The myth — and what’s really happening
People turn down extra work because they think a second job is taxed at some punishing special rate. It isn’t. UK income tax is worked out on your total income across the whole year, against the same bands whether it comes from one job or three:
| Your total income | Tax rate on that slice |
|---|
| First £12,570 (the Personal Allowance) | 0% — tax-free |
| £12,571 to £50,270 | 20% — basic rate |
| £50,271 to £125,140 | 40% — higher rate |
| Over £125,140 | 45% — additional rate |
Two jobs paying £10,000 each are taxed the same overall as one job paying £20,000. The second job only feels heavily taxed because your tax-free Personal Allowance is normally attached to your main job — so the second job is taxed from the very first pound. Same total tax; it’s just front-loaded onto job two.
The reassuring truth
You will never lose money by taking a second job. Every extra pound is taxed at most at your marginal rate (usually 20%), so you always keep the majority of it. The fear of “losing it all to tax” is simply wrong.
Why your second job says BR
Your tax code tells each employer how much tax-free pay to give you:
- 1257L — the standard code, giving the full £12,570 Personal Allowance. This is normally on your main job.
- BR (Basic Rate) — 20% tax on all the pay, no tax-free allowance. This is the usual code for a second job, because your allowance is already being used on the first.
- D0 / D1 — 40% / 45% on all of it, used for a second job if your main income already fills the basic-rate band.
If your main job pays more than £12,570, a BR code on your second job is usually correct — your allowance is genuinely used up. The problem case is below.
When BR means you’re overpaying
If your main job pays less than £12,570 (part-time, term-time, reduced hours), part of your Personal Allowance is going unused — but a BR second job still taxes you from pound one. You’re then paying tax you don’t owe. The fix: ask HMRC to split your allowance across the two jobs so the tax-free band isn’t wasted.
The National Insurance quirk in your favour
Income tax effectively pools across your jobs, but National Insurance does not — it’s calculated separately for each job, and each job has its own earnings threshold before NI starts. Because each job gets its own threshold, someone with two jobs can pay less National Insurance than someone earning the same total from a single job. It’s one of the few quirks that quietly works in a multi-jobber’s favour — and another reason a second job is rarely the bad deal people fear.
How to check, fix, and reclaim
- See all your tax codes in one place — the free HMRC app or your Personal Tax Account shows the code on each job and your estimated tax for the year.
- Allowance going to waste? Tell HMRC (via the app, Personal Tax Account, or phone) to move or split your Personal Allowance so it covers your lower-paid main job and the rest goes to the second.
- Already overpaid? If a BR code took tax while your allowance was unused, you can reclaim it — HMRC often refunds automatically after the tax year via a P800, or you can claim. See our tax refund guide.
- Self-employed second income? Different rules — up to £1,000 trading income is tax-free; above that, register for Self Assessment.
Do this now
Open the HMRC app and look at the tax code on each job. Main job under £12,570 with a BR code on the second? You’re probably overpaying — ask HMRC to split your allowance, and it’ll usually fix it within a pay period or two.
Earned a second income last year on a BR code? Check whether you’re owed a refund — our tax refund guide shows the free way to claim it back from HMRC directly.
Not financial advice
SortedUK is not a regulated adviser — this is general information on how PAYE handles more than one job. The Personal Allowance (£12,570) and the tax bands are frozen but can change at a Budget, so confirm the current figures and your own position on GOV.UK or with HMRC before acting.