Tax codes one by one
1257L tax code
The code most people with one job or pension have: what it gives you tax-free and what it takes from your pay.
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 £30,000 | £3,484.00 |
| That is, each month | £290.33 |
| With 1257L instead | £3,484.00 |
Estimate with HMRC’s payroll method and the same pay every month. Only HMRC can change your code.
1257L is the tax code HMRC gives to most people who have one job or one pension and nothing that changes their allowance. The number 1257 is the tax-free amount with its last digit dropped: £12,570, the Personal Allowance for 2026 to 2027, which the Budget of 28 October 2026 keeps at the same level for 2027 to 2028. The letter L means the standard allowance, with no Marriage Allowance, benefit or deduction mixed in. On a monthly payroll the code gives £1,048.26 of free pay each month and £241.92 each week, slightly above a twelfth of the allowance because HMRC's tables add £9 to the code number times ten. The rest of the pay is taxed at 20, 40, 45% in England and Northern Ireland. On £30,000 a year it takes £3,484.00 of Income Tax over the year. 1257L is cumulative: if it ends in W1, M1 or X it becomes the emergency code instead.
Tax-free pay behind a code number
Tax-free a year
£12,570
| Free pay in month 1 | £1,048.26 |
| Free pay in week 1 | £241.92 |
| Against the Personal Allowance | +£0 |
HMRC’s tables add £9 to the code number × 10, so the free pay is a few pence above a twelfth of it.
Rules read on HMRC’s texts by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · Method
What each part of 1257L means
The number is the allowance divided by ten: £12,570 becomes 1257. HMRC starts from your Personal Allowance, takes off anything it collects through your pay, such as company benefits, and adds anything that gives relief, such as job expenses, then drops the last digit (GOV.UK). With nothing to add or take off, the number stays 1257. The letter L says you get the standard allowance. Without a prefix, the code applies the rates for England and Northern Ireland; S1257L applies the Scottish rates and C1257L the Welsh ones.
Unless the code ends in W1, M1 or X, it is cumulative. Your employer adds up your pay since 6 April, takes off the free pay for the same number of weeks or months and works out the tax due to date. If you started in October after months without work, the allowance of April to September counts too, and your first payslips may show little or no tax.
Tax taken with 1257L at different salaries
These figures follow HMRC's payroll method for 2026 to 2027 with the same pay every month and no other income. The basic rate applies up to £50,270 of gross pay, the higher rate up to £125,140. Above £100,000 the allowance shrinks, so 1257L is no longer the right code.
| Yearly pay | Tax in month 1 | Tax over the year |
|---|---|---|
| £20,000 | £123.60 | £1,484.00 |
| £30,000 | £290.20 | £3,484.00 |
| £45,000 | £540.20 | £6,484.00 |
| £60,000 | £952.06 | £11,428.00 |
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 |
When 1257L is not the right code
A second job or pension cannot get a second Personal Allowance, so it is normally coded BR, and only one source shows 1257L. The State Pension is paid without tax taken off, so its yearly amount comes off the code on your other pension or job. Company benefits such as a car or medical insurance lower the number: GOV.UK's example of medical insurance worth £1,570 gives 1100L. Marriage Allowance adds or removes £1,260 and changes the letter. Above £100,000 of adjusted net income, the allowance tapers and the number falls.
If one of these applies and your payslip still shows 1257L, the tax taken may be too low, and the shortfall is collected later through a lower code. If none applies and you see a different code, check your record in your HMRC online account, where each job and pension is listed with the figures that make up its code.
1257L and the emergency code
For 2026 to 2027, HMRC's P9X notice sets the emergency code at 1257L, used on a week 1 or month 1 basis when an employer has no P45 or starter details. It looks the same as the standard code with W1, M1 or X at the end. The difference is in the arithmetic: on the emergency basis, each pay gets only one week's or one month's allowance, and earlier months are ignored. The emergency tax calculator shows what comes back when HMRC switches you to plain 1257L.