Before you start

A National Insurance number
PAYE registration through your employer
A Government Gateway account, if you ever need Self Assessment
Records of foreign income and overseas accounts

Step-by-step

1
Check the tax code on your first payslip, and check the prefix
PAYE deducts at source, so a wrong code means wrong deductions for months. Your code should not begin with an S — that is the Scottish prefix. In Newcastle this genuinely happens: employers with Edinburgh or Glasgow payroll operations, and people who moved south across the border, both end up with an S code applied in error.
Via employerWho: YouFirst payslip
2
Learn the three English bands
A personal allowance, then Basic, Higher from £50,270 and Additional from £125,140. Three bands where Scotland has six. The thresholds have been frozen for several years, quietly pulling more people into higher bands as wages rise.
OnlineWho: You
3
Do not compare an English and a Scottish offer on gross salary
Scotland's Higher rate starts at £43,662 against England's £50,270, and Scotland has six bands to England's three. Above roughly £33,500 you keep more of it in Newcastle than in Edinburgh — which is a ninety-minute train away and a real live comparison for a lot of people here. The gross figures are not comparable and the gap widens with income.
OnlineWho: You
4
Understand the 60% trap above £100,000
The personal allowance is withdrawn by £1 for every £2 earned above £100,000, giving an effective marginal rate of about 60% between £100,000 and £125,140. Pension salary sacrifice is the standard response. It is the most consequential quirk in the English system and it is signposted nowhere.
OnlineWho: You
5
Check whether you actually need to file Self Assessment
Most employees never do — PAYE handles it. You must register if you are self-employed, have significant untaxed income, or meet one of HMRC's listed triggers. Online returns are due by 31 January following the 5 April year end.
OnlineWho: You
6
Settle your residence position in year one
The Statutory Residence Test determines UK tax residence from days present and connecting factors. The UK abolished the old non-domiciled regime and replaced it with a residence-based system, and the transitional rules are complex. Take advice in the first year if you have foreign income or assets.
In personWho: You

Documents you’ll need

National Insurance number
P60 — the annual summary from your employer
P45, if you change employer during the year
Records of foreign income and overseas accounts
Government Gateway credentials, for Self Assessment

Things most newcomers don’t know

The Higher rate starts £6,600 later here than sixty miles north.

£50,270 in England against £43,662 in Scotland, three bands against six. Anyone earning above roughly £33,500 keeps more of it in Newcastle than in Edinburgh. Nowhere else in England is the border close enough for this to be a routine live comparison, and gross salaries across it are simply not comparable.

Source: GOV.UK — Scottish Income Tax

Watch for an S prefix on your tax code — it happens here more than elsewhere.

The S prefix applies Scottish rates. Employers with payroll run from Edinburgh or Glasgow, and people who have moved south across the border, both end up with it applied in error. On a Newcastle salary above the Scottish Higher threshold that costs you real money every month until someone notices.

Source: GOV.UK — check your income tax

The 60% band between £100,000 and £125,140 is the biggest hidden rate in the system.

The personal allowance is withdrawn at £1 for every £2 above £100,000, so each extra pound in that range is taxed at the 40% headline rate plus the lost allowance — around 60% in effect. A rise from £99,000 to £110,000 delivers far less than it appears to. Model it before accepting an offer in that range.

Source: GOV.UK — income tax rates and personal allowances

The tax year runs 6 April to 5 April, which catches everyone once.

Almost no other country uses these dates. It decides which year your arrival income falls into, when your P60 arrives, and when Self Assessment is due. Newcomers routinely reckon against a calendar year and get their first filing wrong.

Source: HMRC

Common mistakes to avoid

Not checking the PAYE code on the first payslip for a Scottish S prefix, which is a common error this close to the border.
Comparing a Newcastle and an Edinburgh offer on gross salary without modelling the different bands.
Accepting a salary between £100,000 and £125,140 without modelling the 60% effective band.
Counting the tax year as January to December rather than 6 April to 5 April.
Ignoring National Insurance when estimating take-home pay.

Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.

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