Why is my tax code BR?

What "BR" actually means

BR stands for Basic Rate. It is a tax code that applies a flat 20% income tax rate to all of the earnings under that code, with no Personal Allowance applied at all. HMRC uses BR as a default code for income that is not your "main" employment — most often a second job, a pension paid alongside a salary, or a new job where you told the employer on the starter checklist that you already have another job or a pension.

If your only income is the one taxed at BR, you are paying too much tax — your Personal Allowance is being wasted. If you have a second job and the BR code is on the smaller income, that is usually correct: your Personal Allowance is being applied to the larger employer's pay and the second income is taxed at the basic rate from the first pound.

Why it usually appears

• Starting a second job. If you have no P45 and tick statement C on HMRC’s starter checklist (you have another job, or receive a State or occupational pension), the new employer uses BR until HMRC sends a code.
• Receiving pension income alongside a salary. Where the salary already uses your allowance, the pension provider is often told to use BR.
• HMRC splitting your income sources. Once HMRC knows about both jobs or pensions, it normally gives the whole allowance to the main one and BR (or D0 if your income reaches the higher rate) to the other.

A new job with no P45 and no starter checklist at all is put on 0T rather than BR. So a BR code on a new single job usually means the starter checklist said there was another job or pension (HMRC, PAYE starter checklist).

How to fix it

Log into your Personal Tax Account on gov.uk and check the codes against each employer/pension. You can usually re-allocate the Personal Allowance to the income source that matters most (typically the highest-paid one). HMRC will issue a corrected tax code (e.g. 1257L) to that employer and a BR or D0 code to the other.

If the BR code has been applied to your only income — for example, the system defaulted it because of a paperwork delay — you can update your details with HMRC online or call the Income Tax helpline, and HMRC tells you and your employer the new code within 15 working days (GOV.UK). Where HMRC has your income details for the year, it asks your employer to refund the over-deduction through your pay under PAYE. If the year ends with too much tax paid, HMRC sends a P800 tax calculation showing the refund.

Related codes you may see

• D0 — flat 40% (higher rate) on all income under that code, used where higher-rate tax should apply at source (e.g. high-earning second job).
• D1 — flat 45% (additional rate).
• 0T — no Personal Allowance, but tax bands still apply normally. Used when your allowance has been used up, or when a new employer has neither a P45 nor a starter checklist.
• NT — no tax. Rare; HMRC’s PAYE manual limits it to specific cases, such as some people exempt under a double taxation agreement.

Related on this site

Decode any tax code with the tax code decoder, model your second-job position with the second-job tax code calculator, and check whether you are owed an emergency tax refund using the emergency tax refund checker.

When BR is normal

BR often appears on a second job, a short extra job, or a pension where HMRC expects your main Personal Allowance to sit against your main income source instead.

When BR may be wrong

• You only have one job and no other taxable income source is using your allowance.
• You changed jobs and payroll does not yet have the right P45 or starter-checklist information.
• You expected 1257L or another cumulative code and the allowance never moved across.

Best next pages

Use Second Job and Tax Code Calculator if you really do have two incomes, or Emergency Tax and Refund Checker if the code looks temporary or new-job related.

Official source: GOV.UK what your tax code means.

Worked example: BR on a second job

Say your main job pays £30,000 and a weekend job pays £6,000, for £36,000 in total. Your whole £12,570 Personal Allowance sits against the main job, and all £36,000 stays inside the 20% basic-rate band (which runs to £50,270 in 2026/27). Here BR on the second job is exactly right:

That £4,686 is the same figure you would owe if the whole £36,000 came from a single employer — so BR has collected exactly the right tax. The picture only goes wrong if the second job is in fact your only job: then BR ignores a £12,570 allowance that nobody else is using, overtaxing you by £2,514 over a full year (20% of £12,570).

How to tell, in 30 seconds, if your BR code is right

One question settles it: is your Personal Allowance being used somewhere else?

• Yes — you have another job or pension that uses a code like 1257L. BR on the smaller income is correct. Leave it alone; you are not overpaying.
• No — the BR income is the only money you receive. BR is wrong and you are losing roughly £209 a month in unused allowance. Get it changed.
• Not sure. Your Personal Tax Account lists every employment HMRC thinks you have and which code each one holds. If the allowance is sitting on a job you have already left, that is the leak to plug.

A useful sense-check: BR is the right tool when your combined income still falls within the basic-rate band (up to £50,270). If adding the second income pushes your total over £50,270, BR will actually undertax the slice above that threshold — because some of it should be at 40% — and you may face an underpayment instead. In that situation HMRC may switch the second job to D0 (a flat 40%).

BR versus 0T — they are not the same

BR and 0T both withhold your Personal Allowance, so they are easy to confuse, but they behave differently once income climbs:

• BR applies a flat 20% to everything under the code, no matter how large. It assumes the income belongs entirely in the basic-rate band.
• 0T applies the normal bands in order with no allowance — 20% up to £37,700 of that income, then 40%, then 45%. GOV.UK says it means your allowance has been used up, or you have started a new job and the employer does not have the details it needs (for example no P45 and no starter checklist).

For a small second job the two often produce the same tax. For a larger one they diverge sharply: on a £60,000 second income BR would take a flat £12,000, whereas 0T would take far more because the slice above £37,700 is charged at 40%.

Reclaiming tax you have overpaid on BR

If BR has overtaxed you, how you get the money back depends on timing:

• During the tax year. Once HMRC has your income details and sends the corrected code, it asks your employer to refund the difference through your pay, so no separate claim is needed. GOV.UK says a new code should show on your next or following payslip if you are paid monthly (GOV.UK).
• After the tax year ends (5 April). HMRC reconciles PAYE after the year ends and, if you have overpaid, sends a P800 tax calculation. GOV.UK says a refund claimed online arrives within 5 working days; if the letter says a cheque will be sent, it arrives within 14 days of the date on the letter (GOV.UK, if you’re due a refund).
• Earlier years. A claim for overpaid Income Tax can normally be made up to 4 years after the end of the tax year it relates to (HMRC manual SACM12155). Write to HMRC, or use your Personal Tax Account, quoting the years and the codes that were operated.

Common mistakeWaiting for a refund that will never come on its own. A non-cumulative BR run on your only job does not self-correct mid-year — the allowance you missed in April is not clawed back automatically. You must get the code changed (and, if the year has ended, check the P800) to recover it.