NHS Car Lease Salary Sacrifice Calculator

For NHS staff weighing up an electric or other low-emission car through a salary sacrifice scheme: see the real fall in take-home pay, year by year, and the NHS pension you give up. FrontlinePay is independent and does not sell or broker car schemes.

Short answer

The cost to your take-home pay is less than the monthly sacrifice, because the money comes out before income tax, National Insurance and your NHS pension contribution, but you pay tax on the car as a benefit in kind: 4% of its list price in 2026/27, rising to 9% by 2029/30 for an electric car. Salary sacrifice also lowers your pensionable pay, so you build less NHS pension. On an illustrative £38,000 car and £450 a month, a £42,000 earner's take-home pay falls by about £322.50 a month over three years, and they give up about £100.00 a year of annual pension for each year of the lease.

Your pay and your quote

Your actual annual gross pay (£)

Before tax and pension, for your contracted hours.

Monthly sacrifice (£)

From the scheme quote, the amount taken from gross pay.

Car list price (£)

The P11D or list price on the quote, including options.

Type of car

Cars above 75g/km CO2 follow different rules this tool does not cover.

Lease length

First tax year

Electric car rates rise each April.

Comparable cost without salary sacrifice (£ a month)

Optional. A personal lease or finance quote for the same car, plus insurance, servicing and breakdown cover, paid from take-home pay.

Your circumstances

Where do you pay tax?

Student loan

Does the scheme reduce your pensionable pay?

Salary sacrifice normally does. NHSBSA says lower pensionable pay reduces the pension a 2015 Scheme member builds that year.

Child Benefit you receive in a year (£, optional)

Used to show the effect on the High Income Child Benefit Charge.

What the car really costs you

Enter your pay and the quote

You will see the fall in take-home pay each month after tax, National Insurance, pension, student loan and the taxable car benefit, and the pension you give up.

Get the April 2027 company car tax changes by email

Electric car benefit rates rise each April. We will email what changes for NHS staff. Free, unsubscribe any time.

No spam. Unsubscribe with one click any time.

Illustrative results at three salaries

An electric car with a £38,000 list price on a £450 a month sacrifice (£5,400 a year), three years from 2026/27, England tax rates, no student loan, pensionable pay reduced. These are examples, not quotes.

Annual pay	Tax and NI saved, year 1	Pension contribution saved, year 1	Take-home cost, average a month	Pension given up each year of lease
£30,000	£1,030	£891	£298.38	£100.00
£42,000	£1,102	£529	£322.50	£100.00
£65,000	£1,429	£578	£299.67	£100.00

The take-home cost climbs each year as the car benefit percentage rises. Whether that beats paying for the same car yourself depends on the personal lease or finance quote you compare it with, which is why the calculator asks for one.

Benefit in kind on electric cars

Tax year	Zero-emission car
2025/26	3%
2026/27	4%
2027/28	5%
2028/29	7% (follows from the 2 point rise; not printed on the page we read)
2029/30	9%

The benefit is the car's list price times the percentage, taxed at your income tax rate, usually collected through your tax code. The employer pays Class 1A National Insurance on it, not you. Other low-emission cars use different percentages that depend on CO2 and electric range, which you read from HMRC's appropriate percentage tables.

How we calculate: method, assumptions and sources

Pay and sacrifice. Your gross pay falls by twelve times the monthly sacrifice. Income tax, employee National Insurance, student loan and the NHS pension contribution for your new tier are recalculated on the lower pay with the 2026/27 engine used across this site, and the take-home difference is the cost.

The car benefit. List price times the appropriate percentage for each tax year of the lease is added to your taxable income, and the extra income tax is deducted. No employee National Insurance is charged on it.

Pension. NHSBSA says salary sacrifice lowers pensionable pay and, for 2015 Scheme members, the pension built up that year. We value the loss as a 54th of the sacrificed pay each year, and at 20 times that for a capital figure, the convention used on our pension pages. You can say the scheme leaves pensionable pay unchanged if your trust's policy says so.

Student loan and Child Benefit. Repayments use the plan thresholds in the pay engine. The Child Benefit charge uses £60,000 to £80,000 on adjusted net income, with pension contributions, which come out before tax, already deducted.

Cars above 75g/km. HMRC's guidance on optional remuneration arrangements says cars at or below 75g/km are outside those rules and are taxed on the normal benefit value. Above that, the higher of the benefit value and pay given up is taxed, and we decline to model it.

⚠What this does not model

It applies 2026/27 income tax and National Insurance rates to every year, assumes steady pay, and treats the lease as whole tax years starting on the year you choose. It ignores insurance and servicing inside the bundle beyond the sacrifice, early termination and excess mileage charges, fuel, mortgage affordability and employer costs. The pension impact is an estimate of future income, not a guarantee. FrontlinePay is independent and not a financial adviser. Ask your scheme for a payslip illustration, and speak to a regulated adviser for personal advice.

Sources. gov.uk, appropriate percentage (Appendix 2); gov.uk, future company car rates; gov.uk, company car tax rates 2028 to 2030; gov.uk, optional remuneration arrangements; NHSBSA, what is salary sacrifice?; gov.uk, Child Benefit tax charge; gov.uk, what you pay on a student loan. Last checked 19 October 2026. See our editorial policy.

Frequently asked questions

How much does an electric car through NHS salary sacrifice really cost? +

It costs less than the monthly sacrifice, because the sacrifice comes out of pay before tax, National Insurance and the pension contribution, but you then pay income tax on the car as a benefit in kind. For an illustrative £38,000 electric car on a £450 a month sacrifice, someone earning £42,000 sees take-home pay fall by about £323 a month on average over three years from 2026/27. Use your own quote and pay in the calculator.

What is the benefit in kind rate on an electric car? +

The percentage of the car's list price that is added to your taxable income. For fully electric cars gov.uk gives 3% for 2025/26, 4% for 2026/27 and 5% for 2027/28, then a rise of 2 percentage points a year in 2028/29 and 2029/30, with 9% set for 2029/30. The 2028/29 figure of 7% follows from that but is not printed on the page we read.

Why does salary sacrifice reduce my NHS pension? +

Because your pensionable pay falls by the amount sacrificed. NHSBSA's knowledge base says lower pensionable pay reduces the pension 2015 Scheme members build up in that year. The calculator shows about a 54th of the sacrificed pay as annual pension given up for each year of the lease, and your contribution also falls, which is why take-home cost is lower than the sacrifice.

Can I pay my NHS pension contribution by salary sacrifice? +

No. NHSBSA says member contributions to the NHS Pension Scheme and the NHS Money Purchase Pension Scheme, and additional pension contributions, cannot be paid by salary sacrifice. That is different from the car, where the sacrifice reduces your pensionable pay.

What about cars with emissions above 75g/km? +

HMRC's optional remuneration rules apply to them: you are taxed on the higher of the car's normal benefit value and the pay you give up. That usually removes most of the saving, and this tool does not model it. Cars at or below 75g/km, which includes electric cars, are outside those rules and are taxed on the normal benefit value.

Does it affect my student loan? +

Yes, usually in your favour. Student loan repayments are 9% (6% for a postgraduate loan) of income above a threshold, counted before tax and other deductions according to gov.uk. Sacrificed pay is no longer part of that income, so repayments fall. The calculator includes it if you pick your plan.

Does it affect Child Benefit? +

It can. The High Income Child Benefit Charge applies when adjusted net income is over £60,000, at 1% of the benefit for every £200, and the full amount is repaid at £80,000. Sacrificed pay lowers your adjusted net income, which helps, while the taxable car benefit raises it. Enter your Child Benefit to see the net change.

What does the calculator not include? +

Insurance, servicing, tyres and breakdown cover inside the quote beyond the sacrifice amount, charges for ending early or excess mileage, fuel or charging, the expensive car supplement (a road tax matter), employer costs, mortgage affordability and changes to tax rates after 2026/27. If your trust's scheme or tax rules differ, trust the scheme's own payslip illustration over this tool.

Related tools and guides

NHS Car Leasing (Salary Sacrifice) Explained

How the scheme works and the pension trade-off.

NHS Salary Sacrifice Pension Impact Calculator

The pension cost of any salary sacrifice arrangement.

Cycle to Work and Other Salary Sacrifice Schemes

The same mechanism for bikes and technology.

NHS Pension Contribution Rate Calculator

Your tier and how it changes with pay.

NHS Tax Code Checker

A taxable car benefit can change your code.

NHS Pay Calculator

Take-home pay for your band and point.