Was I on emergency tax?

[srob]

I had a look through my payslips today and I noticed that my tax code went from a simple L suffixed number (which remained the same all of last year) to a lower figure, still with an L suffix but 'MT1' after it for the first three months of this year.

The payslip I recieved at the end of April has gone to another code which is twelve higher than the 'normal' one I had last year, with no MT1 after.

Am I right in thinking that MT1 signifies that I was on an emergency tax?

If so, why would that be? I've been with the same company for nearly three years.

I'm sure that there's a simple explanation and I plan on asking at work tomorrow, but if anyone has any suggestions it may save me a hike to payrole in the morning! Sorry for the vagueness but I'm not too 'up' on taxes (as may be apparent ) and I didn't know how much personal info I'd be giving about my salary by relealing the figures!

Thanks in advance

[northandy]

You should have received a code change from hmrc, have you had anything through the post.

Mt1 sounds like a month 1 code, which means you still get your tax free allowance, it just means it calculates the 40% rate each month, so therefore if your earnings vary from month to month and you drop in and out of the 40% bracket you could have overpaid tax during the tax year.

[srob]

Nope, haven't had anything through the post. Got my P60 with April's payslip and that shows the new code that April's slip shows.

My Jan, Feb and March 2011 payslips had the code MT1 and a lower three figure number than my April one shows. I didn't notice it at first as it had overrun the box and was half in the next one!

I haven't had any overtime for a long while either, so there hasn't been any vary in payments although I did get a pay change midway through last year. Sadly I'm nowhere near the 40% tax bracket, and on a fixed salary.

Sounds like maybe it was an adjustment. I'll see what they say at work tomorrow, thanks

[Deva Link]

Your payroll people probably won't know - they just apply the codes as HMRC send them.

You need to contact the office looking after your tax. It's likely there's some missing information, although that's odd if you've been there 3yrs. have you had a part-time job at the same time?

[srob]

Nope, I've worked soley for the same (reasonably big) company for nearly three years. I've been back through all of my payslips since I started back there (this is my third stint there!) and they all seem 'normal'.

I wondered whether the fact I had a payrise last year could have confused things?

Looks like it may be a case of having a chat with the tax office. To be honest the tax I was paying whilst on the MT1 rate wasn't much different to my usual tax, so it's not a problem I'm just curious

[northandy]

Payrise shouldn't have mattered, if you were still on month 1 at the end of the tax year you could have overpaid.

Take a look at this website, you should be able to work out if you have paid too much last year.


http://listentotaxman.com/

Your basic code for last year should be 647L, it should now be 747L it would only be different if you owed money from a previous year or have some other benefits such as company car, healthcare etc etc.

[Eric Mc]

Try and contact HMRC to find out why you weren't on the normal PAYE cioding for the past three years. If they have made errors, they should be able to correct the codings for those years.