Finance
Check Your UK Tax Code in 10 Minutes: 1257L, BR and 0T
Your tax code tells your employer or pension provider how much Income Tax to deduct. Ten minutes with your latest payslip and HMRC account can help you check whether your Personal Allowance, jobs, pensions and benefits have been recorded correctly.
What to check on your payslip
- Find your tax code on your latest payslip, P60, P45 or HMRC account.
- 1257L is the standard code for many people in 2026/27, based on the £12,570 Personal Allowance.
- BR, 0T, K codes and emergency suffixes such as W1, M1, X or NONCUM are not automatically wrong, but you should understand why they apply.
- Check that HMRC has the correct jobs, pensions, taxable benefits and estimated income.
- If you have overpaid, the refund process and time limit depend on why the overpayment happened.
What Is a Tax Code and Why Does It Matter?
Your employer or pension provider uses the tax code supplied by HMRC to calculate how much Income Tax to deduct. An incorrect or outdated code can mean paying too much or too little tax.
For 2026/27, the standard Personal Allowance is £12,570. The code that commonly represents this allowance is 1257L, although a different code can be correct depending on your income and circumstances.
How to Find Your Tax Code Right Now
Check your latest payslip
Your current tax code should appear on your payslip, usually beside a label such as “Tax Code.” It may look like 1257L, BR or K500.
Log in to your Personal Tax Account
Go to gov.uk and sign in with Government Gateway. Under “Pay As You Earn,” you’ll see your current code and what’s making it up.
Check your P60 or P45
Your P60, provided after the end of the tax year, and your P45 from a previous employer both show the tax code used during the relevant period.
Look for a coding notice (P2)
HMRC sends a P2 “Notice of Coding” when they change your code. Check your post or your Personal Tax Account inbox.
Decoding the Letters
| Letter | What it means | Common reason |
|---|---|---|
| L | Standard Personal Allowance | Normal employment, no complications |
| M | Marriage Allowance received | Partner transferred 10% of their allowance to you |
| N | Marriage Allowance given | You transferred allowance to your partner |
| T | Other calculations apply | HMRC needs to review items in the tax-code calculation |
| BR | All income taxed at the basic rate | Often used for a second job or pension, with no Personal Allowance applied |
| 0T | No Personal Allowance is applied; tax is calculated through the normal tax bands | Your allowance has been used up, or a new employer does not have enough information |
| D0 | All income taxed at the higher rate | Often used for a second source of income |
| D1 | All income taxed at the additional rate | Often used for a second source of income |
| NT | No Income Tax is deducted | Used only when HMRC has instructed the employer or pension provider not to deduct tax |
| K | Deductions in your tax code exceed your tax-free allowances | Taxable benefits, State Pension or tax owed from an earlier year |
| W1 / M1 / X / NONCUM | Tax is calculated using only the current pay period | Often used temporarily when HMRC does not yet have complete information |
The BR, D0 and D1 rates described above apply in England and Northern Ireland. Scottish codes may begin with S and Welsh codes with C, with different rates or bands.
BR and 0T are not the same. BR taxes all income from that job or pension at the basic rate. 0T applies no Personal Allowance, but income can still be taxed at the basic, higher or additional rate. Neither code is automatically wrong, but you should check why it has been applied.
Common Reasons Your Code Is Wrong
Watch out Common errors
- HMRC has your old employer’s benefits on file
- You changed jobs and got an emergency code
- You have multiple income sources and allowance is split wrong
- A company car or benefit-in-kind hasn’t been updated
- State Pension or workplace benefits recorded incorrectly
Easy wins Check these
- Marriage Allowance – if eligible, a partner can transfer £1,260 of unused Personal Allowance, reducing the recipient’s tax by up to £252
- Blind Person’s Allowance – an additional £3,250 for 2026/27 if eligible
- Homeworking expenses – employees cannot make new HMRC claims for periods from 6 April 2026, although eligible claims for earlier tax years may still be possible
- Professional fees and subscriptions – some HMRC-approved memberships qualify for tax relief
How to Fix a Wrong Tax Code
Use HMRC’s online Income Tax service to check the information behind your code and report changes to your jobs, pensions, benefits or estimated income. HMRC will send any revised code to your employer or pension provider. Check a later payslip to confirm that it has been applied.
If you have recently started a job, HMRC advises waiting 35 days for the new employment information to reach its systems before contacting them about the code.
Claiming Back Overpaid Tax
How far back you can claim depends on the reason for the overpayment. Some claims can cover the current tax year and the previous four tax years. Use HMRC’s tax refund checker to find the correct route for your circumstances.
A correction during the current tax year may reduce the tax deducted from a later payslip or produce a repayment through payroll. For an earlier tax year, HMRC may calculate the position and provide a separate refund process.
Quick maths: what a wrong code could cost
For an employee in England or Northern Ireland earning £35,000, applying BR to the entire salary instead of 1257L could deduct about £2,514 more Income Tax over a full tax year, before any other adjustments. This is an illustration, not an estimate of an individual refund.
FAQs
How long does HMRC take to fix a wrong code?
There is no single fixed timeframe. After HMRC updates the code, check your next payslip. If you have recently started a job, HMRC advises waiting 35 days before contacting them about the code.
What happens if I have already overpaid?
During the current tax year, a corrected code may produce a repayment through payroll. For an earlier year, HMRC may calculate the overpayment and provide a separate refund process.
I have two jobs. How are tax codes assigned?
Your Personal Allowance is usually allocated to one job, often the one that pays the most. Other jobs may use BR, D0 or another code depending on your combined income. Scottish and Welsh codes may use different prefixes and rates.