MSE News: Students can claim overpaid tax from summer jobs now

Very misleading article.

Suggests that NI is calculated on annual salary and it isn't.

Itvalso says that everyone can claim back overpaid tax and makes it seem automatic and simple.

Claimimg back overpaid tax is not straight forward. The article says that everyone can do it. Well I have been trying since May.

You Cant claim back if you are on JSA. (and many who have overpaid it will be as now unemployed) .If you have not been on JSA for a month then you have to write in. You have to prove that you will not be working again and then it is discretionary.

pleasedelete wrote: »

Very misleading article.

Suggests that NI is calculated on annual salary and it isn't.

Itvalso says that everyone can claim back overpaid tax and makes it seem automatic and simple.

Claimimg back overpaid tax is not straight forward. The article says that everyone can do it. Well I have been trying since May.

You Cant claim back if you are on JSA. (and many who have overpaid it will be as now unemployed) .If you have not been on JSA for a month then you have to write in. You have to prove that you will not be working again and then it is discretionary.

Mine has always been very straight forward with me receiving money within 4 weeks.

If you are going onto JSA you should have handed P45 into the tax office who would have sorted out a repayment. If you do not go onto JSA you can easily write a cover letter saying "I will not be working for the rest of the tax year nor claiming any benefits that may effect my tax status." and they will repay it, as I had done for many years.

I would also point out that this article is based on full time students, who are unable to claim JSA, so your problem wouldn't effect them and they can simply write on a cover letter "I am going back to full time study and will not be working for rest of the tax year".

It took around 8 months for HMRC to process my refund. I'd worked for more than 1 employer over the summer. Companies aren't obliged to send details to HMRC of any employment until the end of the tax year. HMRC wouldn't accept copies of my payslips as proof of tax paid. So I had to wait until the end of the tax year for the companies involved to send P14s to HMRC. For reasons I don't understand, two of my employers didn't have to give me a P45 when I finished working for them.

The above is the 'simple' version of the saga. I found dealing with HMRC incredibly difficult. Everything has to be done by post. It took them at least 1 month to reply to each letter. In some cases their replies were incomprehensible, or were asking for information they had already received. Hopefully they learned from the thrashing the Treasury Select Committee gave them:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-14314691

CompBunny wrote: »

You can do it yourself, or via an external company who take a cut

Despite the difficulty in dealing with them, I wouldn't use an external company. It would pain me to pay for money I'm owed!

I work haphazardly for various agencies and up until recently, all agencies regarded me as self employed and responsible for my own NI and tax. Now I have joined an agency from which I expected the same treatment, but when I got my first pay cheque through, they have taken tax of 20%. When I called them, they said that it is in their terms and conditions, and that everyone who works for them has tax taken off at source - a bit naughty since when quoting for jobs they say, 'you will come out with....' Anyway, since I've never been in this predicament before, I really don't know how to go about claiming this tax back. I am not a student but I am on a (very) low income and getting WTC. I guess I have to wait until the end of the tax year and then do something, but I'm not actually sure what, other than to call HMRC and go through some long winded process, I expect. Very annoying that this particular agency just take tax from everyone at source, regardless of circumstances.