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16 year olds getting taxed?

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When I was 16 all my work was voluntary so I earned £0. :frown:

But why shouldn't everyone who works pay taxes?
Is it because most people who are 16 still live with their parents?
You need to speak to the HMRC and tell them you need a new tax code (you should be able to get 1060L if you're not a student) or possibly a different one if you're studying. They should pay it back to you in a future pay packet from work - things have changed recently and you shouldn't have to apply for a rebate at the end of the tax year.

You may still have to pay national insurance though, I'm not too sure.

Best bet is to look at the tax code on your payslip and speak to the HMRC. You'll need your NI number.
Reply 22
Original post by DarrenBCFC
You don't get taxed on the minimum wage for a 16 year old in the UK


Not true, it depends on how much is then earnt.
Original post by Reue
Not true, it depends on how much is then earnt.


While that's technically true, you'd have to work quite a bit over the standard full time hours of 37.5 hours a week (without any holidays) which I can't see happening.
Reply 24
Original post by MasieA
Is a 16 year olds living in the UK and earning £3.79 per hour supposed to be getting taxed for about 30% of their earnings? Doesn't sound right at all to me.

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It's not. Call HMRC.
Reply 25
Original post by brittanna
While that's technically true, you'd have to work quite a bit over the standard full time hours of 37.5 hours a week (without any holidays) which I can't see happening.


You would indeed, or have income from other sources.

But it's an important point to get across; that tax is based on income amount and income source.. not on hourly wage or salary.
Considering 16 and 17 year olds can't work more than 40 hours a week according to gov.uk website it's impossible for them to earn more than £10,600 (tax threshold) on minimum wage.
Original post by MasieA
Is a 16 year olds living in the UK and earning £3.79 per hour supposed to be getting taxed for about 30% of their earnings? Doesn't sound right at all to me.

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What is your job? That's so low! Are you from the north?
Original post by brittanna
Before university, living expenses will be very little. At universiity, you get a tuition fee loan and maintenance loan to help with that. You pay it off once you earn enough. I don't understand what the problem is?


Unless your parents earn more than minimum wage in which case you don't get enough to cover your living expenses so having savings in advance will save you the panic of trying to get a job during freshers.

Is this your first payment? It's normal to be emergency taxed 20%, which should be repaid if you work pretty regular hours in your second or third paypacket. If it's not paid back in the second one, call HMRC and get them to arrange for it to be stopped at the minimum and repaid if it can be. They can be pretty slow at sorting rebates though.
(edited 8 years ago)
Original post by Katie_p
Unless your parents earn more than minimum wage in which case you don't get enough to cover your living expenses so having savings in advance will save you the panic of trying to get a job during freshers.

Is this your first payment? It's normal to be emergency taxed 20%, which should be repaid if you work pretty regular hours in your second or third paypacket. If it's not paid back in the second one, call HMRC and get them to arrange for it to be stopped at the minimum and repaid if it can be. They can be pretty slow at sorting rebates though.


That's not true in the slightest. My parent earn more than minimum wage, haven't given me any money at all to support me, and I have a few thousand pounds of my loan/ grant/ bursary left over whilst still not feeling like I'm spending particularly little. I could easily spend less if I need to.

If you can't afford the expensive accommodation, then get cheaper accommodation. It's as simple as that. With the exception of possible medical conditions, if you can't afford en-suite, then don't get en-suite. If you can't afford catered, then cook for yourself. There's almost certainly going to be some accommodation you can afford, it just won't be as fancy as the one you really want. Your parents would have to earn significantly more than minimum wage without supporting you at all for you to be in a position where I could perhaps possibly start to see you struggling, in which case getting a job would more than cover the rest of your costs.
Original post by DarrenBCFC
The only thing you will need is your payslips and your NI number- this may be used to check the code you was on. Then once you have proved it with the payslips and they find the code they will find how much you should be compensated for. If you don't have your payslips (P60 is posh name I believe) go and ask your bank for a statement of all transactions (there may be an admin fee). In your post you believed that you was taxed 30%, you got paid £3.90. I need to know how many hours you worked to get a more accurate calculation


i did the job for 2 months during summer holidays. did about 12 hours in most weeks, some weeks i did 9 hours but i barely made £300 in those 2 months tbh plus i did overtime but i was paid the normal amount (dunno if i was paid overtime actually)

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Original post by brittanna
That's not true in the slightest. My parent earn more than minimum wage, haven't given me any money at all to support me, and I have a few thousand pounds of my loan/ grant/ bursary left over whilst still not feeling like I'm spending particularly little. I could easily spend less if I need to.

If you can't afford the expensive accommodation, then get cheaper accommodation. It's as simple as that. With the exception of possible medical conditions, if you can't afford en-suite, then don't get en-suite. If you can't afford catered, then cook for yourself. There's almost certainly going to be some accommodation you can afford, it just won't be as fancy as the one you really want. Your parents would have to earn significantly more than minimum wage without supporting you at all for you to be in a position where I could perhaps possibly start to see you struggling, in which case getting a job would more than cover the rest of your costs.


Yes, because you can just get the cheapest accommodation. You can just get a job. Getting shared facilities you probably can do pretty easily, but the rest is reliant on circumstances outside your control.
Original post by MasieA
Is a 16 year olds living in the UK and earning £3.79 per hour supposed to be getting taxed for about 30% of their earnings? Doesn't sound right at all to me.

Posted from TSR Mobile


Firstly if you're earning £3.79/hour and that is your only job you should not be getting taxed whatsoever. Have you got your payslip? Check your tax code, it should be 1060L but if it's not then best check with HMRC. They'll return whatever you've paid in tax in your next paycheck automatically; or you can choose to wait until next April when they'll send you something in the post.

Secondly, your tax shouldn't be 30% anyway. That's too much, even if you do pay any tax.....
Reply 33
It sounds very much like you've been given an emergency tax code. The first £10600 earned is tax free so you may need to get in touch with HMRC to get your tax code adjusted


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Original post by Katie_p
Yes, because you can just get the cheapest accommodation. You can just get a job. Getting shared facilities you probably can do pretty easily, but the rest is reliant on circumstances outside your control.


I don't imagine it would be too difficult to just get one of the cheaper accommodations. At least, it didn't seem to over applied to at my uni.

There are always plenty of job opportunities in university cities. Whether it's a job in facilities on campus (bars, restaurants, library) etc.

If you can't get one of those, then so many places in your local town/ city will be hiring, especially nightclubs etc., and so whilst it isn't certain you'll be able to get a job, it's not entirely outside your control and there is a good chance you'll be able to get one.

Anyway, as I said before, most people could live quite comfortably without needing to get a job, as long as they don't go and get accommodation that they quite clearly can't afford.
loooooooool haha why are u guys so argumentative over the internet. relax lads its friday
Original post by diamondluck
i did the job for 2 months during summer holidays. did about 12 hours in most weeks, some weeks i did 9 hours but i barely made £300 in those 2 months tbh plus i did overtime but i was paid the normal amount (dunno if i was paid overtime actually)

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Im going to go off the 30% figure you gave me

300*0.30=90. I assume you did not deduct how much tax they took
Original post by DarrenBCFC
Im going to go off the 30% figure you gave me

300*0.30=90. I assume you did not deduct how much tax they took


im looking at my 3 payslips and the tax code says 1000L. for 2 weeks, my gross pay was £291 and tax paid was £8.50 so my net was £130 and that was what i got
what does "basic pay" mean?

holy ****! i just realised they paid me £3.72 per hour!!! they lied to me!!!

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(edited 8 years ago)
£3.79?! That shouldn't be legal!:O
Original post by diamondluck
im looking at my 3 payslips and the tax code says 1000L. for 2 weeks, my gross pay was £291 and tax paid was £8.50 so my net was £130 and that was what i got
what does "basic pay" mean?

holy ****! i just realised they paid me £3.72 per hour!!! they lied to me!!!

Posted from TSR Mobile


http://taxaid.org.uk/guides/taxpayers/tax-for-employees/understanding-your-tax-code

This will be an helpful site for you they should not have took anything to start with. Your best bet will be to ring HMRC

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