European Student, Summer Internship London UK - Papers to Work? Taxes?

Hi all,

I am a European student. I am doing a 3 month internship in London. I just finished my degree.

I need help understanding if I need to get the national insurance number. Also I will be getting a 50k annual salary and was wondering how much of that is taxable being an internship. I heard interns pay less in tax I dont know how much of that is true.

Thank you for your time

I've no idea how you get an NI number, but I'm sure Google will.

Everyone pays income tax regardless of age, role etc. If you are doing 3 months at 50kpa you should earn about 12.5k. The first 11.5k (ish, can't recall exact figure, again Google knows) is free of income tax. You then get 20% taken off the remaining amount, which in your case will be about 1k, so £200. There is also a small amount to pay for NI.

The default position for HMRC (the taxman) is to presume you work for a whole year, so they may see your first pay packet, presume you will earn 12 times that, and tax you accordingly. If that is the case and you aren't paying Basic Rate, just contact them and give them your actual salary details.

The company will operate PAYE Pay As You Earn, so you don't have to do anything except fill the initial joining forms the company gives you, then paying tax is automatic. No need to fill in forms at the end of the tax year (which is April)