Tax - TSR guide and questions thread

Is owning a website classed as employment though.. because that may also be a factor?

so is my site a business the minute I begin charging for ad space? sorry if I am sounding stupid here it's just I am new to this stuff..

ok so I wouldn't need to contact HMRC until I sealed an advertising deal.. i.e. I receive some money for my website.. but until then I am ok?
Thanks for all your help illusionary

Think I've been overpaying tax and I'm very confused

From July 2011 to September 2011 I was employed and paid a total of £1450.16 with £69.80 taken in income tax

Since October I've been in employment (with the same employer, but a different branch) and have been earning £175.62 a week whilst being taxed £6.20 per week.

I've continually been on tax code 747L which I gather is the correct code to be on, but by my reckoning I shoudnt be being taxed? I'm sure that by the end of the tax year in April I won't have earnt over the personal allowance, so will I be able to claim back the tax I've paid? I'm hoping I'll be able to do this in April with my P45 from my July-Sept job and my p60 from my current job?

Any help would be appreciated

Does your tax code have a "week 1", "month 1" or "non-cumulative" suffix, or similar? It looks like you're being taxed not based on your cumulative income and tax deductions, but by treating each week in isolation. If so, I'd suggest that you ask for employer for an explanation of this (did you give Parts 2 and 3 of your form P45 to them when you started in October), but if you make no progress there try giving your tax office a call.

However, if you get to the end of the tax year and your income for the year doesn't exceed your personal allowance (currently £7,475 for most people) then I'd expect you to be able to make a claim then for repayment of any overpaid Income Tax, by writing to your tax office and enclosing evidence of your income and tax deductions for the year.

I've just had a look at Part 1 of my P45 (gave Parts 2 and 3 to my employer) and the box for Week 1/Month 1 is ticked. My payslips say Tax Code 747L and Tax Basis 1, which I assume refers to the Week 1/Month 1 thing?

Thanks for your help

Ok, the fact you're on a GAP year is irrelevant when it comes to your tax.

What is relevant is how much you're being paid, how much you've already been paid in this tax year (and tax years run April-April), and your tax code.

The standard tax code for this year is 747L, which basically means you have around £7.5k a year tax free allowance and will pay 20% tax on anything above that amount.

The chances are you are on an emergency tax code which means you will be paying 20% tax on everything you earn. Did you fill in a form p46 when you started working? If you didn't (and didn't have a p45 from a previous employer) you should ask your current employer for one.

If any tax overpayment is not given back to you through the PAYE system you should be able to call the tax office and ask. You're obviously crossing two different tax years as you will be working until October, so come October if you're not in employment you should be able to claim back any tax overpayments.

Got a question here - started two jobs in October, didn't give in a P46 (no idea why, never got given one to do) for either.

Now, first job has tax code BR, which I understand to be a general tax me because of no P45/6.

Second is 0T - which I guess is because I had no Personal Allowance allocated agaisnt it?

Anyway, this is all amounting to almost £600 tax, which is a huge amount. I'm going traveling in March for 3 months, so will have to wait until I get back in England to claim it? Or can they do it automatically?

Thanks!

While ideally employers would give a form P46 to all new employees, ultimately it's your responsibility to complete one for a new employer.

Are you still working at both jobs? If so, how much longer do you expect to work for them do you expect to earn in each job until 5 April 2012?

I know

First job has now finished - waiting for last pay slip but it's about £348 IT and £14 NI.

Second job I'll be ending next month, when I hand in notice, probably end of February but won't get paid until the end of March for a few weeks (stupid Halfords pay system) Currently have £183.60 tax to date for them.

Hmm... okay, well at this stage the simplest thing is likely going to be to wait until you leave the second job, then complete a form P50 (link: http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/pdfs/p50.pdf) and send that to your tax office, together with Parts 2 and 3 of the form P45 that you should receive from each employer. You don't need to wait until the end of the tax year.

It should possible to arrange for a refund of any overpayment while you're still employed at your second job if cash flow is a big concern, but may well take more in the way of admin to get sorted. If you wanted to go this route, let me know.

Cheers man, should I be receiving the P45 with the last pay slip from each job? Also, do I have to fill in the P50 or can I ask someone else (like a parent) to do it while I'm away?

Think I'll just wait for my last job to end, makes it simpler.