Whats the deal with tax rebates....?

[51mon]

Hi guys, after picking the brains of any resident HR people / taxmen for a moment...

I've quit my job and am going away travelling for a year in month or so , and I'm just wandering what the deal is with being entitled to / applying for a tax rebate come April?

Basically I will have payed tax as normal for the first 5 months of the tax year, but I will not be earning for the remaining 7 months, does this mean that I will be eligible for a rebate on 7/12ths of the tax I have payed to date (this seems for too easy to be the case)....?

Also, do I have to chase the Inland Revenue for any rebate I'm entitled to, or will they contact me next April / May?

Thanks in advance,

Si

[Eric Mc]

Always best for you to contact them. How can they automatically tell you are due a refund? Just because yuou have ceased employment does not mesan you have ceased having taxable income. For all they know, you could be now self-employed or be a land owner receiving rent.

[Tuscanless Ali]

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/cnr/p85.pdf

Fill in that and sent it to your tax office along with your P45, it should hurry along any rebate you are due.

[bogwoppit]

I did this straight after I got my P45, no need to wait until April. Basically if you tell them there is no way you will earn anything more before April they will calculate the tax on an annual basis. It should be a better rebate than just a straight month-for-month percentage since the tax bands are graduated - an exaggerated example but if you were making 3k a month but only worked two months you'd get the whole lot back (about 1k).

If you don't ask for it they probably won't volunteer the rebate. In fact when I did mine I found out they owed me a small amount of money from previous years. Apparently millions of benefits go unclaimed every year, maybe it's the same with tax.

[Eric Mc]

bogwoppit said:

I did this straight after I got my P45, no need to wait until April. Basically if you tell them there is no way you will earn anything more before April they will calculate the tax on an annual basis. It should be a better rebate than just a straight month-for-month percentage since the tax bands are graduated - an exaggerated example but if you were making 3k a month but only worked two months you'd get the whole lot back (about 1k).

If you don't ask for it they probably won't volunteer the rebate. In fact when I did mine I found out they owed me a small amount of money from previous years. Apparently millions of benefits go unclaimed every year, maybe it's the same with tax.

It can vary quite a bit. There is no consistency. On many occasions you do need to chase after refunds due.

[51mon]

Cheers for the replies guys, very helpful link too!

Will send my P45 off as soon as I get it then and with any luck should get at least something back! Should provide me with a few more beer tockens to spend en route...!