How much tax will i pay?

You do not pay tax if your annual total income is less than £6475. This is called the Personal Allowance. There are several tax bands but until you're promoted and earn lots of money you will only be concerned with the basic rate. You pay tax on the amount of income that you earn ABOVE the personal allowance at the following Basic rate: Annual income of £6476 to £37400 is taxed at 20%. If your total annual income is less than £6475 then you will not pay any income tax. You will also have to pay National Insurance contributions (what your parents probably called "The Stamp"). This is usually deducted from your pay by your employer. It will show up as NI on your pay advice slip. It's a bit more complicated than income tax. If you earn more than £110 a week and up to £844 a week, you pay 11 per cent of the amount you earn between £110 and £844. Your gross earnings are £180/week, which is £70 over the lower threshold. So YOU will pay 11% of £70, which is £7,70p. In your case I would expect the income tax to be around £12 per week and the NI to be about £8 so your total weekly deductions will be £20. Note that this may not always be exactly the same every week because of the way that employers calculate their payroll and deal with Her Majesties Revenue and Customs (HMRC). If you do the sums for a whole year you will find that it works out.

roughly £577 a year in income tax this is not including council tax and national insurance

There's a neat little website (free and you don't have to register) where you enter your earnings and it automatically calculates tax and NI deductions: http://www.listentotaxman.com/