The Business Consortium Ltd

29/10/2026

PAYROLL UNPACKED | WEEK 7 OF 12

“EMERGENCY TAX”: WHAT DOES IT ACTUALLY MEAN?

Have you ever started a new job, received your first payslip and wondered why HMRC appears to have taken more tax than you expected?

You might have been told you're on “emergency tax”.
But what does that actually mean, and are you really paying a higher rate of Income Tax?

FIRST, LET'S CLEAR UP A COMMON MISUNDERSTANDING.
Emergency tax isn't a separate tax, and it doesn't automatically mean you're being charged a higher tax rate.

It generally means your Income Tax is being calculated on a temporary, non-cumulative basis because your full tax information isn't yet being taken into account.

This often happens when you start a new job and your employer doesn't have all the information about your previous earnings and tax deductions.

HOW CAN YOU TELL IF YOU'RE ON EMERGENCY TAX?

Look at the tax code on your payslip.

You might see something like:
• 1257L W1: Week 1 basis.
• 1257L M1: Month 1 basis.
• 1257L X: Non-cumulative basis.

Some payroll systems may also display NONCUM.

These codes tell payroll to calculate your Income Tax using only the current pay period, rather than taking your previous earnings and tax deductions from the same tax year into account.

That's an important distinction!

SO WHY COULD YOU PAY MORE TAX?

Imagine you've started a new job halfway through the tax year.
Under a normal cumulative tax code, payroll considers your taxable earnings, allowances and Income Tax already paid during the tax year.

However, on a Week 1 or Month 1 basis, payroll calculates the tax for that individual pay period without bringing those earlier figures into the calculation.

Depending on your circumstances, you could initially pay more tax than necessary.

You could also pay less.

WHAT ABOUT TAX CODES BR AND 0T?

These are sometimes described as emergency tax codes in everyday conversation, but they have their own meanings.

BR generally taxes all income from that employment at the basic rate, while 0T provides no Personal Allowance against that income.

Neither automatically means HMRC has made a mistake. For example, BR can be appropriate for a second job.

WILL YOU GET YOUR MONEY BACK?

If HMRC issues a corrected cumulative tax code, your employer's payroll system will generally recalculate your PAYE position using the relevant year-to-date information.

This can result in a tax refund through your wages or additional tax being collected.

In other circumstances, HMRC may arrange a refund separately.
SO WHAT SHOULD YOU DO?

Check your tax code on your payslip, make sure your employer has your P45 or completed starter checklist where appropriate, and check your details through your HMRC Personal Tax Account.

Don't assume that a large tax deduction is correct simply because it appeared on your payslip.

And equally, don't assume it's wrong without understanding how it was calculated.

WHY SHOULD YOU CARE?

Because understanding your tax code helps you understand your take-home pay.

A temporary coding basis can make a noticeable difference to what reaches your bank account, particularly when changing jobs.

Have you ever been put on emergency tax? How long did it take to get your tax code corrected?

Official HMRC guidance:
https://www.gov.uk/tax-codes/emergency-tax-codes
Check your tax code:
https://www.gov.uk/tax-codes

Payroll Unpacked: Your pay. Your deductions. Your rights. Explained.

22/10/2026

**PAYROLL UNPACKED | WEEK 6 OF 12**

**HOLIDAY PAY: WHY YOUR BASIC HOURLY RATE ISN'T ALWAYS ENOUGH**

Have you ever taken a week's holiday, looked at your payslip and wondered why you've been paid less than you normally earn?

The answer could be in how your employer calculates your holiday pay.

A common misunderstanding is that holiday pay only needs to cover your basic hourly rate. **That isn't always correct.**

Under the holiday pay rules in Great Britain, most workers are entitled to 5.6 weeks of paid statutory annual leave.

For employees working regular hours, at least four of those weeks must be paid at their *normal rate of pay*. This can include:

- Regular overtime payments.
- Relevant commission payments.
- Certain other payments linked to the work you normally perform.

The remaining 1.6 weeks can be paid at your basic rate, although some employers provide more generous arrangements.

**LET'S LOOK AT AN EXAMPLE.**

Imagine you earn £500 basic pay each week, but you also regularly earn another £75 in overtime.

Your normal weekly earnings are therefore £575.

For a week's holiday falling within the four-week normal-pay entitlement, your holiday pay could be **£575 rather than £500**, assuming that overtime forms part of your established normal earnings.

That's £75 you could otherwise be missing.

**WHAT IF YOUR HOURS CHANGE EVERY WEEK?**

For irregular-hours and part-year workers, different rules apply.

Where holiday pay is calculated when leave is taken, employers generally use an average of the previous 52 relevant paid weeks. Unpaid weeks are excluded, and the employer can look back up to 104 weeks to find the necessary paid weeks.

For leave years beginning on or after 1 April 2024, employers can also use rolled-up holiday pay for eligible irregular-hours and part-year workers. This is paid alongside normal wages, at a minimum of 12.07% of total pay for each pay period, and must appear separately on the payslip.

**WHY DOES THIS MATTER?**

Because taking your statutory holiday shouldn't mean losing earnings that the law requires to be included in your holiday pay.

Your working pattern, regular additional earnings and contractual arrangements all matter.

The important thing is understanding how your holiday pay has been calculated, rather than simply assuming the figure on your payslip must be correct.

**Have you ever received less holiday pay than you expected? Did your employer explain the calculation?**

Official guidance:
https://www.gov.uk/holiday-entitlement-rights/holiday-pay

https://www.acas.org.uk/checking-holiday-entitlement/calculating-holiday-pay

*This post summarises the rules for Great Britain. Individual circumstances and contractual terms may affect the calculation.*

10/10/2026

A life on the doors. The nights, the violence, the drugs and what came afterwards. Read the book...

10/10/2026

One careless moment can change a life forever. Sometimes, it can change far more than one.

In Trampled, ordinary decisions behind the wheel lead to extraordinary consequences as the lives of drivers, victims, families, and animals become unexpectedly intertwined. For some, recognizing the harm they caused becomes the first step toward change. For others, refusing to accept responsibility brings consequences they never could have imagined.

At the center of the story is Jennifer, a young woman facing enormous changes in her own life while trying to preserve what her family left behind and build something meaningful for the future. Her ranch becomes more than a home—it becomes a place of healing, second chances, unexpected connections, and new beginnings.

But not every story ends the same way.

As past actions continue to follow those responsible for them, each person must decide whether to keep moving through life unchanged or finally confront the choices that brought them here.

Trampled is a story about consequences, responsibility, loss, compassion, redemption, and the seemingly small choices that can alter another person’s life forever.

And hidden within the story are messages for the reader to discover.

How many will you find?

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0HKBYH15F?ref=cm_sw_r_ffobk_cso_cp_apin_dp_DBXQSEMD3YK29XBZFZP6&ref_=cm_sw_r_ffobk_cso_cp_apin_dp_DBXQSEMD3YK29XBZFZP6&social_share=cm_sw_r_ffobk_cso_cp_apin_dp_DBXQSEMD3YK29XBZFZP6&bestFormat=true&fbclid=IwY2xjawU3iJxleHRuA2FlbQIxMABwZG9mBWJyaWQRMUs5NGVFZmxvVnNiWTIxT29zcnRjBmFwcF9pZBAyMjIwMzkxNzg4MjAwODkyAAEeTeRU1Rwz8zSas1esH3_Y5WPaO7KSHtNQtfrINL1-kD896YGrrH1X67X2LhY_aem_GHkqih_ya3wGlbot6YnD9Q

Trampled

09/10/2026

“I expected to expose the limits of the technology. Instead, I built software.”

That's from the prelude to 3 Days Awake.

I went into the experiment with nearly 30 years of business systems experience and no coding experience. I had no idea how much it was going to change my day-to-day life.

You can find the book here:

Three Days Awake: My Journey From Casual AI User To Software Developer

08/10/2026

Sneaky peak at my book...

https://read.amazon.co.uk/sample/B0HLMR7S91?clientId=share

I'm not expecting people to buy it, it's not a 'get rich scheme', honestly, keep your doe; I was just overwhelmed one night with the need to wirte...so I did, for 3 days and nights, none stop, hence the title, Three Days Awake. I crashed out for about 5hrs, then got up and carried on. In total, it took me 6 days and nights to write it...then another 3 days and nights to edit it into something that resembled a book.

If you have had a copy from me don't forget to leave me a review at this link please:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0HLMR7S91...

Just scroll down a bit til you see
'Review this product
Share your thoughts with other customers'

Adam Manley

02/10/2026

01/10/2026

PAYROLL UNPACKED – WEEK 5

WHERE DID MY PENSION CONTRIBUTION ACTUALLY GO?

A pension deduction on your payslip does not always tell you the full amount being paid into your pension.

That is because workplace pension contributions can be calculated in different ways, and the method used to give you tax relief changes what you actually see on your payslip.

For this week’s example, I’ve used a monthly salary of £3,000 and an automatic-enrolment pension based on qualifying earnings.

For 2026/27, the monthly qualifying earnings band runs from £520 to £4,189. So on monthly pay of £3,000, the pension calculation in this example is based on:

£3,000 - £520 = £2,480

The statutory minimum contribution requirement is at least 8% overall, with at least 3% coming from the employer. The Pensions Regulator

In the example shown, the scheme uses relief at source.

A 5% gross employee contribution on £2,480 is £124.

But that does not mean £124 is deducted from the employee’s pay.

Under relief at source, the employee pays £99.20 through payroll and the pension provider claims £24.80 basic-rate tax relief from HMRC.

The employer then contributes £74.40, based on 3% of the same qualifying earnings.

So the figures are:

Employee deduction from pay: £99.20

Tax relief added by pension provider: £24.80

Employer contribution: £74.40

Total into the pension pot: £198.40

That is why somebody can look at their payslip, see a £99.20 pension deduction, and assume something is missing when in fact considerably more is being invested.

Under relief at source, the employee contribution is deducted after PAYE has been calculated and the pension provider claims the basic-rate tax relief separately. GOV.UK

A net pay arrangement works differently.
With net pay, the full employee pension contribution is deducted from gross pay before PAYE Income Tax is calculated.

Using the same example, £124 would normally be deducted through payroll and taxable pay would be reduced accordingly. The pension provider does not then add another basic-rate tax-relief amount because the tax relief has already been given through payroll. GOV.UK

National Insurance is different again.
Ordinary employee pension contributions do not reduce NIable pay simply because the scheme uses net pay. NICs are normally calculated on gross earnings before those pension deductions. Salary sacrifice is a separate arrangement and works differently. GOV.UK

There is one other important point.

Not every workplace pension uses qualifying earnings.

Some schemes use basic pay, some use pensionable pay defined in the scheme rules, and some employers contribute above the statutory minimum. So you cannot simply look at somebody’s salary, multiply it by 5%, and assume that is what should appear on their payslip. The scheme rules matter. The Pensions Regulator

That is the real message from this week’s Payroll Unpacked:

Your pension deduction is only one part of the calculation.

If you want to understand what is actually going into your pension, you need to know:
the earnings basis being used,
the employee contribution rate,
the employer contribution rate, and
whether the scheme operates relief at source or net pay.

Next week:

Holiday Pay: Why Your Basic Hourly Rate Isn’t Always the Whole Calculation.
Sources: GOV.UK, HMRC and The Pensions Regulator.

30/09/2026

Buzzin from a review on my recently finished memoirs book