Tax Code 0T Explained

0T (zero-T, often written as OT) means you have no tax-free Personal Allowance on this job or pension, but your income still goes through the normal tax bands: 20%, then 40%, then 45%. GOV.UK says it's used when your Personal Allowance has been used up, or when you've started a new job and your employer doesn't have the details needed to give you a proper code.

Tax-free allowance implied by this code: £0 a year (£0.00 a month).

How your pay is taxed on 0T

Unlike BR, which taxes everything at 20%, 0T starts the 20% band from your first pound and then moves to 40% after £37,700 of taxable pay (the basic-rate band). Example (England, £30,000): all £30,000 is within the basic-rate band, so tax = £30,000 × 20% = £6,000 a year, £500 a month – about £209.50 a month more than 1257L. At £60,000 the gap widens: 0T charges 20% on £37,700 and 40% on £22,300 = £16,460, versus £11,432 on 1257L.

Tax-free allowance from this code£0Cumulative

Income tax with this code	£6,000
Income tax with standard 1257L	£3,486
Difference per month	£209.50

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Why you might have this code

You started a new job without a P45 and did not complete a starter checklist (often shown as 0T M1 / 0T W1 / 0T X).
Your income is over £125,140, so your Personal Allowance has been fully withdrawn.
Your allowance has been used by another job or pension.
HMRC does not have enough information about your income.

What to do

Check the code HMRC holds for you in your personal tax account (GOV.UK sign-in) or the HMRC app – it also shows how the number was worked out.
Compare it with the code on your latest payslip. If they differ, ask payroll whether they have applied HMRC’s latest notice.
Give payroll your P45 or complete the PAYE starter checklist.
Update your job details in your personal tax account or the HMRC app if your allowance should be on this job.
Any overpayment is refunded via payroll after the code is corrected, or by P800 after 5 April.

See all tax codes or check your take-home with the UK salary calculator.

The situations HMRC lists for 0T

HMRC’s PAYE Manual describes 0T as a code with no suffix that charges tax through the basic, higher and additional bands depending on earnings. HMRC uses it when:

the “no allowances” indicator is set on your record
your Personal Allowance has been tapered to nil
you started a new job and didn’t tick Statement A, B or C on the starter checklist
in Scotland, your main job sits in the starter band, so a second job is coded S0T to keep the lower Scottish bands in use

0T above and below £125,140

Above £125,140 of income, 0T is simply correct on your main job: you have no Personal Allowance, so tax starts at 20% on the first pound. On a £130,000 salary in England, 0T deducts £44,703, which is the tax due.

Below that level, 0T overcharges. At £110,000 you keep an allowance of £7,570, so HMRC’s rules call for a reduced code with a T suffix – 757T – rather than 0T. Leaving 0T in place would overcharge by £3,028 over the year.

How a cumulative 0T is unwound

A plain 0T code (not M1 or W1) is cumulative, and that works in your favour once HMRC sends the right code. Say you’re paid £2,500 a month and your code from April is a plain, cumulative 0T – for example because the “no allowances” indicator was set on your record by mistake. In July HMRC issues cumulative 1257L. Payroll then gives you four months of allowance in one go. The three missed months were worth £628.50 of tax (three months of £1,047.50 free pay at 20%). Instead of deducting the usual £290.50, your July payslip refunds £338.00.

If the new code arrives on a week 1 / month 1 basis instead, there’s no catch-up through payroll and the overpayment waits for the year-end reconciliation. That is why it is worth asking HMRC whether the corrected code will be cumulative.

0T versus BR on the same pay

Up to £37,700 of pay from one job, 0T and BR take the same amount. Above that, 0T moves into the 40% band while BR stays at 20%. For a new starter without a P45, the starter checklist decides which applies: ticking Statement C (you have another job or pension) gives BR, while ticking none of Statements A, B or C gives 0T.

Annual pay from the job	Tax on 0T	Tax on BR	Tax on 1257L
£20,000	£4,000	£4,000	£1,486
£45,000	£10,460	£9,000	£6,486
£60,000	£16,460	£12,000	£11,432

S0T and C0T

The Scottish and Welsh versions follow their own bands. On a £45,000 second job, S0T deducts £12,161 because it starts at the 19% starter rate and climbs through the Scottish bands. SBR would take a flat £9,000. C0T gives the same result as 0T in England, because the Welsh bands match.

Frequently asked questions

Is OT the same as 0T?

Yes. The first character is a zero, but people often type the letter O. It means no tax-free allowance.

Is 0T an emergency tax code?

On its own, 0T is cumulative and not technically an emergency code. 0T M1, 0T W1 or 0T X is the non-cumulative emergency version.

What is the difference between 0T and BR?

Both give no allowance. BR charges a flat 20% on everything. 0T uses the normal bands, so pay above £37,700 a year from that job is taxed at 40%.

Should I be on 0T if I earn over £100,000?

Your allowance reduces by £1 for every £2 over £100,000 and is gone at £125,140. Above that, 0T can be correct; between £100,000 and £125,140 you'd normally have a reduced code instead.

How do I get off 0T?

Give your employer your P45 or starter checklist, or update HMRC online. HMRC then sends payroll a new code, usually within a few weeks.

What is S0T or C0T?

The Scottish and Welsh versions: no allowance, with tax worked out through the Scottish or Welsh bands. HMRC also uses S0T on a second Scottish job when the main job is still in the starter band.

Will I get the tax back automatically when 0T is replaced?

If the new code is cumulative, yes – payroll refunds it on the next payday. If it’s a week 1 / month 1 code, the overpayment is repaid after the tax year ends.

Does 0T change my National Insurance?

No. Tax codes only control Income Tax. National Insurance is worked out on your pay in the normal way, whatever your code.

Can a pension be put on 0T?

Yes. A pension provider with no code from HMRC, or a pension whose allowance is used elsewhere, can be on 0T. It works exactly as it does on wages.

Sources

Figures are taken from official government publications and were last reviewed on 2026-10-03.