WageUK Tax Codes Explained 2026-27
Your tax code tells your employer or pension provider how much tax-free pay you get before Income Tax is deducted. The number is your tax-free amount with the last digit removed: multiply it by 10 and 1257 works out as a £12,570 Personal Allowance. The letter describes your situation - a standard allowance, a second job, Scottish rates, or an allowance moved between partners.
| Code | What it means |
|---|---|
| 1257L | You get the standard tax-free Personal Allowance and pay no Income Tax on the first £12,570 of income from one job or pension - the number 1257 stands for that allowance. |
| BR | All the income from this job or pension is taxed at the basic rate, with no tax-free Personal Allowance applied against it. |
| 0T | No Personal Allowance is applied, and your income is taxed across the normal basic, higher and additional rate bands. |
| D0 | All the income from this job or pension is taxed at the higher rate, with no Personal Allowance applied against it. |
| D1 | All the income from this job or pension is taxed at the additional rate, with no Personal Allowance applied against it. |
| K | You have income that is not taxed another way - such as company benefits or the State Pension - worth more than your tax-free allowance, so the code adds to your taxable pay instead of giving an allowance. |
| NT | No Income Tax is taken from this income at all. |
| S1257L | The S prefix means Scottish Income Tax rates apply to your pay; otherwise it works like 1257L, giving the standard £12,570 Personal Allowance. |
| 1383M | Marriage Allowance: you have received a transfer of a tenth of your partner's Personal Allowance, so your tax-free amount is larger than the standard code. |
| 1131N | Marriage Allowance: you have transferred a tenth of your Personal Allowance to your partner, so your tax-free amount is smaller than the standard code. |
| W1/M1 | An emergency, non-cumulative code (Week 1 / Month 1) where each pay period is taxed on its own rather than across your year-to-date pay. |
How to read your tax code
A tax code is made up of numbers followed by a letter. The numbers show the tax-free income you can have in the year: take the number, multiply it by 10, and that is your allowance before Income Tax starts. So the common 1257 stands for the standard £12,570 Personal Allowance.
The letter sets out your circumstances. L means you get the standard allowance; M and N relate to Marriage Allowance; T means other calculations are used to work out your allowance; an S at the front means Scottish rates apply; and a K at the front means untaxed income is being added to your pay rather than an allowance being given.
Why your tax code changes
HMRC issues your code and updates it when your circumstances change - starting or leaving a job, taking a second job or pension, receiving taxable company benefits, claiming or cancelling Marriage Allowance, or repaying tax owed from an earlier year. Because the code carries all of this, the same person can hold different codes against different jobs at the same time.
Emergency codes such as W1, M1 and X appear when HMRC does not yet have your full details, usually just after a job change. They are non-cumulative, meaning each pay period is taxed on its own instead of across your year-to-date pay, and they are temporary until the correct code is issued.
How to check your code is right
You can find your current tax code on a payslip, on a P45 or P60, or on the coding notice HMRC sends you. Your online Personal Tax Account shows the code for each job or pension and how HMRC worked it out.
If a code looks wrong - for example no Personal Allowance where you expect one, or deductions that seem too high - the figures are set by HMRC, not your employer, so you would contact HMRC to have them checked and corrected. This is general information rather than advice; verify anything specific with HMRC or an accountant.
Frequently asked questions
What does the number in my tax code mean?
It is your tax-free income for the year with the final digit removed. Multiply the number by 10 to get the amount - so 1257 represents the standard £12,570 Personal Allowance you can earn before Income Tax.
What does the letter in my tax code mean?
The letter describes your situation. L is the standard allowance, M and N are Marriage Allowance, an S prefix means Scottish rates apply, and a K prefix means untaxed income is added to your taxable pay instead of an allowance being given.
What is an emergency tax code?
Codes marked W1, M1 or X are emergency codes used when HMRC does not yet have your details, often after starting a new job. They tax each pay period on its own and are temporary until HMRC issues your correct code.
General information, not advice. Estimates assume the standard 1257L tax code and typical circumstances; your payslip may differ by a pound or two because HMRC payroll software truncates at each step. Verify with HMRC or an accountant for any decision. WageReckon stores no salary data - the calculators run in your browser.
Rates for the 2026-27 tax year, current as of 24 July 2026. Source: HMRC (gov.uk). Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: HMRC / gov.uk. See how we calculate.