Updated for the 2026/27 tax year
What does your tax code mean?
Type the code from your payslip. This decodes the letters and the number, shows the tax-free amount it gives you and the rate it charges, and works out what a year on that code comes to — with the rule each part comes from shown beside it.
Exactly as it appears on your payslip, including any letters at the end.
Only used to show the code’s effect in pounds. Nothing is sent anywhere.
This runs in your browser. Nothing you type is stored or transmitted.
Type a tax code to see what it means.
Independent tool not affiliated with HMRC. For your official code, log in to your Personal Tax Account. Check your tax code on GOV.UK.
Tax codes are not the same across the UK. A code starting with S uses the Scottish rates, which have more bands than the rest of the UK; a code starting with C uses the Welsh rates, which are built by a different rule even in a year when they come to the same figures. Check the first letter of your code before you read any rate on this site.
What the parts of a code mean
A tax code is an instruction to your employer, not a description of your tax. The number sets how much you can be paid before tax is taken; the letters say which rule applies and which set of rates you are on. The standard code this year is 1257L, and the number in it is the Personal Allowance of £12,570 with its final digit replaced by a letter.
That last part is why the number multiplied by 10 gives you the tax-free amount the code grants. It is also why a code with a smaller number is not a mistake — it usually means something has been taken off the allowance, such as a company benefit or tax owed from an earlier year. How a tax code works sets out the rest.
The one thing this site cannot tell you
It cannot tell you what your code should be. That depends on what HMRC knows about your income, your benefits and your allowances, and only HMRC holds it. What this site does is explain the code you already have, so you can tell whether it matches your circumstances — and it links you straight to HMRC for the part it cannot do.
Every code, grouped by which rates it uses
The groups matter more than they look. A Scottish code selects a scale with more bands than the rest of the UK uses, so the SD codes and the D codes do not correspond.
England and Northern Ireland
- 1257L — You’re entitled to the standard tax-free Personal Allowance…
- BR — All your income from this job or pension is taxed at the basic rate…
- D0 — All your income from this job or pension is taxed at the higher rate…
- D1 — All your income from this job or pension is taxed at the additional rate…
- 0T — Your Personal Allowance has been used up, or you’ve started a new job an…
- NT — You’re not paying any tax on this income…
- K475 — You have income that you are not paying tax on which is more than your P…
- 1257M — Marriage Allowance: you’ve received a transfer of 10% of your partner’s …
- 1257N — Marriage Allowance: you’ve transferred 10% of your Personal Allowance to…
- 1257T — Your tax code includes other calculations to work out your Personal Allo…
Scotland
- S1257L — You’re entitled to the standard tax-free Personal Allowance…
- S0T — Your Personal Allowance (Scotland) has been used up, or you’ve started a…
- SBR — All your income from this job or pension is taxed at the basic rate in S…
- SD0 — All your income from this job or pension is taxed at the intermediate ra…
- SD1 — All your income from this job or pension is taxed at the higher rate in …
- SD2 — All your income from this job or pension is taxed at the advanced rate i…
- SD3 — All your income from this job or pension is taxed at the top rate in Sco…
Wales
- C1257L — You’re entitled to the standard tax-free Personal Allowance…
- C0T — Your Personal Allowance (Wales) has been used up, or you’ve started a ne…
- CBR — All your income from this job or pension is taxed at the basic rate in W…
- CD0 — All your income from this job or pension is taxed at the higher rate in …
- CD1 — All your income from this job or pension is taxed at the additional rate…
Letters and law are not the same thing. The PAYE Regulations create these codes by describing what they DO — “the basic rate code”, “the nil tax code” — and, with one exception, never write down the letters HMRC prints on your payslip. The letters are HMRC’s naming for those functions. This site labels which is which on every page, and the sources page shows the search behind that statement.