Practical ways to manage your salary tax

1. Check your tax code early

The standard code for most people in 2026/27 is 1257L, but your circumstances may require another code. If you change jobs or have two jobs, compare each payslip with HMRC’s record. One annual Personal Allowance is normally allocated across your employments—it is not duplicated.

Estimate income across multiple jobs →

2. Understand Income Tax and National Insurance

Income Tax is assessed on your overall taxable income for the year. Employee National Insurance is generally calculated separately for each employment and pay period, so combining two salaries and recalculating NI can be misleading.

3. Claim eligible employment expenses

You may be able to claim tax relief for required uniforms and tools, approved professional subscriptions, qualifying business travel and certain equipment. Ordinary commuting to a permanent workplace is not normally allowable. Working-from-home relief is not available for 2026/27, although eligible claims for earlier years may still be possible within HMRC’s time limits.

4. Mileage and fuel reimbursement

For 2026/27, HMRC’s approved employee mileage amount for cars and goods vehicles is 55p per business mile for the first 10,000 miles, then 25p. If your employer pays less, you may be able to claim Mileage Allowance Relief on the difference. This does not include ordinary commuting.

5. Use pension choices carefully

Pension contributions can receive Income Tax relief, but the result depends on whether your workplace scheme uses salary sacrifice, net pay or relief at source. Read our pension tax benefits guide before comparing take-home pay.