List of Tax Codes and what they mean

The below table provides a clear overview of various tax codes and their respective meanings helping taxpayers understand their tax situations better.

L: If you see “L” in your tax code, it means you’re under 65 and receiving the basic personal allowance. This is the most common tax code for tax-paying workers.

BR, D0, and D1: These codes are for second jobs or pensions. HMRC counts your first job as your main one, so they give you a personal allowance for that. The second job doesn’t get a personal allowance, but don’t worry, you won’t pay more tax overall.

M and N: These codes indicate a marriage allowance. If it’s ‘N’, you’ve transferred some of your allowance to your spouse. If it’s ‘M’, your spouse transferred some to you. You can only do this if you both earn less than £12,570 a year.

K: A K code means you don’t get a personal allowance. This might happen if you owe tax from before, or if you’ve got company benefits worth more than your allowance.

Y: If you’re 75 or over, this code gives you the maximum personal allowance.

S: This code is for Scottish tax rates.

NT: You won’t pay any tax if you have this code. It’s usually because you don’t earn enough, or you’re self-employed and only pay national insurance.

T and 0T: If you earn over £100,000 a year, you’ll have one of these codes. For every £2 you earn over £100,000, £1 of your allowance gets taken away. The number before the ‘T’ shows how much allowance you have left.

W1, M1, and X: These are emergency tax codes. They’re used when HMRC doesn’t have your updated income info. It means tax gets taken from all your earnings, but it’ll get sorted out later.

List of Tax Codes and What They Mean: Tax codes may seem like a jumble of letters and numbers but they hold significant importance in determining how much tax you pay and how your income is taxed.

Understanding these codes is important for ensuring accurate tax calculations and avoiding unnecessary tax overpayments or underpayments.

In this article, we’ll guide the various tax codes used by tax authorities and explain what they mean for taxpayers.