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In short
- Your Personal Allowance is given to one job. The second is usually coded BR and taxed at 20% from the first pound.
- Correct if the first job pays over £12,570. An overpayment if it does not.
- You can ask HMRC to split the allowance between jobs.
- National Insurance is worked out per job, so two small jobs can pay less NI than one, legitimately.
Why the second job is taxed at BR
HMRC assumes your main job uses all your allowance. For a full-time worker that is right. For someone on 20 hours in one job and 15 in another, both under £12,570, thousands of pounds of allowance go unused.
How to check
- Look at both payslips. One should have 1257L or similar, the other BR.
- Add up the pay from the main job. Under £12,570? You are overpaying.
- Ask HMRC to split your allowance between the two jobs.
Past years
HMRC's year-end reconciliation should catch this and send a P800, but it often does not where both employers report late or one job ended. Claims go back 4 years.
Worked example
A cleaner: job A £9,000, job B £8,000 on BR. Tax paid £1,600. Tax due on £17,000 less £12,570 is £886. Overpaid £714 a year; over 3 years, £2,142.
Questions
Do I need Self Assessment for two jobs?
No, if both are PAYE.
Does a second job affect student loan repayments?
Each job is assessed separately against the threshold, which can mean you repay less than a single job at the same total.
This guide is general information, not advice about your circumstances. Figures use HMRC rates for the 2026 to 2027 tax year. We are a paid tax agent and not HMRC.
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