How to check your
tax code

Your tax code determines how much income tax comes out of every pay packet. If it is wrong, you could be overpaying by hundreds of pounds without realising it. Checking takes less than two minutes online, and there are five different places you can find your current code right now. This guide walks through each method, explains how to verify your code is correct for your situation, and tells you exactly what to do if something does not add up.

5 ways to check your tax code

Listed from most comprehensive to most convenient. Method 1 is the one HMRC recommends, and it is the only way to see codes for all your income sources in one place.

Method 1: HMRC Personal Tax Account (recommended)

This is the most complete and up-to-date source. Your Personal Tax Account shows every tax code HMRC has issued for the current year, across all employers and pensions.

Step-by-step:

1. Go to gov.uk/personal-tax-account
2. Sign in with your Government Gateway user ID and password. If you do not have one, you can create an account -- you will need your National Insurance number, a recent payslip or P60, and a valid form of ID
3. Select "Check your Income Tax" from the main menu
4. Click "Tax code for the current year"
5. You will see a list of every employer and pension with the tax code assigned to each one

This view also shows the breakdown of your code: your Personal Allowance, any deductions (benefits in kind, underpaid tax being collected), and the final code number. If anything looks wrong, you can update your details directly from this screen.

Why this method is best: It is the only place that shows all your codes in one view. If you have two jobs, you can see that your main job has 1257L and your second job has BR, and verify that the split is correct. Your payslip only shows the code for that specific employer.

Method 2: HMRC app

The HMRC app provides the same information as the Personal Tax Account but on your phone. It is useful for quick checks when you do not have access to a computer.

Step-by-step:

1. Download the HMRC app from the App Store (iOS) or Google Play (Android)
2. Sign in with your Government Gateway credentials
3. Tap "Pay As You Earn (PAYE)" or "Check your Income Tax"
4. Your current tax codes are displayed for each employer and pension

The app also sends push notifications when HMRC changes your tax code, so you can catch errors as soon as they happen rather than discovering them weeks later on your payslip.

Method 3: Your payslip

Every payslip includes your tax code. It is usually printed near the top of the slip, alongside your National Insurance number and pay period.

Where to find it:

• Paper payslips: Look for a field labelled "Tax Code" in the header section
• Online payslips (through your employer's portal): Same location, often in the summary bar at the top
• Some payslips abbreviate it, showing just the code (e.g. "1257L") without further explanation

What to look for: The code should be the same every month unless HMRC has issued a change. If your code changes unexpectedly between pay periods, check your HMRC Personal Tax Account to understand why.

Limitation: Your payslip only shows the code for that specific employer. If you have multiple income sources, you need to check each payslip separately or use Method 1 to see everything in one place.

Method 4: Your P60

Your employer gives you a P60 at the end of each tax year (after 5 April). It is an annual certificate that summarises your total pay, total tax deducted, and the tax code used at the end of the year.

When this is useful: If you want to check your code for a previous tax year, your P60 is the definitive record. It shows the code that was in effect on 5 April, which is the code used for the final reconciliation.

Limitation: The P60 only shows the code at year end. If your code changed during the year, the P60 does not show the earlier codes. For mid-year code history, use your HMRC Personal Tax Account.

Method 5: P2 coding notice

HMRC sends you a P2 coding notice whenever your tax code changes. It arrives by post or in your online HMRC messages. The P2 provides a full breakdown of how your code was calculated, including your Personal Allowance, deductions, and the resulting code number and letter.

When this is useful: The P2 is the most detailed document you will receive about your tax code. It explains every adjustment HMRC has made, so if your code number seems lower than expected, the P2 will tell you exactly why -- whether it is a company car benefit, underpaid tax being collected, or an estimated income adjustment.

How to find old P2 notices: Log into your HMRC Personal Tax Account and check your messages. HMRC stores digital copies of recent P2 notices. If you only receive paper copies, check your post from January to March -- that is when HMRC typically sends new coding notices for the upcoming tax year.

How to verify your code is correct for your situation

Finding your code is step one. Verifying it is correct is where most people stop, and that is where costly errors go undetected. Here is how to check the maths yourself.

The basic formula: Multiply the number in your code by 10 to find your Personal Allowance. For 1257L, that is 1257 multiplied by 10 = £12,570. This is the amount you can earn before paying any income tax.

If you have the standard allowance and no adjustments, 1257L is correct. That means:

• You have one main job or pension (not two employers both using 1257L)
• You earn under £100,000 per year from all sources
• You have no benefits in kind (company car, private medical, etc.)
• HMRC is not collecting underpaid tax from a previous year through your code
• You have not applied for or received Marriage Allowance

Warning flags that your code may be wrong:

• The code number is significantly lower than 1257 and you do not know why
• The letter is not L (check what your letter means -- T, K, M, and N all indicate specific circumstances)
• The code includes W1, M1, or X suffix (emergency non-cumulative basis)
• You have BR or D0 on your only income source

If your code number is lower than 1257, your P2 coding notice explains the deductions. Log into your Personal Tax Account to view it. If you do not recognise the deductions, they may be wrong. Common culprits: a company car you no longer have, estimated rental income that does not exist, or underpaid tax from a year that has already been resolved.

For self-employed workers with both PAYE and Self Assessment income, verifying your tax code becomes even more important. A wrong PAYE code throws off your Self Assessment calculation. TapTax helps you see the full picture across all income sources, so you can spot discrepancies before they cost you. Check your tax position with TapTax.

Checking codes for multiple income sources

If you have more than one job, or a job plus a pension, each source of income has its own tax code. Getting the split right is essential to paying the correct amount of tax.

How HMRC splits your allowance:

Your full £12,570 Personal Allowance is usually assigned to your largest income source. That employer or pension provider receives the code 1257L. Your other income sources receive codes with no allowance:

• Second job (basic rate taxpayer): Usually BR -- 20% on all income from this source
• Second job (higher rate taxpayer): Usually D0 -- 40% on all income from this source
• Small pension alongside employment: Usually BR

What to check:

1. Only one source should have your full allowance. If two employers both show 1257L, you are receiving double the allowance and will owe HMRC at year end
2. Your largest income should carry the allowance. If your £40,000 job has BR and your £5,000 pension has 1257L, the split is inefficient (though not technically wrong -- HMRC will reconcile at year end)
3. The codes for your secondary sources should match your tax band. If your total income is above £50,270, secondary sources should generally be D0 (40%) rather than BR (20%)

How to check all codes at once: Only the HMRC Personal Tax Account (Method 1 above) shows all your codes in a single view. Check this at least once at the start of each tax year.

How often should you check your tax code?

At minimum, check once per year -- ideally in April or May, when HMRC issues new codes for the tax year starting 6 April. But certain life events should trigger an immediate check:

Check your code immediately after:

• Starting a new job (especially if you did not hand over a P45)
• Leaving a job or being made redundant
• Starting to receive a pension
• Getting or returning a company car
• Marriage, civil partnership, or divorce (Marriage Allowance may apply)
• Your income crossing £100,000 (Personal Allowance tapering begins)
• Repaying a student loan in full
• Moving to or from Scotland (different tax bands, S-prefix on your code)
• Receiving a P2 coding notice from HMRC that you did not expect

The cost of not checking: HMRC processes millions of tax codes and relies heavily on information from employers. If your employer reports something late or incorrectly, your code changes without your knowledge. A wrong code running for a full year can mean overpaying by £2,514 (if you lose your entire Personal Allowance) or underpaying by a similar amount (if you receive double allowance). Checking takes 2 minutes. Not checking can cost thousands.

What to do if your code looks wrong

If you have checked your code using any of the five methods above and something does not add up, do not wait for HMRC to fix it. They may not catch the error for months.

Immediate actions:

1. Log into your HMRC Personal Tax Account and review the full breakdown of your code. The "Check your Income Tax" section shows every adjustment and the reason for it
2. Compare against your P2 coding notice to understand what deductions or additions HMRC has applied
3. If the code is clearly wrong (for example, BR on your only job), follow the steps in our guide to reporting a wrong tax code
4. If you need to request a change, see our guide to changing your tax code for the three methods available (online, phone, letter)

Acting quickly matters. Every pay period on a wrong code costs you money -- either through overpayment (which you will eventually get back, but only after claiming) or underpayment (which HMRC will collect with interest).

If you are self-employed alongside PAYE employment, keeping track of multiple codes and income sources gets complicated. TapTax brings all your tax obligations into one clear view, flagging discrepancies so you can act before they become expensive problems. See how TapTax simplifies your tax.

Checking your code for previous tax years

If you suspect you had a wrong code in a previous year, you can still check and reclaim overpaid tax going back four years.

Where to find previous years' codes:

• HMRC Personal Tax Account: Shows your income tax history, including codes used in previous years and any P800 reconciliations HMRC has already processed
• P60 certificates: Your employer gives you one for each tax year. It shows the code in effect at 5 April and total tax deducted
• Self Assessment returns: If you file Self Assessment, your return for each year records the PAYE codes and tax deducted from each employment
• P2 coding notices: If you kept copies (paper or digital), they show the code and its breakdown at the time of issue

How to claim back overpaid tax from previous years:

If HMRC has already sent you a P800 for the relevant year, claim online through your Personal Tax Account. If not, contact HMRC on 0300 200 3300 and ask them to review the year in question. You can also amend a Self Assessment return if you file one.

The four-year window means that in 2025/26, you can claim back overpayments from 2021/22 onwards. Do not leave money unclaimed -- even a small code error running for a full year adds up to hundreds of pounds.

People also ask

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Related guides: Wrong tax code? What to do --> | How to change your tax code -->

Related tax codes: 1257L tax code | BR tax code | W1 tax code | 0T tax code

HMRC: Check your Income Tax for the current year