Written and reviewed by James Whitfield · Updated for 2026/27 · Editorial standards · Methodology
Tax code 1257L means you get the standard £12,570 personal allowance for 2026/27, £1,047.50 tax-free each month. What 1257L W1/M1, BR, D0, 0T and K codes mean, how much a wrong code costs, how to check yours on a payslip, and how to get HMRC to correct it.
Tax code 1257L means you get the standard £12,570 personal allowance for 2026/27: £1,047.50 of tax-free pay a month, with the rest taxed at 20% up to £50,270, then 40%14. It is the normal code for anyone with one job or pension and no adjustments. 1257L W1, M1 or X is the emergency version applied period by period3; BR taxes everything at 20% (usually a second job); K codes mean untaxed income is being added to your pay2. Only HMRC can change your code, so if it looks wrong check your personal tax account rather than payroll.
Typical default outputs for quick context.
Tax code 1257L is the standard tax code for most UK employees in 2026/27. The number is your tax-free personal allowance with the last digit removed: 1257 stands for £12,570. The letter L means you are entitled to the standard personal allowance with no adjustments1. Your employer uses the code to work out how much of your pay is tax-free each period before applying the 20%, 40% and 45% bands2.
It is the code you should expect if you have one job or pension, no taxable benefits from your employer, no tax owed from earlier years and no other adjustments. It has been the standard code since April 2021 because the allowance has been frozen at £12,570 throughout.
PAYE spreads the £12,570 across the tax year: £1,047.50 a month or £241.73 a week. The calculation is cumulative, so by month 6 (September) you have had £6,285 of tax-free pay and payroll compares the tax due on your pay to date with the tax you have already paid. On a steady £35,000 salary the result is the same every month: taxable pay of £1,869.17 and tax of £373.83.
| Tax period | Gross to date | Tax-free to date | Tax paid to date | Tax this month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month 1 (April) | £2,916.67 | £1,047.50 | £373.83 | £373.83 |
| Month 6 (September) | £17,500.00 | £6,285.00 | £2,243.00 | £373.83 |
| Month 12 (March) | £35,000.00 | £12,570.00 | £4,486.00 | £373.83 |
If your code is shown as 1257L W1, 1257L M1 or 1257L X, you are on an emergency tax code. The allowance is the same £12,570, but it is applied one week or one month at a time with no reference to what you earned or paid earlier in the year3. Employers use it when they do not yet have your full details, typically when you start a job without a P45 or begin receiving a pension.
On a steady salary an emergency 1257L produces the same monthly tax as the cumulative code. The problems arise if you started part-way through the year (you miss the unused allowance from earlier months and overpay), or had variable pay. HMRC normally issues a cumulative code once it has your employment details, and any overpaid tax is refunded through your pay or a P800 after the year ends.
A different code is not automatically wrong; it usually means HMRC has adjusted your allowance for a reason. The table shows the ones people ask about most2.
| Code | Meaning | Typically used when |
|---|---|---|
| 1257L | Standard £12,570 allowance, cumulative | One job or pension, no adjustments |
| 1257L W1 / M1 / X | Standard allowance, applied per period only | New job without a P45, new pension |
| BR | All pay taxed at 20%, no allowance | Second job or pension |
| D0 | All pay taxed at 40% | Second income for a higher-rate taxpayer |
| D1 | All pay taxed at 45% | Second income for an additional-rate taxpayer |
| 0T | No allowance; bands applied from the first pound | Allowance used up, or employer has no details |
| K497 (any K code) | Untaxed income exceeds allowance; £4,970 added to taxable pay | Company car, tax owed from earlier years |
| S1257L / C1257L | Standard allowance, Scottish / Welsh rates | Resident in Scotland / Wales |
| 1383M / 1131N | Marriage Allowance received / transferred | Married couples and civil partners |
| NT | No tax deducted | Specific HMRC instruction only |
The number in a tax code is not always 1257 because HMRC starts with your £12,570 allowance and then adds or subtracts adjustments before dropping the final digit. Allowable job expenses and professional subscriptions are added; taxable benefits, untaxed income and tax owed from a previous year are subtracted. A £60 flat-rate uniform allowance takes the allowance to £12,630 and the code to 1263L. A company car with a £4,000 taxable benefit takes it to £8,570 and the code to 857L, so more of your salary is taxed even though your salary has not changed.
When the subtractions exceed the allowance entirely, the code flips to a K code. K497 means £4,970 of notional income is added to your pay rather than deducted from it. HMRC applies a regulatory limit so that a K code can never take more than 50% of your gross pay in tax in any period, which spreads the recovery over the rest of the year.
Every change comes with a P2 coding notice setting out each line of the calculation. It is worth reading, because the most common cause of a surprise tax bill is an estimated benefit or an estimated amount of untaxed income that no longer matches reality: HMRC carries last year's figure forward until you tell it otherwise.
When you leave a job your employer gives you a P45 showing your pay and tax to date. Handing it to a new employer lets them continue the cumulative calculation on the right code, which is why people who give a P45 usually stay on 1257L with no disruption. If you have no P45, you complete a starter checklist instead, and the answer you give determines the code: statement A (this is your only job and you have had no other income since 6 April) normally gives a cumulative 1257L, statement B gives 1257L W1/M1, and statement C, for people who already have another job or pension, gives BR.
Ticking the wrong statement is one of the most common tax code errors. Selecting C when the new job is your only one puts your whole salary on 20% with no allowance at all, costing £209.50 a month on a £35,000 salary until it is corrected.
The cost of the wrong code is easiest to see on a real salary. On £35,000 paid monthly, 1257L gives £373.83 of tax a month. The same pay on BR or 0T is taxed at 20% from the first pound, £583.33 a month, an overpayment of £209.50 every month, or £2,514 a year. On D0 the whole £2,916.67 is taxed at 40%: £1,166.67 a month.
| Tax code | Tax-free pay per month | Income tax per month | Difference vs 1257L |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1257L | £1,047.50 | £373.83 | £0 |
| BR | £0 | £583.33 | +£209.50 |
| 0T | £0 | £583.33 | +£209.50 |
| D0 | £0 | £1,166.67 | +£792.84 |
| K497 | minus £414.17 (added to pay) | £666.17 | +£292.34 |
Overpayments on BR or an emergency code are usually refunded once HMRC issues the correct code, but only if someone notices.
Your current code is on every payslip and on your P60. HMRC's online tool shows the code it has issued and lets you compare it with what your employer is using5. If the two differ, or the code is wrong for your circumstances, update your details in your personal tax account or contact HMRC directly6. Your employer cannot change your code on request; they must wait for HMRC to send a new one.
Once a corrected cumulative code is applied, PAYE recalculates your tax for the year to date and refunds any overpayment through your next pay. If the year has already ended, HMRC sends a P800 calculation and any refund can be claimed online. Keep the P2 coding notice HMRC sends whenever your code changes; it lists exactly how the number was built.
Current tax-year thresholds used across this guide and calculator.
It means you are entitled to the standard personal allowance of £12,570 for 2026/27. The number is the allowance with the final digit removed (1257 = £12,570) and L shows that the standard allowance applies with no adjustments. Your employer gives you £1,047.50 of tax-free pay each month before applying the 20% and 40% rates.
Yes. 1257L is the standard, most common code for 2026/27 and means your full allowance is being applied. A different code is not necessarily wrong, but it means HMRC has adjusted your allowance for a reason, such as a company benefit, a second job or tax owed from an earlier year.
The emergency (non-cumulative) version of 1257L. W1 (week 1) and M1 (month 1) mean each pay period is taxed on its own without reference to earlier pay in the year. It is used when an employer does not have your P45 or full details, and HMRC normally replaces it with a cumulative code within a few pay periods.
£1,047.50 a month, or £241.73 a week. On a £35,000 salary paid monthly that leaves £1,869.17 taxable each month and income tax of £373.83.
Common reasons are a taxable benefit such as a company car (which lowers the number), tax underpaid in an earlier year being collected through your code, a second job or pension (BR, D0 or D1), Marriage Allowance (M or N), job expenses, or income over £100,000 where the allowance tapers. HMRC sends a P2 coding notice explaining the change.
The same £12,570 allowance for a Scottish taxpayer. The S prefix tells your employer to apply Scottish income tax bands (19%, 20%, 21%, 42%, 45% and 48%) instead of the England, Wales and Northern Ireland bands. C1257L is the Welsh equivalent.
The rates, thresholds and rules on this page are drawn from the official UK government sources below, using the confirmed 2026/27 figures. Each link opens the relevant HMRC or GOV.UK page in a new tab.
Verified against published UK government guidance for 2026/27.