Student Loan Contributions

[pmanson]

Hi All,

I was expecting to start my SL contributions last month when the new tax year started) but work hasn't been instructed by the tax office to start the deductions. Who do I need to chase about this? I don't want to have to end up paying a lump sum at the end of the year.

I'm earning over the threshold (which is £15k i think) and was expecting to have to pay around £50 per month (so it will soon add up quickly).

Also how can I inform the Tax Man (sorry HMRC) about my change of address.. their website is complicated!

Thanks,
Phill

Edited by pmanson on Wednesday 16th May 14:29

[Eric Mc]

There should be a contact telephone number on the most recent 2008/08 PAYE Notice of Coding that you would have received. Try phoning them on that number and see if you can make any progress.

[gizmo.mp3]

Think the threshold is slightly higher than that now... isn't it linked to national average earnings?
www.studentsupportdirect.co.uk/portal/page?_pageid=1647,468247&_dad=portal&_schema=PROTOCOL - loads of info on this website...

[pmanson]

gizmo.mp3 said:

Think the threshold is slightly higher than that now... isn't it linked to national average earnings?
www.studentsupportdirect.co.uk/portal/page?_pageid=1647,468247&_dad=portal&_schema=PROTOCOL - loads of info on this website...

Studentsupportdirect said:

The repayment threshold for Income Contingent loans is currently set at £15,000 a year before deductions. If your income exceeds £15,000 a year, or the equivalent sums of £1,250 per month or £288 per week, you are required to make repayments.

I'll have a dig around and see if I can find out why it's not being taken.

Phill

[pmanson]

Eric Mc said:

There should be a contact telephone number on the most recent 2008/08 PAYE Notice of Coding that you would have received. Try phoning them on that number and see if you can make any progress.

Cheers Eric, I don't remember recieving a PAYE Notice of Coding... when should have I received that?

Phill

[Griff Bitch]

I know there was a glitch last year with the IR telling employers via the online email system. I didn't receive a start notice for an employee until 6 months after the start date, I didn't have to backdate it, it just means the period of repayment is extended.

[pmanson]

Griff Bitch said:

I know there was a glitch last year with the IR telling employers via the online email system. I didn't receive a start notice for an employee until 6 months after the start date, I didn't have to backdate it, it just means the period of repayment is extended.

Ok that's useful to know... I'll probably try and save the £50/£60 a month i'll have to pay as it'll hopefully mean I have a nice amount of cash built up by the time they come to start taking it.

[Eric Mc]

EVERY employee in the land should receive a detailed notice of coding prior to the commencement of the tax year (6 April 2007). The initial 2007/08 coding notices were issued in January 2007.

Do you know what your current coding is?

Edited by Eric Mc on Wednesday 16th May 14:50

[pmanson]

Eric Mc said:

EVERY employee in the land should receive a detailed notice of coding prior to the commencement of the tax year (6 April 2007). The initial 2007/08 coding notices were issued in January 2007.

Do you know what your current coding is?

Edited by Eric Mc on Wednesday 16th May 14:50

Not off the top of my head but i'll check when I get home. I have a horrible feeling that it might have gone to my previous address. I was at uni in Bournemouth this time last year and although I didn't change the address from my parents house I did claim some tax back while I was down there.

Phill

[Eric Mc]

Your current employer will be operating the authorised code issued by the Revenue on the salary they are paying you at the moment. Ask them what the coding amount they are using is.

Unfortunately, the Revenue do not provide employers with a detailed breakdown of the coding they issued in respect of you. They only issue the detailed breakdown to the actual taxpayer (i.e. you).

For your information, the standard 2007/08 coding for a straightforward individual i.e. a person who is not claiming any additional tax allowances or is not repaying anything back to the tax authorities,is 522L. This is based on the Personal Tax allowance amount for 2007/08 of £5,225.

If your coding is any other value, you need to know what the Revenue have done to it.

[Griff Bitch]

Eric Mc said:

EVERY employee in the land should receive a detailed notice of coding prior to the commencement of the tax year (6 April 2007). The initial 2007/08 coding notices were issued in January 2007.

Do you know what your current coding is?

Edited by Eric Mc on Wednesday 16th May 14:50

Is that right Eric? only I didn't get one, and I do payroll for 50 odd companies, and most of them didn't get one. I only got a handful of P9's this year. I think the revenue only send them out when you get a tax code change.

[Eric Mc]

I handle payrolls and I also handle personal tax for well over 100 people and I have been snowed under with Agent's Copies of detailed Notices of Codings for most of my clients who are on PAYE. Most of these Notices arrived in January and many of them just showed the standard 2007/08 amount of £5,225.
Of course, some of them have since been amended and I have received these amended copies too.

The employer should only ever get a Summary version of the Coding, not the detailed version.

Edited by Eric Mc on Wednesday 16th May 17:26

[doc3]

The SLC are pretty rubbish at keeping tabs on people. I informed them I moved, but they have not been taken anything off me and seem to have lost me. Quite a few mates are in the same position. We've checked we won't be expected to pay a lump sum when they catch up, will just extend the period. It's most likely the best loan rate i'll ever get so i'm in no hurry to clear it, will you use the money saved for a house deposit.

[timja]

The SLC are an absolute joke. A sham of a mockery! - I moved companies 12 months ago, and they still have not started taking any money out. They do not backdate these things and ask for a lump sum.

Last year I tried to get an update of how much i still owed them, and the best they could do was tell me the position from 18 months before - still waiting for figues from Inland Revenue.

Completely useless.


(feel better after that rant! )

[pmanson]

doc3 said:

will you use the money saved for a house deposit.

Currently in the process of buying a house! I thought I was skint when I was a student but it's nothing compared to now! lol

[Piglet]

Hmm topical...

It appears that my employer and my previous employer have been taking my student loan repayments but according to the most recent student loan statement they haven't been credited to the Student Loan account.

I've got a nasty feeling I vaguely noticed this last year but didn't do anything about it (AL statements go to Dad's address so don't always get opened!).

[Griff Bitch]

Eric Mc said:

I handle payrolls and I also handle personal tax for well over 100 people and I have been snowed under with Agent's Copies of detailed Notices of Codings for most of my clients who are on PAYE. Most of these Notices arrived in January and many of them just showed the standard 2007/08 amount of £5,225.
Of course, some of them have since been amended and I have received these amended copies too.

The employer should only ever get a Summary version of the Coding, not the detailed version.

Edited by Eric Mc on Wednesday 16th May 17:26

I agree the ones who have to fill in a tax return received notices, but the majority of PAYE people didn't. The employees tend to send me their detailed versions as well as me getting the IR P9 copy, and I only received about 10, which is good for me, so I don't have to go through each one to check they are on the right code. I wonder why there is a difference in procedure.

[Eric Mc]

I always understood that an employer was obliged to operate emergency tax on an individual's PAYE calculations up until the employer had been formally notified as to what the correct PAYE Coding is (or the employee completed a P46).

[tigger1]

They do not backdate - and the IR only pass on the money to SLC at the end of each tax year, which could explain why some people get statements that look wrong.

Only thing I worry about is that the interest rate is quietly creeping up on these loans, far far higher than I was led to believe when taking out the loan nearly 8 years ago...

[timja]

Piglet said:

Hmm topical...

It appears that my employer and my previous employer have been taking my student loan repayments but according to the most recent student loan statement they haven't been credited to the Student Loan account.

I've got a nasty feeling I vaguely noticed this last year but didn't do anything about it (AL statements go to Dad's address so don't always get opened!).

Just ensure you hang onto all your payslips showing the contributions coming out in case you need to query it.

I am going to have to sort through all mine at some point as i'm sure they have not all been credited!

The IR do not pass details onto the SLC till the end of each Tax year, and last time i spoke to them in March, they were still waiting for the previous years figures to be processed!!!!

Thats right - 23 months behind! Useless.