Tax code 1257L
This is the standard tax code for the 2026/27 tax year. It gives you the full personal allowance of £12,570 on annual gross £36,000 (£3,000 per month). What does 1257L mean?
UK payroll intelligence - educational
Check if your UK payslip looks wrong - before you lose money.
PayslipIQ explains your tax code, PAYE, National Insurance, pension, student loan and take-home pay in plain English. Upload a redacted payslip or enter your figures manually. Educational estimates only - always verify with payroll or HMRC.
Check My Payslip Free
Checked in memory. Never stored by PayslipIQ. No signup.
Just want the numbers? Try the take-home pay calculator- No employer notified
- Redact personal details before upload
- UK PAYE-focused
Not affiliated with HMRC. Not regulated tax, legal, financial, payroll or employment advice.
What is PayslipIQ?
PayslipIQ is a free, independent UK payslip checker. You upload a redacted payslip photo or enter your figures manually, and it checks your tax code, PAYE income tax, National Insurance, pension and student-loan deductions against published HMRC 2026/27 rates, then flags anything worth querying with payroll or HMRC. There is no signup, your payslip image is not stored after processing, and the output is educational guidance only — not regulated advice.
What PayslipIQ actually does
Privacy-first payslip checking
We do not store your payslip image after processing. Redact name, address and NI number before upload.
UK PAYE, NI, pension and student-loan logic
We apply the public 2026/27 PAYE bands, Class 1 NI thresholds, all five student loan plans and the three pension setups (net-pay, RAS, salary sacrifice).
Upload or manual entry
Upload a redacted payslip image or PDF, or type the figures in by hand. Manual entry takes about 90 seconds.
Educational guidance only
PayslipIQ is not HMRC, your employer or a regulated adviser. Use it to spot questions to ask, not to act.
How your payslip is processed
Seven steps. No hidden middle. AI processing is disclosed.
You redact sensitive details
Cover your name, address, NI number, bank details and date of birth. Pay figures, tax code, NI category and deductions stay visible.
File is uploaded for analysis
Sent over HTTPS to PayslipIQ. Stored only in memory for the duration of the analysis.
PayslipIQ processes the image in memory
Our worker extracts the printed figures, runs the UK 2026/27 PAYE, NI, pension and student-loan logic, and prepares the explanation.
AI provider performs analysis
Two paths. Manual entry sends only the numbers you type. Photo upload sends the image (after in-browser downscale and EXIF strip) to Anthropic; anything still visible in that image is visible to the model. Automatic redaction is not implemented. Inputs are not used for model training.
PayslipIQ does not store the image
Once the analysis is complete, the uploaded file is purged. We do not write the image or payslip figures to an application database. Hosting and rate-limit retention is listed on the Trust Centre.
You receive plain-English educational output
Per-line explanation, anomaly flags, and a list of next questions to ask payroll, HMRC, your pension provider or a qualified adviser.
You verify with payroll or HMRC before acting
PayslipIQ provides educational estimates only. Always confirm final figures with your payroll team, HMRC, your pension provider, your accountant or a qualified adviser.
What your free check looks like
A synthetic UK example. Plain English. Honest about uncertainty.
Sample report
United Kingdom payslip - illustrative
Synthetic data
Looks consistent Worth checking £360.50
PAYE income tax
PAYE looks slightly higher than expected for your taxable pay. Could be a recent code change, an underpayment carried over, or extra taxable benefits.
Next step: Compare against the previous payslip and confirm your code on your latest HMRC coding notice.
Looks consistent £144.16
National Insurance
Class 1 NI is consistent with category A at the main rate above the primary threshold.
Looks consistent £150.00
Pension (salary sacrifice)
Treated as a salary sacrifice arrangement: contribution is deducted before tax and NI, lowering both.
Educational guidance only - not financial advice.Looks consistent £2,345.34
Net pay
Take-home matches gross pay minus tax, NI and pension within rounding tolerance.
Illustrative example only. PayslipIQ does not give financial, tax or legal advice.
Honest about scope
We are a check, not a replacement for your accountant.
What PayslipIQ can do
- ✓Read a redacted payslip and explain each line in plain English.
- ✓Sanity-check PAYE, NI, USC, PRSI and student loan deductions.
- ✓Flag tax codes that look unusual or emergency-style.
- ✓Reconcile gross, deductions and net pay so the maths is shown.
- ✓Give you a concrete next question to ask payroll or HMRC/Revenue.
What PayslipIQ cannot do
- Give you regulated tax, legal or financial advice.
- File or amend anything with HMRC or Revenue on your behalf.
- Replace a conversation with payroll about your specific case.
- Recover overpaid tax or chase missing pay for you.
- Verify the authenticity of a payslip image you upload.
Choose your country
Tax systems differ. Pick the one that matches your payslip.
How we work
PayslipIQ reads each payslip line, applies the public PAYE, NI, USC and PRSI rules for the relevant tax year, and compares the result to what your payslip shows. We are explicit about ranges and uncertainty, we cite official sources, and we never pretend to be regulated advice. Read more in our payroll accuracy methodology, payslip processing privacy notice and Trust Centre.
The checks people search for
Targeted plain-English checkers for the most common UK payroll problems.
Educational guidance only. Not regulated tax, legal, financial, payroll or employment advice. Not affiliated with HMRC. Always verify figures with your payroll team, HMRC, your pension provider or a qualified adviser before acting. UK & Ireland.
Latest research
1 in 9 UK payslips contains a calculation discrepancy
Our modelled study of 10,000 synthetic UK payslips for 2024/25 found tax-code mismatches, NI category errors, and miscoded salary sacrifice the most common issues - a modelled estimate of £148/year per affected employee. Both figures are modelled estimates, not measurements of user data - see the methodology.
Read the full UK Payslip Errors 2026 report →