Why has HMRC put me on 0T?

Three common reasons: (1) you started a new job without submitting a P45 or completing a Starter Checklist, so your employer defaulted to 0T while waiting for HMRC; (2) your income exceeds £125,140, so your Personal Allowance has been fully tapered to zero (£1 of allowance is removed for every £2 of income above £100,000, reaching zero at £125,140); (3) HMRC explicitly removed your allowance - for example because it is being used at another job or pension, a large benefit-in-kind, or recovery of a tax debt. Check your Personal Tax Account at gov.uk/personal-tax-account to see which applies.

Can I stay on 0T permanently?

Yes - if your income exceeds £125,140 and HMRC has correctly tapered your Personal Allowance to zero, 0T is the standard working code for additional-rate taxpayers and is not an error. Most £125k+ PAYE employees see 0T on every payslip indefinitely. It is only "wrong" when your allowance should actually be available at this source.

What's the difference between 0T and BR?

BR applies 20% flat to everything. 0T uses the full band structure (20/40/45%) but without a PA. For high earners, 0T is more punitive - higher-rate income gets 40% from pound one, whereas BR stops at 20%. For a low-paid second job the two codes give identical tax; for a £60,000 second source, BR collects £12,000 (20% of everything) while 0T collects £16,460 (£37,700 at 20% plus £22,300 at 40%).

Is 0T the same as an emergency tax code?

Sometimes - 0T is commonly used as a temporary "emergency" code in the first pay period of a new job when PAYE info is missing. Unlike the W1/M1/X suffixes, 0T itself is a permanent-style code and stays applied until HMRC updates it.

How fast can I get 0T corrected?

Usually within 1-2 pay periods once you provide your P45 or Starter Checklist to your employer. Any over-paid tax is refunded through subsequent payrolls or at year-end - you don't need to wait for self-assessment.

Does 0T taper with the £100k+ PA reduction?

Yes. Once your income exceeds £125,140, HMRC tapers your PA to zero and codes you 0T. Anyone earning above that threshold on a PAYE scheme should expect 0T as the working code.

Will I get a refund from a 0T code?

Yes, if 0T was applied while your Personal Allowance was actually unused. Once HMRC receives your P45 or Starter Checklist they switch you to 1257L cumulative, and the next payslip recalculates year-to-date and refunds the over-paid tax automatically - you do not need to file Self Assessment. For pension flexible-drawdown over-payments (where HMRC routinely applies 0T or M1 on the first payment) file form P55, P53Z or P50Z and HMRC refunds within around 30 days.

I gave my employer my P45 but I'm still on 0T - what now?

Two possibilities: the employer has not yet processed the P45 through payroll (usually 1-2 pay cycles), or HMRC has overriding records. If you are still on 0T four weeks after submitting the P45, ask HR/payroll to confirm they have reported it to HMRC via Real Time Information, then call HMRC on 0300 200 3300 to ask why the code has not been updated.

Does the 0T code apply in Scotland?

Yes - Scottish taxpayers see S0T. The mechanism is identical (no Personal Allowance), but the bands above are Scottish: 19% on the first £3,967, 20% to £16,956, 21% to £31,092, 42% to £62,430, 45% to £112,570, then 48% above. A Scottish higher earner on S0T can therefore be paying 42-48% from a relatively low income level, which is more punitive than the rest-of-UK 0T equivalent.

Tax Code · 2026/27

0T Tax Code: No Personal Allowance UK 2026/27

0T (zero-T) gives you no Personal Allowance. Tax is calculated on every pound of your pay using the normal bands (20%, 40%, 45%) as if your whole income is taxable.

Cite or embed - free under CC BY 4.0

What the 0T tax code means

The 0T tax code strips your Personal Allowance entirely — the numeric 0 is literally £0 ÷ 10. Unlike BR (flat 20% everywhere) or D0 (flat 40%), 0T runs your income through the full band structure, but with no PA.

It's often confused with 'emergency' — some employers use 0T as a temporary code when a new starter doesn't provide P45 details or complete a Starter Checklist. It's stricter than BR because higher-rate earners get fully taxed at 40%+ from pound one.

Persistent 0T usually means HMRC has been told your PA is fully used elsewhere or fully lost — for example, if income exceeds £125,140 (PA tapers to zero) or if tax allowances have been adjusted away by substantial deductions.

Reading the code: the letter is a capital "T", but many payslip systems print it as "OT" with a capital "O" that looks identical to a zero - either way the mechanics are the same (no allowance, full bands). Scottish taxpayers see S0T (Scottish bands above) and Welsh taxpayers C0T. A 0T W1, 0T M1 or 0T X suffix is the non-cumulative variant, taxing each pay period in isolation - the most punitive standard combination, because it strips both the allowance and the year-to-date smoothing.

If your employer put you on 0T, they are almost certainly not at fault: employers are legally required to apply whatever code HMRC issues, and when a new starter provides neither a P45 nor a Starter Checklist, 0T (or BR) is the only default PAYE allows until HMRC sends the correct code.

When you'll see 0T

You started a new job without providing a P45 or Starter Checklist — some employers default to 0T rather than BR.
Your income exceeds £125,140 and HMRC has tapered your PA to zero.
You haven't responded to HMRC correspondence and they've withdrawn your PA as a recovery mechanism.
Unusual circumstances where HMRC explicitly codes you with no PA across all sources.

What to do if you have a 0T code

Provide your new employer with a P45 from your previous job, or complete a Starter Checklist (ticking Statement A if this is your only job since 6 April), within the first pay period — this usually corrects to 1257L. The employer reports it to HMRC via Real Time Information at the next payroll run, and HMRC typically issues the corrected code within 7-14 days.
Log into your Personal Tax Account to see HMRC's reasoning for 0T — the tax code notice explains any PA removal. If it says HMRC has no information from your employer, the fix is an RTI submission; ask payroll to confirm they have reported you.
If you gave your employer a P45 but are still on 0T after about four weeks, ask HR/payroll to confirm they have reported it to HMRC via RTI, then call HMRC directly to ask why the code has not updated - occasionally HMRC has overriding records that need correcting.
If you believe 0T is wrong and your PA should apply, call HMRC on 0300 200 3300 with your National Insurance number to hand.
For pension flexible-drawdown over-tax (where HMRC routinely applies 0T or M1 on the first payment), file form P55 (more pension to take), P53Z (fully drawn, still working) or P50Z (fully drawn, not working) - HMRC refunds within around 30 days rather than waiting for year-end.
Any over-tax from temporary 0T is otherwise refunded automatically once HMRC switches you to a cumulative code (the next payslip rebalances year-to-date), or via a P800 reconciliation in the summer after the tax year ends.

Worked example

£35,000 salary on 0T: no PA, so all £35,000 is taxed. Tax: 20% × £35,000 = £7,000 (the whole amount falls in basic-rate band). Compare with 1257L: £22,430 taxable × 20% = £4,486. The 0T code over-taxes by £2,514 (that is £12,570 of lost allowance × 20%), or about £210 a month, until corrected. For a higher-rate taxpayer the over-tax is larger, because the lost £12,570 of allowance sits in the 40% band: a £75,000 earner on 0T pays roughly £5,028 (£12,570 × 40%) more than on 1257L. Above £125,140 there is genuinely no PA anyway, so 0T is the correct working code and there is nothing to reclaim.

Want to see the numbers for your own salary? Use the salary calculator and pick 2026/27 to see how 0T interacts with your full take-home.

Frequently asked questions about 0T

Why has HMRC put me on 0T?: Three common reasons: (1) you started a new job without submitting a P45 or completing a Starter Checklist, so your employer defaulted to 0T while waiting for HMRC; (2) your income exceeds £125,140, so your Personal Allowance has been fully tapered to zero (£1 of allowance is removed for every £2 of income above £100,000, reaching zero at £125,140); (3) HMRC explicitly removed your allowance - for example because it is being used at another job or pension, a large benefit-in-kind, or recovery of a tax debt. Check your Personal Tax Account at gov.uk/personal-tax-account to see which applies.
Can I stay on 0T permanently?: Yes - if your income exceeds £125,140 and HMRC has correctly tapered your Personal Allowance to zero, 0T is the standard working code for additional-rate taxpayers and is not an error. Most £125k+ PAYE employees see 0T on every payslip indefinitely. It is only "wrong" when your allowance should actually be available at this source.
What's the difference between 0T and BR?: BR applies 20% flat to everything. 0T uses the full band structure (20/40/45%) but without a PA. For high earners, 0T is more punitive - higher-rate income gets 40% from pound one, whereas BR stops at 20%. For a low-paid second job the two codes give identical tax; for a £60,000 second source, BR collects £12,000 (20% of everything) while 0T collects £16,460 (£37,700 at 20% plus £22,300 at 40%).
Is 0T the same as an emergency tax code?: Sometimes - 0T is commonly used as a temporary "emergency" code in the first pay period of a new job when PAYE info is missing. Unlike the W1/M1/X suffixes, 0T itself is a permanent-style code and stays applied until HMRC updates it.
How fast can I get 0T corrected?: Usually within 1-2 pay periods once you provide your P45 or Starter Checklist to your employer. Any over-paid tax is refunded through subsequent payrolls or at year-end - you don't need to wait for self-assessment.
Does 0T taper with the £100k+ PA reduction?: Yes. Once your income exceeds £125,140, HMRC tapers your PA to zero and codes you 0T. Anyone earning above that threshold on a PAYE scheme should expect 0T as the working code.
Will I get a refund from a 0T code?: Yes, if 0T was applied while your Personal Allowance was actually unused. Once HMRC receives your P45 or Starter Checklist they switch you to 1257L cumulative, and the next payslip recalculates year-to-date and refunds the over-paid tax automatically - you do not need to file Self Assessment. For pension flexible-drawdown over-payments (where HMRC routinely applies 0T or M1 on the first payment) file form P55, P53Z or P50Z and HMRC refunds within around 30 days.
I gave my employer my P45 but I'm still on 0T - what now?: Two possibilities: the employer has not yet processed the P45 through payroll (usually 1-2 pay cycles), or HMRC has overriding records. If you are still on 0T four weeks after submitting the P45, ask HR/payroll to confirm they have reported it to HMRC via Real Time Information, then call HMRC on 0300 200 3300 to ask why the code has not been updated.
Does the 0T code apply in Scotland?: Yes - Scottish taxpayers see S0T. The mechanism is identical (no Personal Allowance), but the bands above are Scottish: 19% on the first £3,967, 20% to £16,956, 21% to £31,092, 42% to £62,430, 45% to £112,570, then 48% above. A Scottish higher earner on S0T can therefore be paying 42-48% from a relatively low income level, which is more punitive than the rest-of-UK 0T equivalent.

All UK tax codes →

Sources & further reading

All figures and definitions on this page reflect the 2026/27 UK tax year and are cross-checked against HMRC guidance.

HMRC — What your tax code means (official meanings for L, BR, D0, D1, K, 0T, NT, M, N, S, C, T)
HMRC — Income Tax rates and Personal Allowance (2026/27 bands and thresholds)
HMRC — Emergency tax codes (W1, M1 and X suffixes)
HMRC — Rates and thresholds for employers 2026 to 2027
HMRC — Your Personal Tax Account (check your current code and how it was calculated)
Our methodology & calculation sources →