Two Jobs Tax Calculator
Your personal allowance normally sits with your main job, so the second one is taxed differently. Enter both to see the combined picture.
Combined take-home pay
£2,573 a month
| Main job | Second job | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross salary | £28,000 | £9,000 | £37,000 |
| Income Tax | £3,086 | £1,800 | £4,886 |
| National Insurance | £1,234 | £0 | £1,234 |
| Likely tax code | 1257L | BR | |
| Take-home | £30,880 |
How tax works across two jobs
HMRC does not tax jobs — it taxes people. Your £12,570 personal allowance is normally allocated entirely to your main job, which keeps the code 1257L. The second job then gets a BR code, meaning every pound is taxed at the basic rate with no allowance. If your combined income crosses into higher rate, the second job may get a D0 code taxing it all at 40%.
The total you pay over the year is the same as if you had earned the whole amount in one job. What changes is the timing and which payslip it comes off.
National Insurance is different
This is where two jobs genuinely differ from one. National Insurance is worked out separately for each employment, and each one gets its own £12,570 threshold. Two jobs at £11,000 each pay no National Insurance at all, whereas a single £22,000 job pays around £754. That is a real saving, not a quirk to be corrected later.
If your tax code looks wrong
Problems usually appear when a second job starts and HMRC has not yet allocated codes, leaving you on an emergency code or taxed twice on the allowance. Check both codes in your personal tax account and ask HMRC to move the allowance to whichever job pays more.
Common questions
Do I pay more tax with two jobs?
Not overall. Income Tax is charged on your total income, so two jobs adding to £37,000 attract the same Income Tax as one £37,000 job. National Insurance can genuinely be lower, because each job gets its own threshold.
What is a BR tax code?
BR means Basic Rate: every pound from that job is taxed at 20% with no personal allowance applied. It is the normal code for a second job, because the allowance is already being used against your main one.
Which job should get my personal allowance?
The one that pays more. If the allowance sits against a small job it may not be fully used, and you would overpay until HMRC reconciles it at the end of the year. You can ask HMRC to switch it.