UK pay guide
How is a second job taxed in the UK?
A second job is usually processed separately through PAYE. The tax code on that job is important because your tax-free Personal Allowance is normally used against only one employment.
In short
A second job often has a BR, D0, D1 or 0T tax code. That does not automatically mean it is wrong—it can be HMRC's way of collecting the right amount of Income Tax across both jobs.
Why the second tax code may be different
Your main job commonly receives the standard 1257L tax-code treatment. A second employer may be told to use BR, which normally taxes the pay at the basic rate, or D0/D1 where HMRC expects higher-rate or additional-rate tax. 0T normally means no tax-free allowance is applied.
National Insurance is separate for each job
Employee National Insurance is generally calculated by each employer for the pay it makes. This means you can have two sets of NI thresholds, rather than one NI calculation on the combined annual salary.
Student loans are also payroll deductions
Where an employer has a valid student-loan notice, it normally calculates deductions from the pay it makes. Multiple jobs can therefore produce a different deduction pattern from a simple combined annual estimate.
What to check
- Check that HMRC has both employments recorded in your Personal Tax Account.
- Compare the tax code on each payslip with HMRC's notice.
- Tell HMRC which employment is your main job if this is unclear.
- Do not ask an employer to change a code unless HMRC has issued the instruction.
Use the UK two-jobs tax calculator to make a planning estimate and the tax-code checker to understand common codes. See HMRC's PAYE Income Tax guidance.