About UK Tax Codes
Gemma Pearce
Your tax code is a combination of letters and numbers that is used by your employer and pension providers to work out how much Income Tax should be taken from your pay or pension.
The numbers and letters in your tax code indicate to your employer or pension provider how much tax-free income you should receive per tax year.
What the letters mean
In order to read your tax code you will have to understand what the different letters mean
L
You’re entitled to the standard tax-free Personal Allowance
M
Marriage Allowance: you’ve received a transfer of 10% of your partner’s Personal Allowance
N
Marriage Allowance: you’ve transferred 10% of your Personal Allowance to your partner
S
Your income or pension is taxed using the rates in Scotland.
T
Your tax code includes other calculations to work out your Personal Allowance, for example it’s been reduced because your estimated annual income is more than £100,000
0T
Your Personal Allowance has been used up, or you’ve started a new job and your employer doesn’t have the details they need to give you a tax code
BR
All your income from this job or pension is taxed at the basic rate (usually used if you’ve got more than one job or pension)
D0
All your income from this job or pension is taxed at the higher rate (usually used if you’ve got more than one job or pension)
D1
All your income from this job or pension is taxed at the additional rate (usually used if you’ve got more than one job or pension)
NT
You’re not paying any tax on this income
Updating your tax code
There may be some instances where you are required to update your tax code; for instance if you start a new job and are put on an emergency tax code.
The HMRC will update your tax code once you have notified them of your employer details.