What does BR tax code mean?

BR stands for Basic Rate. It tells your employer to tax 100% of your pay from that source at the 20% basic-rate band, with no Personal Allowance applied. HMRC's logic is that your PA is already being used by another income source (typically your main job or pension), so applying it again here would undercollect.

How much tax does BR take?

BR takes a flat 20% of every pound of pay from that source - so £100 gross becomes £80 after Income Tax (NI is separate). On £15,000 of BR income, Income Tax is £3,000; on £25,000, it is £5,000. There is no PA and no smoothing across the year, the calculation is the same every payslip.

Why am I on BR when I only have one job?

Usually because the new employer had no P45 and your Starter Checklist said you have another job or a pension (Statement C), or because HMRC still has an old employment open from a job you have left and treats the new one as a second job. Missing paperwork alone does not produce BR - with neither a P45 nor a Starter Checklist the employer uses 0T week 1/month 1. Tell HMRC the old job has ended; gov.uk says an updated code can take up to 35 days from when you start.

Can I get a refund if BR over-taxed me?

Yes. At year-end HMRC reconciles across all your employments. If you paid too much - typical when total income is under £12,570 but BR was applied - you receive a P800 letter and an automatic refund or adjustment to next year's code. You don't need to file self-assessment for this. To speed it up, call HMRC and ask for the code to be corrected mid-year so the refund flows through your payslip rather than waiting for a P800, which gov.uk says is sent between June and March of the following tax year.

What's the difference between BR and 0T?

BR taxes everything at 20% (basic rate only). 0T removes the Personal Allowance and taxes against the standard bands - so the first £37,700 of pay from that source is at 20%, then 40% up to £125,140, then 45%. HMRC's PAYE Manual (PAYE11015) uses 0T where no allowance is due or the allowance has been tapered to nil, and for a new starter who ticks no Starter Checklist statement. For a second job that is all higher-rate income, the code is D0, not 0T.

Is BR a 20% emergency tax code?

BR is sometimes called an 'emergency' code in casual conversation, but technically it isn't - the official emergency code is 1257L W1/M1/X (which still gives you a slice of the PA). BR is used when HMRC believes another income holds your PA, while emergency 1257L W1/M1/X is used when HMRC has not yet reconciled year-to-date for your only source of pay. The difference matters: BR alone usually means you should not expect the PA back via this employer.

Does BR apply in Scotland?

Yes, but Scottish taxpayers on a second job see SBR instead (Scottish basic rate). Scotland's basic rate is also 20%, so SBR collects the same as BR while your total income stays within the Scottish basic band. The 21% intermediate rate starts at £29,527 of total income in 2026/27, and once your main job alone is above that, every pound of the second job is intermediate-rate income and the right code is SD0 (21%), not SBR - or SD1 (42%) once the main job alone passes £43,662.

Tax Code · 2026/27

BR Tax Code 2026/27: Basic Rate on Every Pound

BR stands for 'Basic Rate'. It taxes 100% of pay from that source at 20%, with no Personal Allowance. HMRC uses it most often on second jobs and pensions, where your £12,570 PA is already used up by the main income.

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What the BR tax code means

The BR tax code stands for 'Basic Rate'. Your employer applies zero Personal Allowance and taxes every pound of your pay at 20% - the basic-rate band. It is not the same as 'normal' PAYE; it assumes your PA is being used up elsewhere.

BR is HMRC's default for a second (or additional) employment when the primary job already claims the full £12,570 PA. It prevents the PA being applied twice, which would otherwise under-tax the second source and leave you with a bill at year-end.

A new employer also starts you on BR when you have no P45 and your Starter Checklist says you have another job or receive a State Pension or workplace pension (Statement C). It is not the code for missing paperwork: with no P45 and no Starter Checklist at all, the employer uses 0T on a week 1/month 1 basis instead (gov.uk, Work out your new employee's tax code; HMRC PAYE Manual PAYE11015).

On a BR coded payslip the calculation is brutally simple: gross pay × 20% = Income Tax. There is no allowance, no banding, no year-to-date smoothing. Whether your total across all jobs is £15,000 or £80,000, BR alone takes 20% from this employer's payslip - HMRC corrects up (to D0 at 40%) or down (to a refund) only once the full picture is available.

How to read it: BR is a two-letter code with no number, and the missing number is the point - no Personal Allowance applies (compare 1257L, where 1257 = £12,570 of allowance). B is Basic, R is Rate. Scottish taxpayers see SBR (Scottish basic rate, also 20% in 2026/27) and Welsh taxpayers see CBR (Welsh basic rate, 20%, currently identical to the rest of the UK). Unlike an emergency 1257L W1/M1 code, BR does not flip back to a Personal-Allowance-bearing code on its own - it assumes your allowance is permanently held by another source until HMRC re-codes it.

When you'll see BR

You have a second job, and your main job uses your Personal Allowance (the normal setup).
You draw a pension while still employed - the pension gets BR if the salary uses the PA.
You started a new job without a P45 and ticked Statement C on the Starter Checklist (you have another job, or a State Pension or workplace pension) - the employer applies BR from the first payday.
Short-term contract/seasonal work added on top of a regular job.

What to do if you have a BR code

Check your main employer (or primary pension provider) is using 1257L - not another variant that leaves your PA unused.
If the BR job is your only income source and your total earnings are under £12,570/year, you're being over-taxed and should contact HMRC. They'll refund the excess once the year-end reconciliation runs.
If your total across all jobs is below the higher-rate threshold, BR at 20% is exactly correct - no action needed.
If your combined income runs into the higher-rate band, BR under-taxes the second job. HMRC normally collects the shortfall by changing your tax code or through a P800 calculation after the year ends, and moves the second job to D0 (or D1) when all of it is higher-rate income.
You can also rebalance the Personal Allowance across two jobs by phoning HMRC on 0300 200 3300 - useful if your second job pays more than the first, since the bigger income should hold the PA.

Worked example

£10,000 second-job income on BR: Income Tax is 20% × £10,000 = £2,000. National Insurance is separately calculated - Class 1 NI is assessed per employment, so each job has its own threshold. Your main job's Personal Allowance applies only to that job's pay. Whether BR collects the right tax depends on the main job. At £35,000, the two together (£45,000) stay inside the basic-rate band, which ends at £50,270, so BR is exactly right. At £45,000, only £5,270 of basic-rate band is left for the second job; the other £4,730 is higher-rate income, so BR under-collects by £946 (£4,730 × 20%) - HMRC recovers that through a tax-code change or a P800 after the year. At £55,000, the whole second job sits in the higher-rate band and D0 (40% on every pound) is the right code. A larger £25,000 second job on BR pays £5,000 Income Tax, plus its own Class 1 NI of £994.40, for take-home of £19,005.60 from that job. Tip: if the BR-coded job actually pays more than your main job, ask HMRC to move the Personal Allowance onto the higher-earning role - the allowance shields more tax that way.

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

Frequently asked questions about BR

What does BR tax code mean?: BR stands for Basic Rate. It tells your employer to tax 100% of your pay from that source at the 20% basic-rate band, with no Personal Allowance applied. HMRC's logic is that your PA is already being used by another income source (typically your main job or pension), so applying it again here would undercollect.
How much tax does BR take?: BR takes a flat 20% of every pound of pay from that source - so £100 gross becomes £80 after Income Tax (NI is separate). On £15,000 of BR income, Income Tax is £3,000; on £25,000, it is £5,000. There is no PA and no smoothing across the year, the calculation is the same every payslip.
Why am I on BR when I only have one job?: Usually because the new employer had no P45 and your Starter Checklist said you have another job or a pension (Statement C), or because HMRC still has an old employment open from a job you have left and treats the new one as a second job. Missing paperwork alone does not produce BR - with neither a P45 nor a Starter Checklist the employer uses 0T week 1/month 1. Tell HMRC the old job has ended; gov.uk says an updated code can take up to 35 days from when you start.
Can I get a refund if BR over-taxed me?: Yes. At year-end HMRC reconciles across all your employments. If you paid too much - typical when total income is under £12,570 but BR was applied - you receive a P800 letter and an automatic refund or adjustment to next year's code. You don't need to file self-assessment for this. To speed it up, call HMRC and ask for the code to be corrected mid-year so the refund flows through your payslip rather than waiting for a P800, which gov.uk says is sent between June and March of the following tax year.
What's the difference between BR and 0T?: BR taxes everything at 20% (basic rate only). 0T removes the Personal Allowance and taxes against the standard bands - so the first £37,700 of pay from that source is at 20%, then 40% up to £125,140, then 45%. HMRC's PAYE Manual (PAYE11015) uses 0T where no allowance is due or the allowance has been tapered to nil, and for a new starter who ticks no Starter Checklist statement. For a second job that is all higher-rate income, the code is D0, not 0T.
Is BR a 20% emergency tax code?: BR is sometimes called an 'emergency' code in casual conversation, but technically it isn't - the official emergency code is 1257L W1/M1/X (which still gives you a slice of the PA). BR is used when HMRC believes another income holds your PA, while emergency 1257L W1/M1/X is used when HMRC has not yet reconciled year-to-date for your only source of pay. The difference matters: BR alone usually means you should not expect the PA back via this employer.
Does BR apply in Scotland?: Yes, but Scottish taxpayers on a second job see SBR instead (Scottish basic rate). Scotland's basic rate is also 20%, so SBR collects the same as BR while your total income stays within the Scottish basic band. The 21% intermediate rate starts at £29,527 of total income in 2026/27, and once your main job alone is above that, every pound of the second job is intermediate-rate income and the right code is SD0 (21%), not SBR - or SD1 (42%) once the main job alone passes £43,662.

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 →