Christmas temp job tax: the starter checklist, first payslips and January

A seasonal temp job follows the same starter rules as any other job. The statement you pick on the checklist decides your code, and getting it right on day one avoids a correction later.

Updated 9 October 2026. Facts checked against GOV.UK and legislation.gov.uk on 9 October 2026.

Start with the starter checklist

If you do not have a P45 from your last job, fill in the starter checklist and give it to your employer. GOV.UK says to email, post or give the checklist to your new employer, and your employer then lets HMRC know you have started. It asks for your personal details, the statement that matches your situation, and any student loan.

GOV.UK has an online starter checklist (a PDF is available if you cannot use it). If you have already been paid, do not use the starter checklist (previously known as a P46). Check your code and details in the HMRC app or your personal tax account instead.

The statement you choose decides the code.

Statement A: this is your first job since 6 April, and you have not received taxable Jobseeker’s Allowance, Employment and Support Allowance or Incapacity Benefit since then. The code is the current personal allowance, which is 1257L, on a cumulative basis.
Statement B: this is now your only job. Since 6 April you have had another job (which has now ended) and you do not have a P45, or you have received taxable Jobseeker’s Allowance, Employment and Support Allowance or Incapacity Benefit. The code is 1257L on a week 1 or month 1 basis.
Statement C: you have another job, or you receive a State, workplace or private pension. The code is BR.
No checklist and no P45: the employer uses code 0T on a non-cumulative basis, under regulation 49A of the 2003 Regulations.

Why first payslips can look wrong

A first payslip can look different from the ones that follow, and there are three usual causes. The code may be a week 1 or month 1 code, so each pay is taxed on its own. The first pay may cover only a short run of shifts, so the gross figure is lower. And a student loan can be deducted wrongly if the checklist does not match your plan.

The checklist itself warns that you may pay the wrong amount of tax or student loan deductions if the answers are not right. Check the hours and dates on the payslip. GOV.UK says hours must be shown where your pay varies with the time you work.

W1 and M1 emergency tax codes: why each pay day is taxed on its own, and how the code ends
The 0T tax code: no tax-free allowance, with pay taxed through the bands

Second job codes for temp work

For temp work, the statement usually comes down to whether you have another job or pension now. If you do, statement C applies and the temp job is on BR. GOV.UK says a second job on BR is normal, because your Personal Allowance is used on your main job.

If you had another job earlier in this tax year and do not have a P45 from it, statement B is the right one, not statement C. Statement C is for a job or pension you have now.

Once the first payslip arrives, check that the code matches the statement you chose.

Tax codes for a second job: how your tax-free allowance is shared between jobs

Holiday pay on temp work

GOV.UK says almost all workers are entitled to 5.6 weeks of paid holiday a year. Irregular-hours and part-year workers build that up as they work, rather than receiving a fixed amount.

GOV.UK describes irregular hours as a pattern where the number of hours worked in a pay period often or always changes. Part-year work is where there are periods of at least a week in a leave year when you do not need to work and are not paid.

For leave years starting on or after 1 April 2024, GOV.UK says holiday for irregular-hours and part-year workers is calculated as 12.07% of the hours actually worked in each pay period. That figure is 5.6 weeks out of 46.4 working weeks.

Some employers pay this as rolled-up holiday pay. GOV.UK says this is allowed only for irregular-hours and part-year workers, and it must be clearly marked as a separate item on each payslip. Regulation 16A(7) of the Working Time Regulations 1998 says that an itemised pay statement must indicate the amount of holiday pay that has been paid for the period. A regular-hours worker cannot have holiday pay built into the hourly rate.

Whether any of this applies depends on your contract. A temp on fixed weekly hours may be neither of these. In that case the 12.07% method does not apply. GOV.UK says that in the first year of a job, workers who are not irregular-hours or part-year accrue one twelfth of their statutory entitlement on the first day of each month of their first year. Ask your employer which basis covers you, and check your payslip for a separate holiday line.

Getting it right in January

The tax year runs from 6 April to 5 April. A December job and a January job fall in the same tax year, so their pay and tax count towards the same year-to-date totals.

When the temp job ends, ask for your P45. GOV.UK says your employer should give you one when you leave. Keep Part 1A, and give Parts 2 and 3 to your next employer. GOV.UK says a lost P45 cannot be replaced.

If you start another job in January without a P45, fill in a fresh starter checklist and pick the statement that matches your position then. A job you had earlier in the same tax year changes the answer to statement B.

Check the first payslip from the new job against the code and the statement you chose. If something does not match, speak to your employer first and then contact HMRC if it is still wrong.

A short temp job can over-collect tax, for example on a 0T or week 1/month 1 code, because each pay is taxed on its own. That tax can come back through your pay once HMRC issues a corrected code, through a P800 letter, or through a refund claim, and the emergency tax refund guide explains how.

Emergency tax refunds: how overpaid tax comes back through your pay or a P800

What to check

Keep a note of the statement you ticked, and check these points on each payslip.

Whether you gave a P45, and which parts were given.
The code on the payslip: 1257L, 1257L W1 or M1, BR or 0T.
The hours, and any separate holiday line.
Your student loan plan, if you have one, and whether the deduction matches it.

Related guides

Sources

This is an estimate, not financial or tax advice. Your payslip is the final figure.