How to contact HMRC to check your code?
You can contact HMRC on 0300 200 3300 or by sending a letter to the following address, Pay as You Earn and Self Assessment, HM Revenue and Customs, BX9 1AS, United Kingdom.
What are the other different tax codes?
N – Also marriage related but you’re the one making the transfer.
NT – Short for “No Tax” on this income. You get this if you have a non-resident status or if you’re declaring the relevant income in a way that is known and agreed by HMRC
T – You’re a special case and other calculations have been used to work out your Personal Allowance, commonly because you’re earning more than £100,000.
0T – An emergency tax code issued if your employers don’t have enough details to figure out how much tax you should pay. Avoid this like the plague as you won’t get any personal allowance and you’ll lose 20 per cent at the basic rate on all income, 40 per cent at the higher rate and 45 per cent at the additional rate.
M1 – An emergency tax code which means your tax will be based on that month rather than the full tax year. If you’ve changed your job, make sure your new job has your P45.
W1 – Another emergency code, used if you are paid weekly. Again, check your employer has your P45 for updating your code.
What are the different codes?
BR – Normally used where people have a second job or pension – all income gets taxed at the basic rate
D0 – For people with multiple incomes who earn over £50,270. All your income for this job or pension will be taxed at the higher rate of 40 per cent.
D1 – For people on megabucks with gross earnings of more than £125,140 across different jobs and pensions. This code means you’ll be taxed at 45 per cent on this job.
K – You owe tax – either from a previous year or you have taxable benefits – and HMRC are getting you to pay up by taking what’s owed through your salary. The K is usually placed in front of the tax code number, rather than after it.
L – Most people are on the L code, which means you are entitled to the standard tax-free personal allowance of £12,570.
M – Stands for “marriage”. It means you can pay less tax because your spouse or civil partner has transferred 10 per cent (currently £1,260) of their personal allowance to you
How to check your tax code
First look at the numbers, which show how much income you can earn before paying tax.
You can find your tax code either on your payslip, your P60 or by contacting HMRC.
The standard code now and for the past few years has been 1257L, meaning you can be paid £12,570 before tax is deducted.
This hasn’t changed since tax year 2020 to 2021, when the personal allowance was less at £12,500.
What is a tax code?
Tax codes determine how much you are paying to the Government. The codes can be found on your payslip and they are normally some numbers followed by a letter.
Make sure to check your tax code as you could end up on the wrong one due to changing jobs or salaries.
It’s thought millions of workers are in this situation, leaving them open to all manner of financial nightmares.
If you notice you’re on the wrong code, you can claim back any overpaid tax for the last four financial years.
