£100k Trap Escape Toolkit
An Excel workbook that shows you — with your actual numbers — exactly how much you'd save by sacrificing salary, timing your bonus, or topping up your SIPP. Built for the 2024/25 UK tax year, rest-of-UK bands. Complements the free playbook.
Secure checkout via Gumroad. Instant download after payment. 7-day refund.
Not sure yet? Try the free calculator + download a personalised PDF plan →
Who this is for
You earn between about £100,000 and £160,000, and you've just realised (or someone told you) that your effective marginal rate isn't 40% — it's 62% on the slice above £100k, because HMRC tapers away your Personal Allowance at £1 lost per £2 earned.
The free playbook explains what to do. This toolkit does the maths — with your numbers — so you can walk into a payroll conversation or a Self Assessment with certainty.
What's inside — see every sheet
Six connected worksheets. Every number is a live formula pulling from the 2024/25 tax-rate sheet — change one input, everything updates. Screenshots below are actual sheets from the workbook.
1. Personal Planner
Your full picture on one page: salary, bonus, pension %, personal SIPP, Gift Aid. Outputs Adjusted Net Income, PA lost/kept, exact tax + NI, take-home per year and per month, and a live “you are / are not in the trap” verdict with the £ amount you'd need to shelter to escape.
2. Salary Sacrifice Modeller
Five scenarios side-by-side: 0%, 5%, 10%, 15%, 20% sacrifice. See net pay, pension pot growth, and — critically — effective saving per £1 sacrificed. Numbers get eye-watering in the taper (about 62p saved for every £1 into your pension).
3. Bonus Timing Optimiser
Compare four treatments of your bonus: take it all in cash, sacrifice 100% into pension, split 50/50, or defer to next tax year. Shows net-now vs net-in-pension-later, plus how much of your Personal Allowance you'd rescue — with a side-by-side chart.
4. Adjusted Net Income Calculator
The number HMRC actually taper on — and the one payroll never shows you. Enter Gift Aid, personal pension contributions (grossed up correctly), and trading/property losses. Outputs your true ANI, how far above the £100k threshold you sit, and the exact escape amount.
5. Tax Rates 2024/25
All bands, thresholds, NI rates, PA taper mechanics, and pension annual allowance in one reference sheet. Every other sheet references this via named ranges — so when HMRC changes rates, you (or we, in the free update) edit one cell and the whole workbook recalculates.
6. Start Here
Colour-code legend (blue = your input, black = formula, yellow-highlighted cells are where you type). Recommended reading order. Support & free updates policy. Disclaimer.
Who this is not for
- You earn under £100,000 — the trap doesn't apply to you (yet). Use our free UK take-home calculator instead.
- You're a Scottish taxpayer and want the Income Tax portion to match Scottish bands — the current sheet uses rest-of-UK bands (Scottish variant on the roadmap, free upgrade for buyers).
- You need Capital Gains Tax, inheritance planning, R&D relief, or complex share-scheme (EMI, RSU) modelling — those are out of scope.
- You want an app that pulls your live payroll data — this is a self-contained Excel workbook you own outright, not a subscription service.
DIY vs Accountant vs This toolkit
| Build it yourself | Chartered accountant | This toolkit | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cost | Free (your time) | £150 – £300 / hour | £19 one-off |
| Time to answer | 4 – 8 hours | 1 – 2 weeks (chase, book, invoice) | 2 minutes to plug in numbers |
| Personalised to your numbers | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Verify the formulas | You wrote them 🤞 | You can't — it's their spreadsheet | Open every formula, edit any input |
| Ongoing (next tax year) | Rebuild from scratch | Pay again | Free 2025/26 update |
| Risk of arithmetic mistake | High | Low (but you can't audit) | Zero — every calc is a visible formula |
Why buy it if the playbook is free?
The playbook is a decision framework. The toolkit is the evidence file. If you're considering asking your employer for salary sacrifice, or you're weighing a £15,000 bonus in December vs a £15,000 pension top-up in March, the toolkit answers “how much money” in the specific case that is you. That's usually the difference between doing the thing and letting another tax year slip by.
Refund policy
7-day, no-questions-asked. Open the workbook, plug in your numbers, and if it doesn't show you at least ten times its price in potential savings — email [email protected] and we'll refund you.
Disclaimer
This toolkit is for education only. It is not personal financial advice, tax advice, or a substitute for a qualified adviser. Rates and thresholds are for the 2024/25 UK tax year (rest of UK — Scottish rates differ for the Income Tax portion). Always confirm final figures with HMRC or a chartered accountant before making irreversible decisions.
FAQ
What file format is it?
An .xlsx workbook. Opens in Microsoft Excel (2016+), Excel for Mac, Excel for the web, Google Sheets, LibreOffice Calc, and Numbers. All formulas are standard Excel — nothing macro-heavy or Windows-only.
Does it work for Scottish taxpayers?
The Income Tax portion is currently rest-of-UK (basic 20%, higher 40%, additional 45%). Scotland has 6 bands (19/20/21/42/45/48). A Scottish variant is on the roadmap — buy this and you'll get it free when it ships.
Will it get updated for 2025/26?
Yes. When the March 2025 Budget confirms 2025/26 numbers, we'll ship a free update. You'll get the download link at the same email you bought with.
Is this financial advice?
No. It's a calculator. It shows you the maths on your inputs so you can have a better-informed conversation with your accountant, IFA, or payroll department. See the disclaimer above.
Why £19?
Cheap enough to be an impulse buy for anyone earning over £100k. Expensive enough that we can afford to keep updating it every tax year without ads.
Can I share it with a colleague?
The licence is for one buyer, personal use. If you'd like a team licence for your finance department, email [email protected].
Ready to see the numbers on your salary?
Instant download after checkout. 7-day refund if it doesn't show you at least 10× the price in potential annual savings.