Decoding the characters
Standard personal allowance
You are entitled to the usual tax-free allowance. Most employees with one main job see this letter.
Basic rate
Income from this job is taxed at 20%. This often appears on a second job or when HMRC has not allocated your allowance here.
No tax
No Income Tax is being deducted from this income. It is usually used in specific situations rather than standard employment.
Marriage Allowance
`M` usually means your allowance was increased because part of your spouse or civil partner's allowance was transferred to you. `N` usually means part of your allowance was transferred away.
Reviewed code
A `T` suffix often means HMRC needs a more tailored review of the allowance instead of using the simple standard pattern.
Example: 1257L
Why your code might be different
- trending_up Pay rise or bonus
- work Starting a new job
- medical_services Company benefits
- savings State benefits or adjustments
Scottish and Welsh prefixes
Some codes start with `S` or `C`. These prefixes matter because they show Scottish or Welsh tax treatment applies. For example, `S1257L` and `C1257L` are not the same as a plain unprefixed code, even if the allowance digits look familiar.