Go through take-home pay? Empty purse first (9)
I believe the answer is:
penetrate
'go through' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'take-home pay? empty purse first' is the wordplay.
'take-home' becomes 'net' (similar in meaning).
'pay?' becomes 'rate' (I've seen this in other clues).
'empty' means to remove the middle letters.
'first' says to put letters next to each other.
'purse' with its middle removed is 'pe'.
'net'+'rate'='netrate'
'netrate' after 'pe' is 'PENETRATE'.
(Other definitions for penetrate that I've seen before include "Run through" , "Pierce" , "Go through" , "probe" , "Force way through, into" .)