You accepted a job at ₱25,000 a month, but payday is smaller than the offer letter. That gap is the difference between gross pay and take-home pay (net pay or net sweldo). This guide explains private-sector deductions using official SSS, PhilHealth, Pag-IBIG and BIR sources as of November 2026. If a number cannot be verified, we omit it rather than guess.
Gross pay vs take-home pay
Gross pay is what you earned before deductions: basic salary plus overtime, holiday pay, night differential, commissions or taxable allowances. Take-home pay is what remains after your employer subtracts the required amounts.
For a typical private-sector employee, the statutory deductions are your share of SSS, PhilHealth and Pag-IBIG (HDMF), plus withholding tax if your taxable pay is high enough. Loans, HMO shares or tardiness can shrink take-home further, but they are separate from those four items.
When you budget, start from take-home, not from the salary on the job offer. Our guide on how to track your expenses covers that next step.
How each statutory deduction is computed
SSS: 15% of your Monthly Salary Credit
SSS uses your Monthly Salary Credit (MSC), not always your exact basic pay. Compensation is grouped into brackets, each with one MSC. The schedule now posted is Circular No. 2024-006, effective January 1, 2025, and still shown on the official SSS contributions page.
The rate is 15% of the MSC (minimum MSC ₱5,000, maximum ₱35,000). Employees pay 5% and employers pay 10%. The employer also pays Employees’ Compensation (EC): ₱10 if the MSC is ₱14,500 or below, and ₱30 if it is ₱15,000 or above. EC should not come from your sweldo.
Regular SSS benefits use an MSC of up to ₱20,000. Any MSC above that, up to ₱35,000, goes to MySSS Pension Booster. The same 5% / 10% split applies; that extra portion is credited to your account. More brackets are in our guide to SSS contribution rates and how to pay.
PhilHealth: 5% of monthly basic salary, split in half
For 2026, the PhilHealth premium remains 5% of monthly basic income, with a ₱10,000 floor and a ₱100,000 ceiling (₱500 to ₱5,000). PhilHealth Advisory No. 2026-0042 (July 21, 2026) restates that 5% rate and illustrates it: ₱10,000 income → ₱500; ₱30,000 → ₱1,500; ₱100,000 → ₱5,000. The Philippine Information Agency called this the final scheduled adjustment under the Universal Health Care Act (RA 11223).
Employed members split the premium equally, per PhilHealth Circular No. 2020-0005. Your deduction should be half of that 5%, computed on monthly basic salary — not overtime, commissions, allowances or 13th month pay. See our PhilHealth contribution guide.
Pag-IBIG: 2% each, capped at a ₱10,000 fund salary
Pag-IBIG Regular Savings follows HDMF Circular No. 460 (effective February 2024), which remains the schedule in use as of November 2026:
- Fund salary of ₱1,500 and below: employee 1%, employer 2%
- Fund salary over ₱1,500: employee 2%, employer 2%
- Maximum Fund Salary: ₱10,000
Employees earning above the cap therefore pay ₱200 (2% × ₱10,000), and the employer remits another ₱200. The circular says the employer may not recover its share from your wages. See our guide to Pag-IBIG contribution rates.
Withholding tax: TRAIN table, after contributions
Compensation tax is withheld using BIR RR No. 11-2018, Annex E (January 1, 2023 onward), which follows the TRAIN law (RA 10963) rates from the Department of Finance. As of November 2026, no newer personal income tax schedule has replaced it.
The first ₱250,000 of annual taxable income is taxed at 0%. Annex E’s monthly columns are:
- ₱20,833 and below: ₱0
- Over ₱20,833 up to ₱33,332: 15% of the excess over ₱20,833
- ₱33,333 to ₱66,666: ₱1,875 + 20% of the excess over ₱33,333
- Higher brackets continue at 25%, 30% and 35%
Taxable compensation is gross pay minus your SSS, PhilHealth and Pag-IBIG shares. Minimum wage earners owe no income tax on the statutory minimum wage, including holiday pay, overtime, night differential and hazard pay. See our guide to the ₱250,000 income tax exemption.
TRAIN also removed extra exemptions for a spouse or qualified dependents, so civil status generally no longer changes the withholding table. What still matters is minimum-wage status and whether taxable pay was computed correctly.
Worked example: ₱25,000 monthly basic salary
This illustration assumes a private-sector employee whose only earnings this month are a ₱25,000 basic salary — no overtime, taxable allowance, loan or HMO. Every figure comes from an official table or from arithmetic using those rates.
| Item | Amount | Source / computation |
|---|---|---|
| Gross / basic pay | ₱25,000.00 | Example assumption |
| SSS (employee) | ₱1,250.00 | SSS Circular 2024-006: ₱24,750–₱25,249.99 → ₱25,000 MSC. Employee regular SS ₱1,000 + Pension Booster ₱250 |
| PhilHealth (employee) | ₱625.00 | 5% × ₱25,000 = ₱1,250 total premium; employee share is half |
| Pag-IBIG (employee) | ₱200.00 | 2% × ₱10,000 Maximum Fund Salary |
| Total employee contributions | ₱2,075.00 | ₱1,250 + ₱625 + ₱200 |
| Taxable compensation | ₱22,925.00 | ₱25,000 − ₱2,075 |
| Withholding tax | ₱313.80 | Annex E monthly column 2: 15% × (₱22,925 − ₱20,833) = 15% × ₱2,092 |
| Estimated take-home | ₱22,611.20 | ₱25,000 − ₱2,075 − ₱313.80 |
About ₱2,388.80 of this sample salary goes to contributions and tax, so ₱25,000 is not spendable income. Your employer also pays counterpart amounts that should not come from your net pay: SSS ₱2,530 (₱2,000 regular SS + ₱500 Pension Booster + ₱30 EC), PhilHealth ₱625 and Pag-IBIG ₱200.
If the month includes a cost-of-living allowance or other remuneration, SSS may use a higher MSC because it looks at total actual remuneration. PhilHealth stays on monthly basic salary.
Other lines that change take-home
These extras can move the net figure up or down. Amounts vary by company and hours, so we are not inventing sample figures:
- Overtime, holiday pay and night differential increase gross pay and can raise tax, unless you are a minimum wage earner (those extras stay tax-exempt). They may also raise your SSS MSC, but should not raise PhilHealth if premiums use basic salary only. See our guide to holiday, overtime and night pay.
- Tardiness, undertime and unpaid absences reduce earnings. Ask HR whether contributions stay based on monthly basic salary that month.
- Company loans and cash advances are not BIR or SSS table items, but the amortization still reduces take-home.
- SSS salary loan amortizations are usually deducted from payroll. Details are in our SSS salary loan guide.
- HMO, union dues and similar voluntary items appear only if you enrolled or a CBA requires them. Check the label before treating them as government deductions.
How to read a payslip and check if deductions look off
Most payslips group earnings, deductions and net pay. Look for basic pay and extras; SSS, PhilHealth (or PHIC), Pag-IBIG or HDMF, and W/Tax; then loans or HMO; then net pay. The net figure should match what was credited to your account, aside from bank timing.
Next, match the government lines with official records:
- SSS: review posted contributions in My.SSS or the SSS Mobile App. If payroll deducted SSS but a month is missing, ask HR for proof of remittance.
- PhilHealth: check the PhilHealth Member Portal or the eGov PH Super App, as advised in Advisory No. 2026-0042.
- Pag-IBIG: view Regular Savings in Virtual Pag-IBIG.
- Tax: recompute Annex E after subtracting statutory contributions. Keep your BIR Form 2316. If taxable pay stays under about ₱20,833 a month and tax is still withheld, ask payroll; over-withheld tax is normally adjusted at year-end.
Practical tips
- Budget from take-home, not from gross. In the example, spendable income is about ₱22,611, not ₱25,000.
- Confirm how payroll classified you. Civil status and dependents generally no longer lower withholding tax. Do confirm with HR whether you are a regular employee or a minimum wage earner, and whether extra earnings are taxed correctly.
- Catch contribution errors early. A missing SSS, PhilHealth or Pag-IBIG posting can delay a loan, benefit or hospital filing. Check your records after payday, especially after a job change.
- Compare job offers on take-home, plus any HMO or allowance that actually reaches you — not on headline gross alone.
- Re-check official tables each year. Bookmark the SSS contributions page, PhilHealth advisories, Pag-IBIG circulars and the BIR withholding table.
The bottom line
Take-home pay is gross earnings minus SSS, PhilHealth, Pag-IBIG, withholding tax and any other deductions. For 2026, employees generally pay 5% of their SSS Monthly Salary Credit, half of a 5% PhilHealth premium, and 2% of Pag-IBIG fund salary up to ₱10,000, then tax on what remains using the TRAIN table. A ₱25,000 basic salary with no extras comes to an estimated ₱22,611.20 here — your real figure depends on your bracket, other earnings and company deductions. Match the payslip to My.SSS, PhilHealth and Virtual Pag-IBIG, and budget from what actually arrives.
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This article is general information only and not financial advice. Rates, rules and fees change, so please verify with the provider or the official agency before deciding.