Nope. It's before tax and now also our Flight Duty Pay gets taxed. I know, it's a shocker BUT it was even worse only a couple of years ago. (24k in year 1 and 28K in year 2 and all before tax) Try living in London with that!
As RJ_Rantster already said, it's something to do with the capet pay scales. It's supposedly only for 1 year and then onto 35.5K before tax thereafter. (still bad I know)
Still waiting on official confirmation so hang tight...