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Tax codes
1. Overview
Your tax code is used by your employer or pension provider to work out how much Income Tax to take from your pay or pension.
The code is worked out by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC), who send it to your employer or pension provider.
Your tax code will be made up of:
- numbers - these refer to how much income you can have before you pay tax
- usually one letter - it refers to your situation and how it affects your tax-free Personal Allowance
1150L is the tax code currently used for most people who have one job.
Your tax code will change each tax year (6 April to 5 April the following year), usually because the Personal Allowance is increased. Your code can also change for other reasons, for example if you start or stop getting state benefits (including the State Pension) or company benefits like a company car.
You may be paying the wrong amount of tax if you’re on the wrong tax code.
Where to find your tax code
You can get your tax code from:
- payslips from your employer or pension provider
- the check your Income Tax service - this also shows how the code was worked out
- a P45 from an employer if you leave a job
- a P60 from your employer at the end of each tax year
- a PAYE Coding Notice - you may get one by post or you can check using HMRC’s Self Assessment online service if you’re registered
If you get income from more than one employer or pension provider, each will usually use a different tax code.
Your tax code doesn’t tell employers or pension providers how much you earn - it only tells them how much tax they need to take from payments they make to you.
You have more than one tax code
Your main job is used to calculate your tax code and your personal allowance.
HMRC will automatically apply your left over personal allowance (if any) to any other jobs or pension.
You can contact HMRC if you want to change which tax code you’d like to use for your main job.