Tax Code SBR Explained
Scottish equivalent of BR — all income from this source taxed at 20% with no Personal Allowance.
At a glance — SBR
- Personal Allowance
- £0
- Region
- Scotland
- Cumulative?
- Yes
- Code type
- Flat-rate / special
What does SBR mean?
All your income from this job or pension is taxed at the Scottish basic rate. Usually used for a second job or pension in Scotland.
How much tax will you pay on SBR?
Annual income tax HMRC would deduct on 2025-26 rates for a range of salaries, assuming the full year on this code. National Insurance is additional and the same across the UK.
| Annual salary | Scotland — income tax | Effective rate | Take-home (pre-NI) |
|---|---|---|---|
| £20,000 | £4,000 | 20.0% | £16,000 |
| £30,000 | £6,000 | 20.0% | £24,000 |
| £50,000 | £10,000 | 20.0% | £40,000 |
| £80,000 | £16,000 | 20.0% | £64,000 |
| £100,000 | £20,000 | 20.0% | £80,000 |
For Scottish / rUK side-by-side, or to model your own salary, student loan and pension contributions, use the tax code checker.
What you'll actually pay vs the standard code
SBR compared with 1257L — the standard Scottish code most single-job employees with no adjustments are on — at the same salary, 2025-26 rates.
| Annual salary | SBR tax | 1257L tax | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| £30,000 | £6,000 | £3,483 | +£2,517 |
| £50,000 | £10,000 | £9,014 | +£986 |
| £80,000 | £16,000 | £21,764 | −£5,764 |
Should you be on tax code SBR?
Why you have this code
- You have a second job or pension in Scotland and your Personal Allowance is already used against your main income
- You started a new job without submitting a P45 or completing a Starter Checklist
How to fix it if SBR is wrong
- Check your current code in the HMRC app, your Personal Tax Account, or your latest P2 coding notice or payslip.
- New job with no P45? Ask your employer for a Starter Checklist — completing it correctly is what moves you off a temporary code.
- Not sure what your P45 figures mean, or already overpaid? See the P45 box-by-box guide to decode what your employer reported, or run the tax refund estimator to check what you might be owed.
- If HMRC agrees your code was wrong, most in-year corrections refund automatically through payroll; larger over- or underpayments are settled via a P800 calculation after the tax year ends.
Related tax codes
S1257L — Scottish Standard
The Scottish version of the standard code. Same £12,570 allowance, but Scottish tax bands (19% / 20% / 21% / 42% / 45% / 48%) apply.
SD0 — Scottish Intermediate Rate
All income from this source taxed at the Scottish intermediate rate of 21%.
SD1 — Scottish Higher Rate
All income from this source taxed at the Scottish higher rate of 42%.
SD2 — Scottish Advanced Rate
All income from this source taxed at the Scottish advanced rate of 45% (introduced 2024-25, £75,001–£125,140 band).
Check your own code: enter any HMRC tax code into the free tax code checker — it decodes the letters and number, shows your Personal Allowance, and estimates your take-home using 2025-26 or 2026-27 rates.
For the full plain-English guide to every UK tax code letter, prefix and suffix, see UK Tax Codes Explained 2026-27.
Sources
Tax code rules from gov.uk/tax-codes. Income tax rates from HMRC. Effective tax figures computed live from central configuration — correct for 2025-26.