P45 Box 6 — Tax code at leaving date — Tax code, with or without Week 1/Month 1 marker
Your PAYE tax code as at your last day. If followed by W1 or M1, it's non-cumulative — the new employer should not apply earlier pay/tax to your new employment.
At a glance
- Entry
- Tax code, with or without Week 1/Month 1 marker
- Feeds to
- Your new employer's payroll — they use this code until HMRC issues an update. If W1/M1, the new employer's PAYE is non-cumulative until reconciled.
- Check against
- The tax code on your last payslip from the old employer.
What this means
Box 6 shows the tax code your old employer applied to your final pay period. Standard codes (1257L, K475, D0, BR, S1257L) are cumulative — the new employer starts PAYE using them plus the Part 1A YTD figures.
If the code is followed by W1 (weekly-paid) or M1 (monthly-paid), the code is non-cumulative. The new employer should NOT incorporate your earlier pay and tax — they treat your new employment as fresh for PAYE purposes. This usually signals a mid-year HMRC-issued code that bypassed cumulative correction; HMRC will reconcile at year-end.
Implications for your tax
- Determines your first-paycheck tax at the new employer. A cumulative code with YTD figures from Part 1A = smooth transition. A W1/M1 code = potential over- or under-deduction until HMRC updates.
- A K code in Box 6 means your benefits in kind or tax underpayment exceeds your allowance — the new employer must apply negative allowance.
- If BR, the new employer taxes at 20% on every pound (no allowance). Common when you didn't hand over a P45 or it was your second job at the old employer.
Common pitfalls
- The W1/M1 suffix is easy to miss on the P45 — look carefully. It significantly changes how the new employer calculates PAYE.
- If the code looks wrong (e.g., BR when you only had one job), ask HMRC for your correct code via personal tax account before starting the new job — saves a refund claim later.
For 2025-26 (tax year 6 April to 5 April)
- Standard tax code
- 1257L (England / Wales / NI) · S1257L (Scotland) · C1257L (Wales)
- The numeric part is your personal allowance ÷ 10 (£12,570 ÷ 10 = 1257). The L suffix indicates the standard code with no adjustments.
- Personal Allowance
- £12,570
- Tapered away above £100,000 adjusted net income (loses £1 for every £2 over). Additional-rate threshold frozen at £125,140 under §8 ITA.
Values sourced from central tax-year config at build time — update automatically on FY rollover.
Related P45 entries
Parts 1, 1A, 2 and 3 — The four parts of a P45 — who gets what
A P45 comes in four parts. Part 1 goes to HMRC from your old employer; Part 1A is yours to keep; Parts 2 and 3 go to your new employer.
Box 5 — Student Loan deductions — Student loan deductions to continue
Ticked if you had Plan 1, 2, 4, 5 or Postgraduate loan deductions at the time of leaving. Your new employer continues deductions from day one.
Box 8 — Total pay / tax to date — Year-to-date pay and income tax from this employment
Cumulative pay and PAYE income tax from this employer for the tax year up to your leaving date. Your new employer uses these to run cumulative PAYE.
Reconciling your pay? Use the take-home pay calculator to verify PAYE and NI on any salary for 2025/26 or 2026/27, and the tax code checker to decode your final tax code.
Sources
P45 structure per HMRC PAYE forms guidance. Thresholds and rates current for 2025/26 (tax year 6 April 2025 to 5 April 2026); 2026/27 figures included where published.