Pay and tax guides for shift workers
Plain-English explanations of UK tax codes, National Insurance, second jobs and payslips, written for people paid by the hour.
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1257L tax code: what the numbers and letters mean
1257L is the standard code for one job in 2026/27, giving a £12,570 Personal Allowance. Here is what the other numbers and letters mean.
BR tax code: what it means and what it costs you
BR means all the pay from that job is taxed at 20% with no tax-free allowance. It is usually right for a second job and wrong on your only job.
0T tax code meaning: no allowance and how it differs from BR
0T means no Personal Allowance on that job, so pay is taxed through the bands from the first pound. It is not the same as BR.
W1 M1 tax code meaning: what emergency tax is and how it ends
W1, M1 and X codes work out tax for each pay period on its own. This is emergency tax. It is temporary and is usually fixed by a new code.
Second job tax code: how your allowance is shared between jobs
Your Personal Allowance is used once, on your main job. A second job gets BR, D0 or D1, and you can ask HMRC whether the allowance can be split.
Emergency tax refund: how overpaid tax is corrected and claimed
If you were on an emergency or 0T code, HMRC corrects overpaid tax through your pay where it can, and through a P800 letter where it cannot.
Christmas temp job tax: the starter checklist, first payslips and January
Your starter checklist statement decides the code on a Christmas temp job. This covers which to pick, why first payslips look odd and January.
YTD on a payslip: what year-to-date figures mean and how to check them
Year-to-date figures are your running totals since 6 April. Here is what they mean for your tax, and how to check them against your own records.
Shift pattern take-home pay calculator
Work out UK take-home pay from your shift pattern: nights, weekends, bank holidays and a second job, after 2026/27 tax, NI, student loan and pension.