Help with tax code!
Discussion
Hi all,
Wondering if somebody can help me out on this.
I have a slightly complicated tax situation in that I am self employed, but also work for two employers part time. As a result, when I fill in my tax return I complete 2 employed sections and a self employed section.
One of my employers is a borough council. I don't have much contact with them - I hand in my pay claim/hours sheet to my department office, they turn the figures into something that Payroll can use, and I get paid.
About 18 months ago, a useless woman in the departmental office (who has now been sacked thankfully) screwed up my paperwork, and I was paid somebody else's earnings for several months. When I realised, they apologised, but of course it was too late to do anything except not pay me for the next 2 or 3 months as I had been overpaid by a lot. Annoyingly, this happened across 2 tax years, so I was apparently paid much more for 2010-11, and less 2011-12. I assume it all panned out in the end but it is impossible to check as the payslips don't show any detail and bear very little relation to the forms I hand in. Scary given the apparent incompetence of my deparmental office.
I am finding it very difficult to find out what is going on by looking at my payslips. Initially on the discovery of the cockup(April 2011), I was paid very little which seemed to make sense, but on my July payslip a "Sundry Debts" appears of a couple of grand, which is then added to my "taxable pay to date" column. Things then go back to normal over the next few months, I am paid, taxed, and the "taxable pay to date" goes up as expected.
Then in January of this year I received a letter from HMR&C about my tax code changing, and checking my payslip I seem to have had a refund on tax to the tune of about £1200 (a negative deduction apparently). On ringing the council payroll they confirm that this is due to the IR changing my tax code.
I have no idea why they have changed my tax code and why I have had a refund of tax.
Since this point, I seem to have been paying a much smaller of proportion of my pay to tax. This worries me as I like to budget for my tax bill and have absolutely no idea of how much I should be budgeting. It seems that they further revised my tax code at the new tax year, but I received no correspondence about this.
As a result, I called the HMR&C helpline, thinking that they might help me.
What followed was the most frustrating 10 minute conversation of my life. The woman I spoke to (could have been a robot though) just kept asking my tax code and then saying it was correct, and then asking her what I wanted her to do. I tried to explain the whole sorry situation, but she just kept repeating the above. She kept quoting figures that I had given them, and implying that if they were incorrect then I had been lying to them. Figures that clearly payroll had given them, and have been processed in a way as to mean nothing to me (expenses averaged out, etc. I don't even know my hourly rate, I just claim a certain number of hours per term and they average this out per month). Not really a very helpful helpline, and a bit scary when you feel the IR looking at you in an accusatory manner...
So, PH tax experts, I turn to you. What the hell is going on? Should I be worrying? Is this correct? I'm not thick but these payslips are not easy to decipher. I have been used to being taxed on around 20-25% of my whole earnings from employments, which has helped to offset my earnings from my self employed work. This is great for me as I don't get very large tax bills, it is all paid at source.
What I am guessing is happening now, is that they are only taxing me in this employment on what I am earning above my personal allowance, rather than on the lot.
I just want it to go back to the way it was before. Is this too much to ask?
Sorry for the long post.
Wondering if somebody can help me out on this.
I have a slightly complicated tax situation in that I am self employed, but also work for two employers part time. As a result, when I fill in my tax return I complete 2 employed sections and a self employed section.
One of my employers is a borough council. I don't have much contact with them - I hand in my pay claim/hours sheet to my department office, they turn the figures into something that Payroll can use, and I get paid.
About 18 months ago, a useless woman in the departmental office (who has now been sacked thankfully) screwed up my paperwork, and I was paid somebody else's earnings for several months. When I realised, they apologised, but of course it was too late to do anything except not pay me for the next 2 or 3 months as I had been overpaid by a lot. Annoyingly, this happened across 2 tax years, so I was apparently paid much more for 2010-11, and less 2011-12. I assume it all panned out in the end but it is impossible to check as the payslips don't show any detail and bear very little relation to the forms I hand in. Scary given the apparent incompetence of my deparmental office.
I am finding it very difficult to find out what is going on by looking at my payslips. Initially on the discovery of the cockup(April 2011), I was paid very little which seemed to make sense, but on my July payslip a "Sundry Debts" appears of a couple of grand, which is then added to my "taxable pay to date" column. Things then go back to normal over the next few months, I am paid, taxed, and the "taxable pay to date" goes up as expected.
Then in January of this year I received a letter from HMR&C about my tax code changing, and checking my payslip I seem to have had a refund on tax to the tune of about £1200 (a negative deduction apparently). On ringing the council payroll they confirm that this is due to the IR changing my tax code.
I have no idea why they have changed my tax code and why I have had a refund of tax.
Since this point, I seem to have been paying a much smaller of proportion of my pay to tax. This worries me as I like to budget for my tax bill and have absolutely no idea of how much I should be budgeting. It seems that they further revised my tax code at the new tax year, but I received no correspondence about this.
As a result, I called the HMR&C helpline, thinking that they might help me.
What followed was the most frustrating 10 minute conversation of my life. The woman I spoke to (could have been a robot though) just kept asking my tax code and then saying it was correct, and then asking her what I wanted her to do. I tried to explain the whole sorry situation, but she just kept repeating the above. She kept quoting figures that I had given them, and implying that if they were incorrect then I had been lying to them. Figures that clearly payroll had given them, and have been processed in a way as to mean nothing to me (expenses averaged out, etc. I don't even know my hourly rate, I just claim a certain number of hours per term and they average this out per month). Not really a very helpful helpline, and a bit scary when you feel the IR looking at you in an accusatory manner...
So, PH tax experts, I turn to you. What the hell is going on? Should I be worrying? Is this correct? I'm not thick but these payslips are not easy to decipher. I have been used to being taxed on around 20-25% of my whole earnings from employments, which has helped to offset my earnings from my self employed work. This is great for me as I don't get very large tax bills, it is all paid at source.
What I am guessing is happening now, is that they are only taxing me in this employment on what I am earning above my personal allowance, rather than on the lot.
I just want it to go back to the way it was before. Is this too much to ask?
Sorry for the long post.
Edited by NiceCupOfTea on Friday 25th May 18:05
HMRC don't accept e-mails from the general public - sorry.
I would expect that 1 employment has a code to give you your personal allowance and the other is probably BR (basic rate) - this will mean that any tax/NIC due on your self-employment needs to be paid seperately.
I would review your payslips and last tax return to check them for you if you want? Pm me if interested - no charge.
David
I would expect that 1 employment has a code to give you your personal allowance and the other is probably BR (basic rate) - this will mean that any tax/NIC due on your self-employment needs to be paid seperately.
I would review your payslips and last tax return to check them for you if you want? Pm me if interested - no charge.
David
Hi David,
That's a very kind offer, will PM you over the weekend if that's OK?
I have just checked my payslips again: I was on basic rate with both employments - the one in question now lists my tax code rather than BR, so I guess that is what has happened (whether this was due to the adminstrative cock up or for other reasons I don't know).
Is it possible to be put back on BR? I assume I get my personal allowance one way or another, so I pay the same tax whether it's by PAYE or through a tax bill at the end of the year?
That's a very kind offer, will PM you over the weekend if that's OK?
I have just checked my payslips again: I was on basic rate with both employments - the one in question now lists my tax code rather than BR, so I guess that is what has happened (whether this was due to the adminstrative cock up or for other reasons I don't know).
Is it possible to be put back on BR? I assume I get my personal allowance one way or another, so I pay the same tax whether it's by PAYE or through a tax bill at the end of the year?
Edited by NiceCupOfTea on Friday 25th May 23:27
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