pay for the period is within your tax-free allowance, or your tax code (for example NT) means no tax is due on this income. If you think it is wrong, check your tax code with HMRC.
Is PAYE the same as National Insurance?
No. PAYE is the system that collects both, but on a payslip the PAYE line normally means Income Tax, and National Insurance is shown separately.
Sources
- GOV.UK — PAYE and payroll for employers: introduction to PAYE
- GOV.UK — Tax codes: what your tax code means
- GOV.UK — National Insurance
Official sources checked 23 September 2026. This guide explains how pay documents work; it is not tax or legal advice.