Contractor take-home · 2026/27 tax year

£650 a day inside and outside IR35

£650 a day for 220 days is £143,000 a year before tax. Inside IR35 through an umbrella company you take home about £77,490 (£6,457 a month). Outside IR35 through your own limited company you take home about £82,502 (£6,875 a month), which is £5,012 more.

Figures checked against GOV.UK on .

Billed a year

£143,000

220 days at £650

Inside IR35

£77,490

take-home, umbrella

Outside IR35

£82,502

take-home, limited company

Difference

£5,012

a year

Where £143,000 goes inside IR35

The umbrella company takes its costs out of the day rate before it pays you a salary through PAYE.

Per yearPer month
Billed by the umbrella£143,000£11,917
Umbrella fee (£25 a week)−£1,100−£92
Employer National Insurance (15%)−£17,776−£1,481
Apprenticeship Levy (0.5%)−£618−£51
Your gross salary£123,506£10,292
Income Tax−£41,536−£3,461
Employee National Insurance−£4,481−£373
Take-home£77,490£6,457

Where £143,000 goes outside IR35

Your company pays you a £12,570 salary, pays Corporation Tax on the profit and pays out what is left as dividends.

Per yearPer month
Billed by your company£143,000£11,917
Director salary−£12,570−£1,048
Employer NI on salary−£1,136−£95
Running costs−£1,500−£125
Corporation Tax−£30,116−£2,510
Dividends paid to you£97,679£8,140
Salary plus dividends£110,249£9,187
Tax on salary and dividends−£27,747−£2,312
Take-home£82,502£6,875

£650 a day by days worked

Take-home per year. Fewer billable days means less income but also a smaller share lost to higher-rate tax.

Days a yearBilledInside IR35Outside IR35Difference
160 days£104,000£62,757£66,390£3,633
180 days£117,000£69,002£72,529£3,528
200 days£130,000£73,246£78,513£5,267
220 days£143,000£77,490£82,502£5,012
240 days£156,000£83,164£86,491£3,327

What permanent salary this is worth

An employee would need a salary of about £123,507 to match the inside IR35 take-home, and about £133,426 to match outside IR35. That ignores holiday pay, sick pay and employer pension, which a permanent job adds on top.

The £100,000 trap inside IR35

Your umbrella salary of £123,506 is over £100,000, so you lose £1 of Personal Allowance for every £2 above it. Paying into a pension through the umbrella's salary sacrifice scheme brings that income down and gets back the tax-free allowance.

Corporation Tax marginal relief

The company makes £127,795 profit, which sits between £50,000 and £250,000. The first £50,000 is effectively taxed at 19% and the rest at 26.5%, giving a total Corporation Tax bill of £30,116.

Dividend tax outside IR35

Your salary and dividends add up to £110,249, so £59,979 of the dividends fall in the higher-rate band and are taxed at 35.75%. Dividend tax comes to £26,722, paid through Self Assessment by 31 January after the tax year ends.

In Scotland

Inside IR35 a Scottish taxpayer takes home £72,427, £5,063 less than in the rest of the UK, because the umbrella salary is taxed at Scottish rates. Outside IR35 the difference is £40, because the tapered allowance puts part of the salary into Scottish tax bands.

What one more day is worth

Billing one more day at £650 adds about £212 to your take-home inside IR35, 33% of the day rate, because the top of your umbrella salary is in the £100,000 to £125,140 range, where the Personal Allowance is withdrawn. Outside IR35 it adds about £199 (31%), with your top slice of dividends in the same band. So an extra day is worth almost the same either way.

The gap per day billed

The £5,012 gap works out at £22.78 for each day you bill. That equals about 7.7 days' billing at £650: between one and two working weeks of work a year. At £675 a day it narrows by £591 to £4,421.

The next tax threshold

At about £659 a day, your umbrella salary inside IR35 reaches the £125,140 additional-rate threshold, so the next rate up on this site already crosses it. At about £743 a day, your salary plus dividends outside IR35 reaches the £125,140 additional-rate threshold, which is £93 a day above this rate.

Guides and definitions

Change the days, umbrella fee or company costs

Other day rates

Every day rate inside and outside IR35 · £124,000 salary after tax · Change the days, umbrella fee or company costs

Common questions

How much is £650 a day a year?

£143,000 over 220 working days. Over 230 days it would be £149,500, and over 200 days £130,000. Contractors are not paid for holidays or bank holidays, so 220 days is a common planning figure.

What is £650 a day inside IR35 after tax?

About £77,490 a year, or £6,457.50 a month, through an umbrella company charging £25 a week. The umbrella's gross salary is £123,506 after it pays £17,776 employer National Insurance and £618 Apprenticeship Levy out of the rate.

What is £650 a day outside IR35 after tax?

About £82,502 a year, or £6,875.14 a month, with a £12,570 salary and the rest paid as dividends. The company pays £30,116 Corporation Tax and you pay £27,747 personal tax.

What permanent salary is £650 a day equivalent to?

For the same take-home pay you would need a salary of about £123,507 compared with working inside IR35, or £133,426 compared with outside IR35, before counting holiday pay and pension.

Is £650 a day worth more outside IR35?

Yes, by about £5,012 a year at 220 days. Outside IR35 you also carry more admin and risk: running a company, filing accounts and Self Assessment, and paying for your own insurance.

Sources and assumptions

  • 220 billable days a year, an umbrella fee of £25 a week and £1,500 a year of limited company running costs.
  • Inside IR35: the day rate is an umbrella rate, so employer National Insurance and the Apprenticeship Levy come out of it. No pension or student loan.
  • Outside IR35: a single-director company that cannot claim Employment Allowance, a £12,570 salary and all profit paid as dividends in the same tax year.

These are estimates. Your own figures depend on your umbrella, your accountant's advice, expenses and any other income.