{{ summaryPrimary }}
{{ summaryLine }}
Disabled {{ winnerBadge }} {{ selectedPeriodLabel }} {{ sourceBadge }} {{ validationBadge }}
Set the symbol for exchange-normalized results, such as $, RM, S$, £, or €.
Monthly is the fastest way to compare everyday spendable income.

Scenario A

{{ presetHelp(scenarioA.preset) }}
Enter the offer in Country A local currency.
{{ scenarioA.preset.currency }} / year
Enter how many comparison-currency units equal 1 local-currency unit.
1 {{ scenarioA.preset.currency }} {{ baseCurrencyLabel }}
Use 100 for the baseline place, or enter your own city/country index.
index

Scenario B

{{ presetHelp(scenarioB.preset) }}
Enter the offer in Country B local currency.
{{ scenarioB.preset.currency }} / year
Update this with your own FX source before relying on the comparison.
1 {{ scenarioB.preset.currency }} {{ baseCurrencyLabel }}
Use the same external cost-index source for both scenarios.
index
Leave blank to use the selected country preset label.
Leave blank to use the selected country preset label.
Use for verified pension relief, personal relief, credits converted to deductions, or other taxable-income reductions.
{{ scenarioA.preset.currency }} / year
Use for verified CPF, EPF, pension, or personal relief amounts where applicable.
{{ scenarioB.preset.currency }} / year
This reduces take-home pay but does not change taxable income.
{{ scenarioA.preset.currency }} / year
Keep this at 0 unless you need to model a payroll-side deduction.
{{ scenarioB.preset.currency }} / year
Flat effective tax rate for Custom manual rates.
%
Flat employee payroll, pension, or social contribution rate for Custom manual rates.
%
Flat effective tax rate for Custom manual rates.
%
Flat employee payroll, pension, or social contribution rate for Custom manual rates.
%
Scenario Gross Income tax Employee contribution Net {{ selectedPeriodLabel }} net Comparison net Cost-adjusted Take-home rate Copy
{{ row.scenario }} {{ row.gross }} {{ row.incomeTax }} {{ row.employeeContribution }} {{ row.netLocal }} {{ row.periodNetLocal }} {{ row.netBase }} {{ row.costAdjusted }} {{ row.takeHomeRate }}
Scenario Component Local amount Comparison amount Rate / basis Source or assumption Copy
{{ row.scenario }} {{ row.component }} {{ row.localAmount }} {{ row.baseAmount }} {{ row.rate }} {{ row.source }}
Rank Scenario Cost index Cost-adjusted net Difference from other Planning note Copy
{{ row.rank }} {{ row.scenario }} {{ row.costIndex }} {{ row.costAdjusted }} {{ row.delta }} {{ row.note }}
Preset Source Last reviewed Model scope Copy
{{ row.preset }} {{ row.source }} {{ row.reviewed }} {{ row.scope }} 
{{ jsonText }}
Tags: Finance, Productivity
Income Tax Calculator Estimate income tax from monthly or annual income, compare bracket slices and scenario changes, and note filing limits before planning payments.
Effective Tax Rate Calculator Calculate an effective tax rate from bracket presets or manual totals, then compare income-tax-only, all-in, marginal, and side-income views.
Paycheck Calculator Estimate U.S. take-home pay from hourly, salary, or per-check gross wages with 2026 federal and FICA tax math, deductions, and warnings.
Payroll Proration Calculator Calculate prorated gross pay for partial pay periods, compare calendar or workday methods, and review day counts, rounding, and warnings.
Customize
Advanced
:

A salary offer does not keep the same meaning when it crosses a border. The headline number is set in a local currency, reduced by local employee taxes and compulsory contributions, then spent in a place with its own rent, transport, healthcare, childcare, and everyday prices. A higher gross salary can still leave weaker spending power once those pieces are separated.

Take-home pay is the part of employment income left after employee-side deductions. That normally includes income tax and payroll or social contributions such as FICA, National Insurance, EPF, or CPF. It may also include post-tax payroll deductions that are not taxes at all, such as insurance or loan repayments. Each deduction answers a different question: tax reduces the government's share, compulsory savings may move money into restricted accounts, and post-tax deductions reduce cash flow without changing taxable income.

Part Plain meaning Common mistake
Gross local salary The annual offer before employee taxes and employee contributions in that country's currency. Comparing gross salaries directly even when currencies and tax systems differ.
Employee deductions Income tax, employee payroll tax, pension, social security, CPF, EPF, or similar amounts taken from pay. Treating a compulsory savings contribution like an ordinary tax, or ignoring it when cash flow matters.
Comparison currency A shared currency used after each local net amount is converted with an exchange rate. Using a stale foreign-exchange rate or a rate that includes fees for one country but not the other.
Cost index A price-level baseline where 100 is neutral, higher numbers mean a more expensive place, and lower numbers mean a cheaper place. Mixing city, country, or provider indexes so the cost adjustment favors one scenario by accident.

Progressive tax also trips up salary comparisons. Reaching a higher tax band does not mean the whole salary is taxed at that band. Only the income slice inside the band uses that rate. Payroll contributions may follow a different pattern, with ceilings, low-wage formulas, age rules, or flat planning assumptions.

Flow from local gross salary through employee deductions, exchange conversion, and cost index to comparable buying power

Cost-adjusted pay is a planning lens, not a final decision rule. It is useful when comparing remote-work offers, relocation packages, or two payroll locations because it separates cash salary from local prices. It cannot settle residency, visa eligibility, school costs, healthcare access, retirement rules, employer benefits, or whether one city inside a country is far more expensive than another.

The most reliable comparison keeps the assumptions symmetrical. Use the same pay period, current exchange rates from the same type of source, and cost indexes drawn from one provider or one method. When the inputs are uneven, the result may describe the data choices more than the salary offers.

How to Use This Tool:

Enter two scenarios, then read the raw net and cost-adjusted comparison before using the audit tabs. The built-in presets are starting assumptions, so update exchange rates, cost indexes, reliefs, and deductions with figures you can defend.

  1. Set Comparison currency symbol to the shared currency label for normalized outputs, such as $, RM, S$, £, or EUR.
  2. Choose Result period. Annual, monthly, and weekly change display labels and summaries while the underlying calculation starts from annual gross salary.
  3. Select a Country preset for Scenario A and Scenario B. The available presets cover U.S. federal 2026 single, U.K. 2026/27 England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, Malaysia resident YA 2025, Singapore tax resident YA 2026, and Custom manual rates.
  4. Enter each annual gross amount in the local currency shown next to the field. Use pay before employee income tax, payroll tax, National Insurance, FICA, EPF, CPF, or similar deductions.
  5. Enter each exchange rate as the value of 1 local-currency unit in the comparison currency. The calculator does not fetch live FX rates.
  6. Enter each cost index from a consistent source. Use 100 for the baseline place, a higher value for a more expensive place, and a lower value for a cheaper place.
  7. Open Advanced for scenario labels, verified tax reliefs, other post-tax deductions, or flat custom tax and employee contribution rates. Keep custom rates between 0% and 100%.
  8. If the summary says Check inputs, fix the alert list first. Negative amounts, exchange rates of 0 or below, cost indexes below 1, and out-of-range custom rates make the comparison unsafe to read.
  9. Start with Take-Home Ledger and Power Rank. Use Deduction Lines, Deduction Stack, Cost-Adjusted Rank, Source Notes, and JSON when you need to check assumptions or share an audit trail.

Interpreting Results:

Cost-adjusted delta is the headline comparison. It is Scenario B minus Scenario A after employee deductions, exchange conversion, and the entered cost indexes. A positive value favors Scenario B. A negative value favors Scenario A. A near-zero value means the two offers are very close under the current assumptions.

Comparison net shows take-home pay converted into the shared currency before the cost index is applied. Cost-adjusted divides that converted net by the cost index relative to 100, so a lower-cost location can rank above a higher raw net salary.

Take-home rate is useful for seeing how much of local gross salary remains after employee deductions, but it should not decide a relocation comparison by itself. It ignores exchange rates and prices. Check Power Rank and Source Notes before treating one scenario as the stronger offer.

Deduction Lines is the best place to spot a wrong assumption. Tax reliefs reduce taxable income before income tax is calculated, while other post-tax deductions reduce final cash pay. If a value belongs in living costs rather than payroll, keep it out of the post-tax deduction field and reflect it through the cost index or a separate budget.

Source Notes should travel with the numbers. A preset can be correct for its stated tax year and still miss local taxes, special residency cases, relief eligibility, benefits, student loans, healthcare costs, employer contributions, or exact payroll rounding.

Technical Details:

Cross-country take-home comparison combines tax mechanics with purchasing-power normalization. Employee deductions are calculated in each country's local currency first. Only after local net pay is estimated does currency conversion make the two scenarios comparable. The cost index then adjusts the converted net amount so the result approximates how far that pay may go in the selected place.

Income tax presets use progressive brackets where each rate applies only to the income slice inside that bracket. Payroll and social contribution rules are not always progressive income taxes. The U.S. FICA model uses a Social Security wage base and Medicare rules, the U.K. National Insurance preset uses annualized Class 1 category A bands, Malaysia uses an editable 11% employee EPF planning assumption, and Singapore uses ordinary-wage CPF rules for a citizen or permanent resident in the third year onward below age 55.

Formula Core

The annual calculation starts by reducing gross local salary by automatic allowances and verified manual reliefs. Tax is then calculated on taxable income, employee contributions are subtracted, and the remaining net amount is converted and cost-adjusted.

T = max ( 0 , G - A - R ) tax = ∑ i=1 n ( max ( 0 , min ( T , Ui ) - Li ) × ri ) net local = max ( 0 , G - tax - employee contribution - D ) cost adjusted = net local×X C/100

Here G is annual gross local salary, A is any automatic allowance in the preset, R is verified manual relief, D is other post-tax deductions, X is the exchange rate to the comparison currency, and C is the cost index. For each tax bracket i, Li is the lower edge, Ui is the upper edge, and ri is the bracket rate.

For example, the default U.K. scenario uses £95,000 gross pay and a £12,570 Personal Allowance, so taxable income is £82,430. The progressive tax result is £25,432.00, employee National Insurance is £3,910.60, and net local pay is £65,657.40. At an exchange rate of 1.26, comparison net is $82,728.32. With a cost index of 92, cost-adjusted net becomes $89,922.09.

Stage Rule used Main output affected
Taxable income Gross local salary minus automatic allowance and verified manual reliefs, floored at zero. Taxable income, Income tax
Income tax Progressive bracket math for built-in presets, or a flat effective tax rate for Custom manual rates. Income tax, Take-home rate
Employee contribution Preset payroll, pension, or social contribution rule. Custom mode uses a flat percentage of gross salary. Employee contribution, Deduction Stack
Net local pay Gross salary minus income tax, employee contribution, and other post-tax deductions, floored at zero. Net, Monthly net, Weekly net
Currency conversion Net local pay multiplied by the user-entered exchange rate to the comparison currency. Comparison net
Cost adjustment Converted net divided by cost index / 100. Cost-adjusted, Power Rank

Amounts are computed annually and displayed for the selected period by dividing by 12 for monthly or 52 for weekly. Money values are displayed to two decimal places. Rate displays are rounded for readability, so exported JSON or table values should still be treated as planning figures rather than payroll-ready output.

Preset Included rule Important exclusions
United States federal 2026 - Single Federal ordinary income tax after the $16,100 standard deduction, plus employee FICA: 6.2% Social Security to the $184,500 wage base, 1.45% Medicare on all wages, and 0.9% Additional Medicare above $200,000. State and local tax, credits, AMT, itemized deductions, filing statuses other than single, benefits, and employer costs.
United Kingdom 2026/27 - England, Wales, Northern Ireland rUK non-savings income tax bands of 20%, 40%, and 45%, with Personal Allowance taper above £100,000. Employee National Insurance category A uses 8% between £12,570 and £50,270, then 2% above. Scotland, pensions, student loans, benefits, savings and dividend rules, and special income cases.
Malaysia resident individual YA 2025 Resident individual chargeable-income rates from 0% to 30%, with manual reliefs as entered. Employee EPF is modeled as an editable 11% planning assumption. PCB or MTD reconciliation, SOCSO, EIS, zakat, rebates, relief eligibility, age-based EPF treatment, wage-range EPF tables, and payroll rounding.
Singapore tax resident YA 2026 Resident rates from 0% to 24%. CPF uses ordinary-wage employee share rules for a Singapore citizen or permanent resident from the third year onward, below age 55, with an S$8,000 ordinary-wage ceiling. Additional wages, exact CPF rounding, relief caps, rebates, donations, non-resident rules, age bands, and first- or second-year permanent resident rates.
Custom manual rates Flat income-tax and employee contribution percentages entered in Advanced. Manual reliefs reduce taxable income before the flat tax rate. All tax-year, currency, jurisdiction, payroll, and eligibility checks are supplied by the user.
Boundary Behavior User check
Salary, relief, or post-tax deduction below 0 The alert list names the invalid field and the summary changes to Check inputs. Use zero or a positive annual amount.
Exchange rate at 0 or below Comparison-currency outputs cannot be trusted. Enter the value of 1 local-currency unit in the chosen comparison currency.
Cost index below 1 The cost-adjusted denominator would be invalid or unrealistically small. Use 100 for the baseline or a positive index from the same source used for the other scenario.
Manual relief above gross salary Taxable income is floored at zero. Confirm the relief is allowed for the tax year and taxpayer profile.
Other post-tax deductions above gross salary The deduction used in the calculation is capped at gross salary. Check whether the amount belongs as a payroll deduction, a living cost, or a separate budget item.

Accuracy Notes:

Treat the result as an auditable planning estimate, not tax, payroll, immigration, relocation, or financial advice.

  • The built-in source review date is 2026-05-16. Tax authorities, payroll agencies, and social contribution bodies can update rates, thresholds, and guidance after that date.
  • Exchange rates and cost indexes are entered by the user. A stale FX rate or mismatched cost-index source can change which scenario ranks higher.
  • Preset rules intentionally omit many personal facts, including residency tests, relief eligibility, local taxes, benefits, visas, healthcare, housing differences, employer contributions, and withholding reconciliation.
  • Use official calculators, current authority guidance, payroll support, or a qualified adviser before accepting an offer, changing withholding, filing a return, or advising someone else.

Advanced Tips:

  • Keep both exchange rates from the same kind of source, such as mid-market rates or expected payroll conversion rates. Mixing a bank buy rate with a public quote can flip the Cost-adjusted delta.
  • Use one cost-index source for both scenarios. A city index for one side and a country index for the other makes Power Rank harder to trust.
  • Put verified pension reliefs, personal reliefs, and credits converted to deductions in tax reliefs. Put insurance, loan repayments, or payroll deductions that reduce final cash flow in other post-tax deductions.
  • Use Custom manual rates only when you have checked the country, tax year, residency status, and contribution rule elsewhere. Custom mode treats tax and employee contribution as flat percentages.
  • Read Deduction Stack with Deduction Lines when one scenario has a high take-home rate but low buying power. The stack shows the deduction mix, while the ledger shows the converted and cost-adjusted amounts.
  • Keep the Source Notes with exported figures whenever the comparison is used in an offer memo or relocation discussion.

Worked Examples:

Default U.S. to U.K. offer check

The default setup compares US 2026 single at $120,000 gross, exchange rate 1.00, and cost index 100 against UK 2026/27 rUK at £95,000 gross, exchange rate 1.26, and cost index 92. Scenario A shows $93,250.00 Net and $93,250.00 Cost-adjusted. Scenario B shows £65,657.40 Net, $82,728.32 Comparison net, and $89,922.09 Cost-adjusted. The summary shows Scenario B is about -$277.33 cost-adjusted per month versus Scenario A.

Malaysia to Singapore planning check

With Malaysia at RM180,000 gross, RM9,000 verified reliefs, exchange rate 0.21, and cost index 72, the result is RM133,050.00 Net and $38,806.25 Cost-adjusted. With Singapore at S$132,000 gross, S$8,000 verified reliefs, S$2,400 post-tax deductions, exchange rate 0.74, and cost index 118, the result is S$101,850.00 Net and $63,872.03 Cost-adjusted. Singapore remains ahead in Power Rank despite the higher cost index because the entered salary and exchange rate dominate this setup.

Custom rates outside the preset list

A custom scenario with $90,000 gross, $5,000 verified relief, $1,200 post-tax deductions, 18% tax, 7% employee contribution, exchange rate 1.00, and cost index 110 produces $67,200.00 Net and $61,090.91 Cost-adjusted. Another custom scenario with 78,000 local gross, 2,000 relief, 24% tax, 12% employee contribution, exchange rate 1.18, and cost index 86 produces $50,400.00 local Net and $69,153.49 Cost-adjusted. The lower gross can rank higher after FX and local prices.

Invalid exchange or cost index

Input problems are visible before they become quiet math errors. If Scenario B exchange rate is set to 0 or a cost index is set below 1, the summary changes to Check inputs and the alert names the bad field. Entering a positive exchange rate and a cost index of at least 1 restores Ready status.

FAQ:

Can I use the result for tax filing?

No. The calculator estimates selected employee-side taxes and contributions for comparison planning. Use Source Notes to see what each preset excludes before relying on official filing, withholding, or payroll decisions.

Why does a lower salary sometimes rank higher?

Power Rank uses Cost-adjusted net pay. A lower raw salary can rank higher when exchange conversion and the cost index produce stronger estimated buying power.

Does the calculator fetch exchange rates or cost indexes?

No. Exchange rates and cost indexes are user-entered. Use recent FX data and the same cost-index source for both scenarios before trusting the Cost-adjusted comparison.

Why am I seeing Check inputs?

The alert appears for negative salaries, negative reliefs or deductions, exchange rates of 0 or below, cost indexes below 1, or custom tax and contribution rates outside 0% to 100%. Fix the listed field before reading the summary or exports.

Is my salary sent away for calculation?

No server-side tax calculation is used. Salary amounts, deductions, exchange rates, charts, tables, and exports are calculated in the browser session you are using.

Glossary:

Gross local salary
The annual salary offer in the country currency before employee income tax and employee-side contributions.
Taxable income
Gross local salary after automatic allowances and verified manual reliefs are subtracted, floored at zero.
Employee contribution
The employee-side payroll, pension, social security, National Insurance, EPF, CPF, FICA, or manual contribution amount included in the estimate.
Net local pay
Gross local salary minus income tax, employee contribution, and other post-tax deductions.
Comparison net
Net local pay converted into the chosen comparison currency with the user-entered exchange rate.
Cost index
A price-level index where 100 is the baseline and higher values reduce cost-adjusted spending power.
Cost-adjusted net
Comparison net divided by the cost index relative to 100, used by Power Rank.
Marginal rate
The tax rate applied to the highest income slice reached by taxable income, not the average rate on the whole salary.

References: