Updated for the 2026/27 tax year
Every UK tax code, explained
The full list, grouped by which set of rates the code selects. Each one has its own page with a worked example, because these are not variations on one rule — they are different rules that happen to be written as short strings.
England and Northern Ireland
3 rate bands: Basic rate 20% · Higher rate 40% · Additional rate 45%
| Code | What kind of rule it is | Who it is for |
|---|---|---|
| 1257L | Sets a tax-free amount | You’re entitled to the standard tax-free Personal Allowance |
| BR | One rate on everything — 20%, the basic rate | All your income from this job or pension is taxed at the basic rate |
| D0 | One rate on everything — 40%, the higher rate | All your income from this job or pension is taxed at the higher rate |
| D1 | One rate on everything — 45%, the additional rate | All your income from this job or pension is taxed at the additional rate |
| 0T | No tax-free amount, normal bands | Your Personal Allowance has been used up, or you’ve started a new job and your employer does not have the details they need to give you a tax code |
| NT | No tax deducted, and none repaid | You’re not paying any tax on this income |
| K475 | Adds income instead of removing it | You have income that you are not paying tax on which is more than your Personal Allowance |
| 1257M | Sets a tax-free amount | Marriage Allowance: you’ve received a transfer of 10% of your partner’s Personal Allowance |
| 1257N | Sets a tax-free amount | Marriage Allowance: you’ve transferred 10% of your Personal Allowance to your partner |
| 1257T | Sets a tax-free amount | Your tax code includes other calculations to work out your Personal Allowance |
Scotland
6 rate bands: Starter rate 19% · Basic rate 20% · Intermediate rate 21% · Higher rate 42% · Advanced rate 45% · Top rate 48%
| Code | What kind of rule it is | Who it is for |
|---|---|---|
| S1257L | Sets a tax-free amount | You’re entitled to the standard tax-free Personal Allowance |
| S0T | No tax-free amount, normal bands | Your Personal Allowance (Scotland) has been used up, or you’ve started a new job and your employer does not have the details they need to give you a tax code |
| SBR | One rate on everything — 20%, the basic rate | All your income from this job or pension is taxed at the basic rate in Scotland |
| SD0 | One rate on everything — 21%, the intermediate rate | All your income from this job or pension is taxed at the intermediate rate in Scotland |
| SD1 | One rate on everything — 42%, the higher rate | All your income from this job or pension is taxed at the higher rate in Scotland |
| SD2 | One rate on everything — 45%, the advanced rate | All your income from this job or pension is taxed at the advanced rate in Scotland |
| SD3 | One rate on everything — 48%, the top rate | All your income from this job or pension is taxed at the top rate in Scotland |
Wales
3 rate bands: Welsh basic rate 20% · Welsh higher rate 40% · Welsh additional rate 45%
| Code | What kind of rule it is | Who it is for |
|---|---|---|
| C1257L | Sets a tax-free amount | You’re entitled to the standard tax-free Personal Allowance |
| C0T | No tax-free amount, normal bands | Your Personal Allowance (Wales) has been used up, or you’ve started a new job and your employer does not have the details they need to give you a tax code |
| CBR | One rate on everything — 20%, the welsh basic rate | All your income from this job or pension is taxed at the basic rate in Wales |
| CD0 | One rate on everything — 40%, the welsh higher rate | All your income from this job or pension is taxed at the higher rate in Wales |
| CD1 | One rate on everything — 45%, the welsh additional rate | All your income from this job or pension is taxed at the additional rate in Wales |
The emergency markers — W1, M1, X, NONCUM — are not codes in their own right. They attach to a code and change HOW it is applied rather than what it means, which is why they have their own page rather than a row here.
Two guides sit beside this table. Tax codes in England and Northern Ireland covers the scale a code with no prefix letter selects — the third of the three above, and the only one with no letter to name it. And how to check your tax code takes a code apart in the order the parts matter: prefix, number, letter, marker.
Independent tool not affiliated with HMRC. For your official code, log in to your Personal Tax Account. Check your tax code on GOV.UK.
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.
The figures and rules on this site are taken from the Income Tax (Pay As You Earn) Regulations 2003, the Income Tax Act 2007 and HMRC’s published guidance, and are shown as they were found. They have not been signed off by a reviewer. Where the law and HMRC’s naming differ, the page says which is which rather than blending them. For anything that affects a decision, the cited document governs and this site does not.