Tax code checker
Type the code from your payslip or HMRC letter: what it means, the tax-free pay behind it and the tax it takes.
Tax-free pay from this job
£12,570 a year
- 1257 × 10 = £12,570, and the letter L means the standard tax-free Personal Allowance.
- England or Northern Ireland rates
- Cumulative: allowance and bands build up through the tax year, so over- or under-payments correct themselves
| Tax-free pay each month | £1,048.26 |
| Tax over the year on £32,000 | £3,884.00 |
| That is, each month | £323.67 |
| With 1257L instead | £3,884.00 |
Estimate with HMRC’s payroll method and the same pay every month. Only HMRC can change your code.
A UK tax code tells your employer or pension provider how much of your pay is tax-free and which rates to apply to the rest. The number is the tax-free amount without its last digit: 1257L gives £12,570 a year, the standard Personal Allowance for 2026 to 2027. The letter says why: L for the standard allowance, M or N for Marriage Allowance received or given, T when other calculations are part of the allowance, K when an amount is added to pay instead. A prefix S or C applies the Scottish or Welsh rates, and W1, M1 or X means an emergency basis where each pay is taxed alone. BR, D0, D1 and NT tax all, more or none of the pay. On £32,000 a year paid monthly, 1257L takes £3,884.00 over the year by HMRC's cumulative method. The checker above decodes any code, and the tools below work out each payslip, an emergency refund and the code your situation points to.
Rates and rules checked on · Radif Partners · How the tax is worked out · About this site
- Personal Allowance 2026 to 2027
- £12,570
- Emergency code
- 1257L M1
- PAYE threshold a month
- £1,048
- Most tax under a K code
- 50% of pay
Every letter of a tax code
A code is read from left to right: an optional S or C for Scotland or Wales, then a number and a letter, or a two-letter code that replaces both, then an optional emergency marker. HMRC's guidance lists the letters; each one opens its own page with a calculator.
| Letters | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| L | Standard Personal Allowance | 1257L |
| M | Marriage Allowance received (10% of the partner’s allowance) | 1383M |
| N | Marriage Allowance transferred to the partner | 1131N |
| T | Other calculations included in the allowance | 1100T |
| K | Untaxed income above the allowance: an amount is added to pay | K475 |
| 0T | No allowance on this job; normal bands | 0T |
| BR | All at the basic rate, 20% | BR |
| D0, D1 | All at 40% or 45% | D0 |
| NT | No tax taken on this income | NT |
| S, C | Scottish or Welsh rates | S1257L, C1257L |
| W1, M1, X | Emergency basis: each pay taxed on its own | 1257L M1 |
Which bands a code applies in 2026 to 2027
After the tax-free pay, England and Northern Ireland tax income at 20, 40, 45%: the basic rate up to £50,270 of gross pay with the standard allowance, the higher rate up to £125,140, and the additional rate above. Wales uses the same figures with its own rates of 10p in each band. Scotland has six bands, from the starter rate of 19% to the top rate of 48% above £125,140. The page on this year lists every threshold, and the page on next year what the Budget of 28 October 2026 set for April 2027.
Income Tax for the year by band
Income Tax for the year
£7,486.00
| Personal Allowance | £12,570 |
| Taxed income | £37,430 |
| Top band reached | basic, 20% |
| Each month | £623.83 |
Tax on your next payslip
Payroll software does not divide your yearly tax by twelve. With a cumulative code it adds up your pay since 6 April, takes off the free pay for the same number of weeks or months, works out the tax due to date and subtracts what you have already paid. That is why a refund can appear on a payslip after a code goes up, and why a month with a bonus costs more. The payslip calculator shows each step for any period.
Tax each month with a code
Tax in month 1 with 1257L
£290.20
| Tax over 12 months | £3,484.00 |
| Average each month | £290.33 |
| With 1257L instead | £3,484.00 |
Emergency codes, second jobs and pensions
Most wrong codes come from a few situations: a new job without a P45, a second job or pension that took the allowance, the State Pension starting, a company car added late, or tax owed from an earlier year. The right code checker takes your incomes and gives the code they point to and the gap over the year; the emergency tax calculator shows how much comes back and on which payslip.
What comes back after an emergency code
Should come back
£540.40
| Taken on 1257L M1 | £540.40 |
| Due with 1257L | £0.00 |
| Comes back in | November pay |
Assumes no other job earlier in the tax year.
When the code is wrong
Only HMRC can change a code; your employer has to use the one HMRC sends. Sign in to the <a href="https://www.gov.uk/check-income-tax-current-year" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Check your Income Tax service</a> or the HMRC app, check each job, pension, benefit and expense, and update what is wrong. HMRC then sends the new code to you and your employer within 15 working days. The wrong code page covers each case and the refund page how the money comes back.
Every page of the site
Tax code calculators
- Tax code meaningRead any code from left to right: prefix, number, letter and emergency marker, with examples.
- Am I on the right code?Your jobs, pensions, benefits and allowances: the code they point to and the tax gap over the year.
- Tax per payslipThe tax on one payslip by HMRC’s cumulative method: free pay, taxable pay and tax to date.
- Emergency tax refundHow much an emergency code took too much, and on which payslip it should come back.
- K code calculatorWhat a K code adds to your pay, the tax it takes and the cap at half of each pay.
- Compare two codesThe same pay through two codes: tax each pay, over the year and take-home side by side.
Tax codes one by one
- 1257LThe standard code: £12,570 tax-free, cumulative, and what it takes from your pay each month.
- BREvery pound taxed at 20%: why a second job or pension gets BR, and what to do when BR sits on your only job.
- D040% on every pound of a second income, because your main pay already reaches the higher rate band.
- D145% on all of a second income when your main pay is already above £125,140.
- 0TNo tax-free pay at all, but the normal bands still apply: why 0T appears and how to get off it.
- NTNo tax deducted at all: the rare cases behind NT, why there is no SNT or CNT, and when NT gives tax back.
- S1257LThe standard code for Scottish taxpayers: same £12,570 allowance, six Scottish rates from 19% to 48%.
- C1257LThe Welsh version of the standard code: same allowance, Welsh rates, and the same tax as England this year.
- M and NMarriage Allowance in your code: 1383M for the partner who receives £1,260, 1131N for the one who gives it.
- W1, M1, XCodes ending in W1, M1, X or NONCUM: each pay taxed on its own, and why that can cost you until the code changes.
- TA code ending in T: same rates as L, but an allowance HMRC reviews by hand instead of updating it automatically.
- SBR, SD0 to SD3SBR, SD0, SD1, SD2, SD3, S0T and SK: which Scottish rate each code charges and when HMRC uses it.
- Code numbersHow HMRC builds the number in your code, why it is a tenth of your tax-free pay, and what it means each month.
- All lettersEvery letter, prefix and ending in a UK tax code in one table, with the tax each one takes.
Your situation
- Second jobTwo jobs, one allowance: which job gets 1257L, why the other shows BR or D0, and when the allowance is split.
- PensionWorkplace and private pensions: why the code is often far below 1257L once the State Pension is counted.
- State PensionThe State Pension is paid gross: how HMRC counts it for the year and collects its tax through another code.
- New jobP45 or starter checklist: the code your new employer uses on the first payslip and how long the switch takes.
- No P45Lost or never sent: the code a new employer uses without a P45, and how the extra tax comes back.
- Company benefitsCompany car, fuel or medical insurance: how a benefit in kind lowers the number in your code, down to a K code.
- Income over £100,000Above £100,000 the allowance shrinks by £1 for every £2: the code that follows and the 60% slice of pay.
- Child Benefit chargePaying the High Income Child Benefit Charge through PAYE: how much it is and how it lowers your code.
- Job expensesUniforms, professional fees, business mileage: how tax relief on job expenses raises the number in your code.
- Underpaid taxTax you owe from last year taken through a lower code: the new number and the extra tax on each payslip.
- Self Assessment through your codePaying a Self Assessment balance through PAYE: the conditions, the refusals and what it costs each month.
- Wrong tax codeThe signs that your code does not fit, how to correct HMRC's record and when the new code reaches your payslip.
- Refund after a wrong codeOverpaid on the wrong code: the refund in your pay, or the P800 route after April, with the time each one takes.
- P800 letterThe year-end letter that settles a wrong code: refund or debt, who gets it, when, and what to do next.
- P2 coding noticeReading the coding notice line by line: the allowances added, the deductions taken off and the code they produce.
- Tax code changedThe usual reasons a code moves, where to see the reason, and what the new number does to your pay.
- StudentsPart-time and holiday jobs: the same allowance as anyone, the starter checklist, and why many students pay no tax.
- Leaving a job: P45What your P45 records, which parts go to the next employer, and what happens to your code with or without it.
Rates, bands and allowances
- Tax code 2026/27The codes, emergency code, PAYE threshold and bands in force from 6 April 2026 to 5 April 2027.
- Tax code 2027/28What the Budget of 28 October 2026 sets for the year from 6 April 2027, and what is still to be announced.
- Personal AllowanceThe £12,570 tax-free amount, how it shrinks above £100,000 and how extra allowances change the code.
- How PAYE worksRead the tax on your payslip: running totals, free pay to date, bonus months, refunds and the 50% limit.
- Scottish ratesSix Scottish bands from 19% to 48%, the gross thresholds for 2026/27 and how S codes apply them.
- Welsh ratesWelsh rates of income tax: who pays them, the C code, and why the totals match England this year.
- Tax month and weekFind the tax month and tax week of any pay day, and why payroll counts from 6 April.
How this site works
Every rate, band and allowance comes from one parameter file, read on HMRC's Specification for PAYE Tax Table Routines, the rates and thresholds for employers, the P9X notice, the Budget overview of 28 October 2026 and GOV.UK's tax code guidance, each with its source and date. The calculators follow HMRC's payroll method to the penny and run in your browser: nothing you type is sent or stored. The site sells nothing, recommends no firm and sends you to HMRC's own services. The method page explains each calculation.
Sources
The rules, fees and times quoted here were read on these government pages on29 October 2026.
- HMRC, Specification for PAYE Tax Table Routines, version 24.0 (February 2026)
- GOV.UK, Rates and thresholds for employers 2026 to 2027
- HMRC, P9X (2026): tax codes to use from 6 April 2026
- GOV.UK, Tax codes: what your tax code means
- GOV.UK, Tax codes: emergency tax codes
- GOV.UK, Tax codes: if you have a K in your tax code
- GOV.UK, Tax codes: if you think your tax code is wrong
- HM Treasury and HMRC, Budget 2026: overview of tax legislation and rates, Annex A (28 October 2026)
- GOV.UK, Scottish Income Tax
- GOV.UK, Check your Income Tax for the current year (HMRC online service)
Common questions
What does the tax code 1257L mean?
1257L is the code for someone with one job or pension and the standard Personal Allowance of £12,570. The number is the allowance without its last digit, and L says nothing else changes it. On a monthly payroll it gives about £1,048.26 of tax-free pay each month, and the rest is taxed at the bands of the year.
How do I check my tax code?
Your code is on every payslip, on your P60 and on any P2 coding notice. HMRC’s online service and app show the code for each job or pension and explain how it was worked out. If the code looks wrong, update your income, benefits or expenses there; HMRC sends the corrected code to you and your employer within 15 working days.
Why has my tax code changed?
HMRC changes a code when what it knows about you changes: a new job, a second job or pension, company benefits such as a car or medical insurance, job expenses you claimed, Marriage Allowance, the State Pension starting, untaxed income, or tax owed from an earlier year being collected. The letter or notice HMRC sends lists each addition and deduction.
What is an emergency tax code?
A code ending in W1, M1 or X, or marked NONCUM on the payslip. Each pay is taxed on its own as if it were the first of the year, without the allowance of earlier weeks or months. It is usual after starting a job without a P45. HMRC normally sends a proper code within 35 days, and any overpaid tax comes back through payroll.
What does a K in my tax code mean?
A K code means your untaxed income or benefits are more than your allowance, so instead of tax-free pay, an amount is added to your pay before tax. K475 adds £4,750 over the year. To protect your income, your employer or pension provider cannot take more than half of each pay in tax under a K code.
What do BR, D0 and D1 mean?
They tax every pound from that job or pension at one rate, with no allowance: BR at 20%, D0 at 40% and D1 at 45%. They are used on a second job or pension when the allowance is already used on the main one. In Scotland the same idea gives SBR, SD0 up to SD3.
Is this site part of HMRC?
No. It is an independent site published by Radif Partners. It cannot see your tax record or change your code, and nothing you type leaves your browser. It applies the method and the rates HMRC publishes for payroll software, shows the result and its working, and sends you to your HMRC online account when something needs correcting.
Written by Radif Partners
Independent publisher of free PAYE tax code checkers for employees and pensioners in the United Kingdom: what each code means, tax per payslip and emergency codes
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Tax codes 2026, read on HMRC’s payroll specification, GOV.UK and the rates for employers, last checked on