Tax - TSR guide and questions thread - Page 64

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Looking for a bit of help, I work full time but earlier this year I took an extended (unpaid) leave to travel for 3 months. As I understand it, tax is calculated with the notion that the full year has/will be worked, thus, am I eligable for 3 months worth of paid tax to be refunded?

Any help appreciated.

Sort of - it's not quite as simple as pro-rating your expected total income for the tax year, but yes, Income Tax is ultimately payable based on your income over the whole tax year. However, the 'Pay As You Earn' system works on a cumulative basis for calculating the appropriate deduction each time that you're paid.

If you're still in employment, your tax deductions should already be correct provided that you're on the correct tax code - what is yours? (check your payslips) If it's something other than "747L" then it may well be incorrect; however, if you're already on a "747L" code then most likely you'll need to wait until you leave employment or until the end of the tax year to request any refund that's due.

Reply 1261

AmIDoingItRight

Its my first job and i haven't given them my p46 yet

I've worked 50 hours at £4.98 been paid £158.55

Have i been taxed that much? or just under paid ?

Also, as it only a chirstmas job how would i claim back taxes if i have overpaid ?

Reply 1262

Illusionary

Original post by AmIDoingItRight

Complete your form P46 as soon as possible. While I can't immediately explain where that exact figure has come from, it's likely that you've been placed on a 'tax code' that doesn't give you the full benefit of your 'personal allowance' of income for the year that you can have without paying any Income Tax (currently £7,475 for most people). The way to check would be to look at your tax code on your payslips - if it's not "747L" it may well be incorrect. Once your form P46 has been processed your tax code should be updated and you should receive a refund of any overpaid Income Tax via the payroll system the next time that you're paid.

Are you a student working only in holiday periods? If so, and you don't expect your income for the year to exceed £7,475, I suggest that you could see if your employer will operate the scheme under form P38(S) that allows you to be paid without deduction of Income Tax that might otherwise be payable during the year, only for you to have to reclaim it later: www.hmrc.gov.uk/forms/p38s.pdf

Reply 1263

AmIDoingItRight

Original post by Illusionary

Thank you

I'm a student but i hope to get keep get another job before April, il check my payslip when i get it.

So i fill out p46, and get my tax back on my next pay ?

Reply 1264

Illusionary

Original post by AmIDoingItRight

Thank you

I'm a student but i hope to get keep get another job before April, il check my payslip when i get it.

So i fill out p46, and get my tax back on my next pay ?

Your employer may need a little time to propcess the form P46 so it may not be immediate, but otherwise that's how it should work once your tax code has been updated, yes, assuming that you're entitled to a refund (which you probably are here, as far as I can tell).

Reply 1265

Derfel

I've been working for the past 16 months and been on the 0T tax code meaning I'm losing around 20% of my income to tax, I've worked out with work that during these months I have been paying too much tax, what exactly happens in these cases and if there is a tax refund do I receive it within a set number of days, or only after the end of the tax year.

Reply 1266

Illusionary

Original post by Derfel

There are two tax years to consider here. For the year ended 5 April 2011, if you're due a refund you can request this by writing to your tax office enclosing evidence of income (the best evidence would be the Form P60 that your employer should have provided to you). For the year ended 5 April 2012 (the current tax year), assuming that you're still employed I'd suggest that you get in touch with your tax office (calling them is probably best in the first instance) and explain that your tax code appears to be incorrect (a "0T" code doesn't give the benefit of any personal allowance). They should be able to arrange for it to be corrected (likely to "747L") and you should then receive a refund of any overpaid Income Tax via the payroll system the next time that you're paid. :smile:

Reply 1267

AmIDoingItRight

Original post by Illusionary

I got my payslip today,

My tax code is: 0T

so that took 20% of my pay, and the rest went to current basic adjustment.

Do you know what that is?

sorry for asking so many questions.

Reply 1268

Illusionary

Original post by AmIDoingItRight

I got my payslip today,

My tax code is: 0T

so that took 20% of my pay, and the rest went to current basic adjustment.

Do you know what that is?

sorry for asking so many questions.

That's not a term that I've come across before, I'm afraid. It's likely best to pick that up with your employer for now.

Reply 1269

AmIDoingItRight

Original post by Illusionary

That's not a term that I've come across before, I'm afraid. It's likely best to pick that up with your employer for now.

Okay, thanks for all your help!

Reply 1270

Otkem

In January I was paying emergency tax, and I want to get this back because I know that if I don't it will just go towards paying for the unemployed. The thing is though, I have my P60 but it only includes my salary from half the year, and I've had a load of ****ing around trying to get my old employer to show how much I paid as they did not send me a P45 after numerous requests. I phoned HMRC yesterday but after loads of getting passed around, I lost my temper with the jobsworth on the end of the line and called her a '****ing useless old ****' and said that it's 'no wonder the country is in dire straits when the public sector is made of people like you'. Suffice to say, I didn't get any further clarification on how to claim it back.

How would I go about it?

Reply 1271

Illusionary

Original post by Otkem

You'll most likely need some evidence of your income, though (if you're patient :wink:

), you may find that HMRC already have the information that they need to be able to arrange for a refund.

Why does your form P60 only include half of your income? Is this because it only covers one out of several jobs? If you're finding it impossible to get some form of statement of earnings from an earlier employer - on a form P45 or otherwise, you could try using payslips to support a claim for a refund of overpaid Income Tax, though that's not ideal. Speaking to HMRC and attempting to be more polite would be the best way to start here, I think. :smile:

Reply 1272

26daystoworkwith

Quick question - I underpaid tax in 2010-11, and have received a letter asking for the amount to be paid back by 18th Jan 2012. This isn't really a problem, but I'm about to apply for a tax refund for this year (11-12) as I worked full-time until August, have been unemployed since then (uni) and it's very unlikely that I'll work again between now and April. The refund (about £340) will be more than I owe HMRC (£86), so do you think they would offset what I owe against the refund, or would I have to pay up then wait for the refund?

Also, do you know roughly how long it takes to receive a tax refund?

Reply 1273

Illusionary

Original post by 26daystoworkwith

That sounds like a reasonable suggestion to offset the two. I'd give your tax office a call and run it past them.

How long it takes to get a refund depends on the workload of your tax office, but I'd expect it to take at least a few weeks in most cases.

Reply 1274

aaron SCO

Ok, so first of all i know there is a tax thread but i am still quite confused on whether i should be getting taxed or not after looking at it.

Basically i work at Tesco part time and on my latest pay slip, in 5 weeks i earned £275.15 and i was taxed £54.60.

So, should i be getting taxed, im still at school, hence the part time and i didn't think i would earn enough in a year to be taxed, thanks.

Reply 1275

Illusionary

Original post by aaron SCO

I've merged your thread into my tax thread :wink:

The numbers are very slightly off (a few pence), but it looks as though you may well be on the wrong tax code. I'm guessing that you didn't complete a form P46 for your employer when you started working for them and as a result they've not been able to treat you as being eligible to set any of your annual tax-free 'personal allowance' against your employment income (generally, UK resident individuals are entitled to receive a certain amount of income each year without paying Income Tax - the standard amount is currently £7,475). That being the case, I suggest that you should complete a form P46 now and hand this to your employer. This should allow them to correct your tax code and you should then receive a refund of any overpaid Income Tax for the year to date through the payroll system the next time that you're paid.

Note that none of being in full-time education, under 18, or a part-time employee in themselves exempt you from paying Income Tax.

Link to a blank form P46: http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/forms/p46.pdf

Reply 1276

CyclopsRock

Original post by awkward questions

I'm 18, I live at home and get £5.20 an hour. I've only been working there 2 months. I thought if you make under £7,475 a year you don't get taxed and I don't think I will earn over that. Is there a certain number of hours you have to work under to not pay? I don't understand how it works and the website has not helped much.

Usually a company will collect income tax on your behalf every month as if you were earning that money all year. That's because they usually don't have access to any of your financial informant from previously in the year - you might have had another job all year, and they can't just take your word for it that you didn't. So what happens is you pay the tax then in April (end of the financial tax year) you can claim it back from HMRC. Tink of it as a complicated and annoying, involuntary saving scheme.

Reply 1277

Dez

Cyclops is right, basically you'll pay the tax now and reclaim it later. I think you can fill out a P50 form (or something along those lines) to reclaim it sooner, so you don't have to wait until the end of the tax year. That's done via your employer, so you'll get paid back along with your usual salary, which makes life a bit easier.

Reply 1278

Shani

Are you on an emergency tax code?

How much was your last pay for, and was it for a week/month?

Reply 1279

truelovestory

My girlfriend works part time in an hotel as a waitress, so the number of shifts she works each week varies, and therefore her pay varies from week to week. Sometimes if she's worked a lot of shifts, some money gets taken off her for National Insurance.

I earn more than her, but my income is more regular, at £5800 per year so about £120 each week which stays steady. I don't pay National Insurance because I don't earn enough, whereas she earns less than me in a year and sometimes has to pay NI if she has a large pay in a week. Surely this can't be right?