What does my tax code mean?
Enter the code from your payslip or the HMRC app. We decode it, show what it takes from your pay, and flag whether you could be overpaying or underpaying.
Common tax codes
- 1257L1257 means you can earn £12,570 a year before paying income tax.
- S1257L1257 means you can earn £12,570 a year before paying income tax.
- C1257L1257 means you can earn £12,570 a year before paying income tax.
- 1383M1383 means you can earn £13,830 a year before paying income tax.
- 1131N1131 means you can earn £11,310 a year before paying income tax.
- BRBR means all pay from this job is taxed at the basic rate (20%), with no allowance. Common on a second job.
- D0D0 means all pay from this job is taxed at the higher rate (40%), with no allowance. Common on a second job.
- D1D1 means all pay from this job is taxed at the additional rate (45%), with no allowance. Common on a second job.
- 0T0T means you get no tax-free allowance on this job, so tax starts on your first pound.
- NTNT means no tax is taken from this income.
- K475K475 means £4,750 is added to your taxable pay. This happens when benefits or untaxed income are larger than your allowance.
- 1257L W11257 means you can earn £12,570 a year before paying income tax.
- 1257L M11257 means you can earn £12,570 a year before paying income tax.
- 1257L X1257 means you can earn £12,570 a year before paying income tax.
- SBRBR means all pay from this job is taxed at the Scottish basic rate (20%), with no allowance. Common on a second job.
- SD0D0 means all pay from this job is taxed at the Scottish intermediate rate (21%), with no allowance. Common on a second job.
- SD1D1 means all pay from this job is taxed at the Scottish higher rate (42%), with no allowance. Common on a second job.
- SD2D2 means all pay from this job is taxed at the Scottish advanced rate (45%), with no allowance. Common on a second job.
- SD3D3 means all pay from this job is taxed at the Scottish top rate (48%), with no allowance. Common on a second job.
- 1100L1100 means you can earn £11,000 a year before paying income tax.
- 1185L1185 means you can earn £11,850 a year before paying income tax.
Common questions
What is the normal tax code for 2026/27?
The standard tax code for 2026/27 is 1257L, which gives a £12,570 tax-free Personal Allowance. Scottish taxpayers have S1257L and Welsh taxpayers C1257L.
What does the L mean in 1257L?
L means you get the standard tax-free Personal Allowance. M and N mean Marriage Allowance is being received or given, and T means HMRC has adjusted your allowance for another reason, often income over £100,000.
What is an emergency tax code?
An emergency code has W1, M1 or X after it, for example 1257L M1. Each payday is taxed on its own, so you do not get a refund of earlier overpayments until HMRC sends your employer a normal code.
Why do I have a K tax code?
A K code means benefits or untaxed income are worth more than your Personal Allowance, so an amount is added to your taxable pay. PAYE can never take more than half of your pay in any period under a K code.
What does a BR tax code mean?
BR means all pay from that job is taxed at the 20% basic rate with no allowance. It is common on a second job, where your allowance is already used by your main job.
Official sources
Every rate and threshold on this page is checked against these official pages. How we calculate
- Tax codes (GOV.UK)
- Emergency tax codes (GOV.UK)
- PAYE Manual (HMRC)
- Check your Income Tax for the current year (HMRC)