For instance, if you’re claiming Marriage Allowance to transfer some of your Personal Allowance to a spouse, you’ll find an N at the end of your tax code (your spouse will get an M instead). On the other hand, if you’ve got more than one job, you’ll get a separate tax code for each. Your “main” job will have your normal Personal Allowance attached to it (getting an L tax code), while your second job will get an R – meaning you pay tax from the very first penny you earn from it.

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) Being on an emergency tax rate means you pay a levy on all your income above the basic Personal Allowance. This might happen if you start:Get a head start on your 2022-23 tax return with the Which? tax calculator. Tot up your tax bill, get tips on where to save and submit your return direct to HMRC with Which?. At the end of the day, the key thing to remember is that if you’re working on the wrong tax code you might be paying too much or not enough tax. So either way, it’s something you want to get sorted ASAP. A List of Tax Codes and what they mean However, when you hand over your P45 or P46 to your new employer, your tax code should change – and you should be reimbursed with any losses. In most cases, HMRC will automatically update your tax code when your income changes. They’ll usually get this information from your employer. Balance of earnings above upper earnings limit, upper secondary thresholds for under 21s, apprentices and veterans

There are a number of UK tax codes, each of which mean something different. Here they are at a glance:Tax Code D1: All your income from one particular job or pension gets taxed at the ‘ additional rate‘ of tax. As a rule it gets used for people with more than one job or more than one pension.