UK tax codes · 2026/27 tax year

1257L tax code: what it means

1257L is the standard UK tax code for 2026/27. The 1257 means you can earn £12,570 at that job before Income Tax starts, and the L means you get the standard tax-free Personal Allowance. On a £25,000 salary it takes £2,486 of Income Tax a year, about £207.17 a month. It is the right code for most people with one job or pension.

Tax code rules checked against GOV.UK and HMRC's PAYE Manual on 25 September 2026.

Tax-free pay

£12,570

a year, £1,047.50 a month

Tax on £25,000

£2,486

a year

Tax on £40,000

£5,486

a year

Tax on £60,000

£11,432

includes 40% tax

Tax and take-home pay on 1257L in 2026/27

England, Wales and Northern Ireland rates. Take-home is after Income Tax and employee National Insurance, with no pension or student loan.

Salary	Income Tax a year	Income Tax a month	National Insurance	Take-home a year
£20,000	£1,486	£123.83	£594	£17,920
£25,000	£2,486	£207.17	£994	£21,520
£30,000	£3,486	£290.50	£1,394	£25,120
£40,000	£5,486	£457.17	£2,194	£32,320
£60,000	£11,432	£952.67	£3,211	£45,357

Where 1257 comes from

HMRC starts with your tax-free Personal Allowance of £12,570, takes off anything it needs to tax through your wages, then drops the last digit and adds a letter. With nothing to take off, £12,570 becomes 1257L. If your employer gave you medical insurance worth £1,570, GOV.UK's own example shows the code falling to 1100L.

Who should have 1257L

Most people with one job or one pension and nothing else to adjust. If you have two jobs, only one of them normally gets the allowance; the other is usually on BR, D0 or D1. Having 1257L on both means you are probably paying too little and HMRC will collect it later.

Earning over £100,000

Your Personal Allowance drops by £1 for every £2 of adjusted net income over £100,000, and is gone at £125,140. A 1257L code does not reduce itself, so HMRC usually changes it (often to a T code or 0T) or collects the difference after the year ends.

1257L with W1, M1 or X after it

The same code followed by W1, M1 or X is an emergency code: tax is worked out on each payment on its own. With steady pay from April it takes the same over the year, but after a mid-year start it can take too much. See the emergency code page for worked figures.

If you think this code is wrong

1257L is only right if this is your main job and HMRC has nothing to adjust. A different code usually means HMRC has information about benefits, other income or tax owed. Sign in to HMRC's Check your Income Tax service (gov.uk/check-income-tax-current-year) and check your jobs, pensions, benefits and expenses. HMRC then tells you and your employer any new code within 15 working days; it should show on your next or following payslip if you are paid monthly, or your third if weekly. If you cannot go online, call the Income Tax helpline on 0300 200 3300 (Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm). After starting a new job, wait 35 days before calling.

Guides and definitions

High Income Child Benefit Charge: how it is worked out and cut (Guide)
How to read your payslip: every line explained, with an example (Guide)
Emergency tax: how it works and how to get your money back (Guide)
Emergency tax code (An emergency tax code, marked W1, M1 or X, taxes each payday on its own, as if you were paid that amount every period of the year.)
P11D (A P11D is the form UK employers send HMRC by 6 July to report each employee's taxable benefits and expenses that were not taxed through payroll.)
P60 (A P60 is the yearly summary of your pay and tax from one employer, due by 31 May if you work there on 5 April.)
Personal Allowance (The Personal Allowance is the income you can earn each UK tax year before Income Tax starts: £12,570 for 2026/27.)
Tax code (A UK tax code tells your employer or pension provider how much tax-free pay to give you; 1257L, meaning £12,570, is the most common.)

Check your own tax code and pay

Other tax codes explained

Emergency codes (W1, M1, X) tax code (Emergency basis: each payment taxed on its own)
S1257L tax code (Standard allowance, taxed at Scottish rates)
C1257L tax code (Standard allowance, taxed at Welsh rates)
1257M / 1383M tax code (You receive £1,260 of Marriage Allowance from your partner)
1257N / 1131N tax code (You transfer £1,260 of Marriage Allowance to your partner)
BR tax code (All pay taxed at the 20% basic rate, no allowance)
0T tax code (No tax-free pay; all pay taxed through the bands)
D0 tax code (All pay taxed at the 40% higher rate)
D1 tax code (All pay taxed at the 45% additional rate)
SD0, SD1, SD2, SD3 tax code (Scottish flat-rate codes at 21%, 42%, 45% or 48%)
K codes tax code (Untaxed income or deductions bigger than your allowance)
NT tax code (No tax taken from this job or pension)

Every UK tax code in one table · Salary after tax calculator · Check your own tax code and pay

Common questions

What does 1257L mean on my payslip?

It means you can earn £12,570 in the 2026/27 tax year at that job before paying Income Tax, and the L means you get the standard Personal Allowance. It is the code GOV.UK says is used for most people with one job or pension.

How much tax do I pay on 1257L?

20% on pay between £12,570 and £50,270, then 40% up to £125,140. On £30,000 that is £3,486 a year, on £40,000 £5,486 and on £60,000 £11,432. National Insurance is taken on top.

Is 1257L an emergency tax code?

Not on its own. GOV.UK says you are only on an emergency code if it ends in W1, M1 or X, or your payslip shows NONCUM. Plain 1257L is worked out cumulatively, so any tax-free pay you did not use earlier in the year is given back.

Is 1257L the same in Scotland and Wales?

The tax-free amount is the same, but the code gets a prefix: S1257L in Scotland, where different bands apply, and C1257L in Wales. For 2026/27 the Welsh rates match England and Northern Ireland, so C1257L takes the same tax as 1257L.

Why is my tax code 1257L on two jobs?

You only get one Personal Allowance, so two 1257L codes give you £25,140 tax-free between them when you should get £12,570. Tell HMRC through your online account. Otherwise you are likely to owe about £2,514 at the end of the year if both jobs pay at least £12,570.

Sources and assumptions

Income Tax for the 2026/27 tax year (6 April 2026 to 5 April 2027), with the same pay every payday for the whole year.
The code number is read as GOV.UK describes it: the tax-free amount with the last digit dropped (1257 = £12,570). Payroll tables can differ by a few pounds.
National Insurance, pension contributions and student loans are not included unless a table says so.

These are estimates to help you read your tax code, not tax advice. HMRC and your employer's payroll decide the tax you actually pay.