Rule-based calculation · official statistical benchmark · illustrative shares
What do my taxes pay for?
Two things this page can tell you honestly: what income tax and National Insurance your household pays under the 2026/27 rules, and how the government divides everything it spends, down to every sub-function HM Treasury publishes. What it cannot tell you is which of those your pounds bought. Tax is not earmarked; the shares below are an illustration.
Income tax and National Insurance · 1 adult, 0 children, England, renting · 2026/27
£6,280 a year
£4,486 income tax, £1,794 National Insurance, on £35,000 gross pay
Direct taxes on pay only. VAT, council tax, fuel and other duties are paid too and are not counted here, so your total tax is higher than this. The working.
Of a household paying £6,280 a year in income tax and National Insurance, the equivalent of £1,876 goes on social protection and £1,182 on health, if that tax were divided the way the government divided its £1,285 billion of spending in Year ending March 2025.
Where the money goes, function by function
Total managed expenditure was £1285 billion in Year ending March 2025, by the Treasury’s PESA tables. Each function is shown with its sub-functions beneath it, and the “of which” lines the Treasury publishes beneath those. The right-hand column is your £6,280 multiplied by each share.
| Function and sub-function | £ billion | Share of all spending | Equivalent share of your tax |
|---|---|---|---|
| Social protection series | 383.9 | 29.9% | £1,876 |
| Old age series | 162.7 | 12.7% | £795 |
| Pensions series | 146.5 | 11.4% | £716 |
| Sickness and disability series | 83.6 | 6.5% | £409 |
| Incapacity, disability and injury benefits series | 67.2 | 5.2% | £328 |
| Social exclusion (Universal Credit and other income support) series | 76.1 | 5.9% | £372 |
| Family and children series | 33.6 | 2.6% | £164 |
| Housing benefits series | 17 | 1.3% | £83 |
| Social protection not elsewhere classified series | 8.3 | 0.64% | £40 |
| Survivors series | 1.4 | 0.11% | £6.68 |
| Unemployment series | 1.3 | 0.10% | £6.37 |
| Unemployment benefits series | 1.3 | 0.10% | £6.37 |
| Health series | 241.8 | 18.8% | £1,182 |
| Medical services series | 231.5 | 18.0% | £1,131 |
| Central and other health services series | 7.8 | 0.61% | £38 |
| Medical research series | 2.5 | 0.19% | £12 |
| General public services series | 157.6 | 12.3% | £770 |
| Public debt transactions series | 124.7 | 9.7% | £609 |
| Central government debt interest series | 84.8 | 6.6% | £414 |
| Bank of England series | 20.2 | 1.6% | £99 |
| Public sector pensions series | 18.3 | 1.4% | £89 |
| Local government debt interest series | 1 | 0.07% | £4.65 |
| Public corporation debt interest series | 0.5 | 0.04% | £2.38 |
| Executive and legislative organs, financial, fiscal and external affairs series | 17.6 | 1.4% | £86 |
| Foreign economic aid series | 7.7 | 0.60% | £38 |
| General public services not elsewhere classified series | 5.1 | 0.40% | £25 |
| General services series | 1.9 | 0.15% | £9.51 |
| Research and development series | 0.5 | 0.04% | £2.68 |
| Education series | 118.7 | 9.2% | £580 |
| Secondary education series | 60.6 | 4.7% | £296 |
| Pre-primary and primary education series | 40.1 | 3.1% | £196 |
| Primary series | 32.7 | 2.5% | £160 |
| Under fives series | 7.4 | 0.57% | £36 |
| Subsidiary services to education series | 5.9 | 0.46% | £29 |
| Tertiary education series | 4.5 | 0.35% | £22 |
| Research and development series | 2.8 | 0.22% | £14 |
| Education not elsewhere classified series | 2.4 | 0.19% | £12 |
| Education not definable by level series | 1.4 | 0.11% | £6.69 |
| Post-secondary non-tertiary education series | 1 | 0.07% | £4.70 |
| Economic affairs series | 86.8 | 6.8% | £424 |
| Transport series | 46.4 | 3.6% | £227 |
| Railways series | 26.7 | 2.1% | £130 |
| National roads series | 6.5 | 0.50% | £32 |
| Local roads series | 6.4 | 0.50% | £31 |
| Local public transport series | 4.7 | 0.37% | £23 |
| Other transport series | 2.2 | 0.17% | £11 |
| General economic, commercial and labour affairs series | 18.2 | 1.4% | £89 |
| Research and development series | 9.7 | 0.75% | £47 |
| Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting series | 6.3 | 0.49% | £31 |
| Other agriculture, food and fisheries policy series | 3.5 | 0.28% | £17 |
| Market support series | 2.5 | 0.20% | £12 |
| Forestry series | 0.2 | 0.02% | £1.17 |
| Fuel and energy series | 3.8 | 0.30% | £19 |
| Communication series | 1 | 0.08% | £4.82 |
| Economic affairs not elsewhere classified series | 0.9 | 0.07% | £4.32 |
| Other industries series | 0.3 | 0.02% | £1.42 |
| Mining, manufacturing and construction series | 0.3 | 0.02% | £1.29 |
| Defence series | 63.6 | 4.9% | £311 |
| Military defence series | 57 | 4.4% | £279 |
| Foreign military aid series | 3.5 | 0.27% | £17 |
| Research and development series | 2.8 | 0.22% | £14 |
| Defence not elsewhere classified series | 0.3 | 0.02% | £1.22 |
| Civil defence series | 0.1 | 0.00% | £0.31 |
| Public order and safety series | 51.4 | 4.0% | £251 |
| Police services series | 28.7 | 2.2% | £140 |
| Police series | 25.1 | 1.9% | £122 |
| Immigration and citizenship series | 3.7 | 0.29% | £18 |
| Law courts series | 9.2 | 0.72% | £45 |
| Prisons series | 7.4 | 0.58% | £36 |
| Fire protection series | 3.9 | 0.31% | £19 |
| Public order and safety not elsewhere classified series | 2 | 0.16% | £9.94 |
| Research and development series | 0 | 0.00% | £0.00 |
| Housing and community amenities series | 22.3 | 1.7% | £109 |
| Housing development series | 14.4 | 1.1% | £70 |
| Local authority housing series | 11.3 | 0.88% | £55 |
| Other social housing series | 3.1 | 0.24% | £15 |
| Community development series | 4.7 | 0.37% | £23 |
| Water supply series | 1.3 | 0.10% | £6.36 |
| Street lighting series | 1 | 0.08% | £4.85 |
| Not elsewhere classified series | 0.9 | 0.07% | £4.27 |
| Research and development series | 0 | 0.00% | £0.02 |
| Environment protection series | 17.1 | 1.3% | £84 |
| Waste management series | 11.4 | 0.89% | £56 |
| Not elsewhere classified series | 3.5 | 0.27% | £17 |
| Pollution abatement series | 1.4 | 0.11% | £6.63 |
| Biodiversity and landscape series | 0.6 | 0.05% | £2.98 |
| Research and development series | 0.3 | 0.03% | £1.62 |
| Recreation, culture and religion series | 14.5 | 1.1% | £71 |
| Broadcasting and publishing series | 5.6 | 0.43% | £27 |
| Cultural services series | 4.8 | 0.37% | £23 |
| Recreation and sport series | 3.8 | 0.29% | £18 |
| Not elsewhere classified series | 0.2 | 0.01% | £0.88 |
| Religious and other community services series | 0.1 | 0.01% | £0.62 |
| Research and development series | 0.1 | 0.01% | £0.53 |
| Accounting adjustments and EU transactions · £1156bn of spending on services plus £129bn of accounting adjustments reconcile to the total | 127.5 | 9.9% | £623 |
| Total managed expenditure | 1,285.2 | 100% | £6,280 |
Sub-functions may not sum exactly to their function: the function totals come from PESA chapter 4 and the sub-functions from Table 5.2, and rows the Treasury publishes only as “-” are omitted. “Of which” lines are parts of the line above them, not additions to it. Debt interest appears under general public services, where the Treasury classifies it.
Why this is an illustration
Spending is financed from all taxes and from borrowing, not from income tax alone, and no pound is traceable to a function: the state pension is not paid from your National Insurance, and the NHS is not paid from your income tax. What the table shows is the published shape of public spending, scaled to the amount your household pays. It is the honest answer to “what does the government spend money on”, in your own units.
Check the data
- Spending
- Where does the money go? · HM Treasury, Public Expenditure Statistical Analyses 2025, Tables 4 and 5.2 · Year ending March 2025 outturn, released 2025-07-17 · release record
- Tax rules
- https://www.gov.uk/income-tax-rates · https://www.gov.uk/guidance/rates-and-thresholds-for-employers-2026-to-2027 · retrieved 2026-09-03