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Work out the day rate you actually need.

Start with what you want to take home. We add income tax, National Insurance and your business costs, then split the total over the days you'll really work.

Uses 2026/27 HMRC rates
Checked 28 Oct 2026 against GOV.UK

1What you want to take home
After tax and NI. What you want landing in your own account.
2When you'll work
52 minus holidays, bank holidays, sick days and quiet spells. Most trades land on 44 to 47.
Used for the hourly rate. Don't count driving or quoting.
Days a week
Share of working days lost to quoting visits, collecting materials and paperwork. Most trades lose 10 to 20%.
3What the business costs you a year

Leave a box empty if it doesn't apply. Don't include materials you charge the customer for.

Lease or loan, fuel, servicing, tax, insurance
Replacing and repairing tools, PPE
Public liability, tools cover
Job app, accounts software, phone contract
Accountant, training, workwear, scheme fees

Costs a year £0

4Tax and National Insurance
How to work out tax
Where you live
Repayments through self-assessment come out of profit like tax.

Uses 2026/27 income tax bands for where you live, Class 4 National Insurance and any student loan.

Day rate docket28 Oct 2026

Your figures print here.

Fill in boxes 1 to 3, then press Work out my day rate. You'll get a day rate, an hourly rate and every sum we used.

How the sum works

  1. We find the profit that leaves your take-home after income tax (20% basic, 40% higher, above the £12,570 allowance), Class 4 National Insurance (6% from £12,570 to £50,270, 2% above) and any student loan.
  2. We add your yearly business costs. That's the turnover you need.
  3. We take the days you'll bill (working weeks times days a week, less the days lost to quoting and paperwork) and divide the turnover by them, rounding up to the next pound.

Setting a day rate that pays

Most rates that come up short have the same cause. They're worked back from what other trades charge, or from an old employed wage, and miss what self-employment costs: tax you pay later, a van, insurance, and days you work but can't bill.

Days you can't bill

A week on the books is rarely five billable days. Pricing visits, trips to the merchant, waiting on other trades and evening paperwork all take time nobody pays for. If you lose one day in every five, a rate that looks right over a full week falls short by a fifth. The calculator starts at 15% lost; if you spend a full day a week on quotes, set it to 20.

Tax comes out of the rate, not on top of it

As a sole trader you pay income tax and Class 4 National Insurance on your profit through self-assessment, months after you've been paid. The rate has to carry that money. On the first £12,570 of profit you pay no income tax; above it, 20% income tax and 6% National Insurance take about a quarter of each extra pound. Scottish income tax bands are different, so pick Scotland if you live there.

VAT

If your turnover goes over £90,000 in any 12 months, you must register for VAT. You then add 20% to your prices for homeowners, who can't claim it back. Work out your rate without VAT, then add it on top when you quote. Most building work done for other VAT-registered contractors comes under the domestic reverse charge instead.

Check it against the market

If the rate looks high for your area, look first at the costs and lost days you entered, then at your working weeks. A rate that pays you properly beats a rate that wins every job.