BR tax code - argh!

ShelfStacker_3

I've just got my first payslip from my new employer. My tax code used to be 549L, but on the payslip it's listed as BR, which I understand means I paid 20% on the whole lot, no allowances or anything... :eek:

Will the Inland Revenue adjust my tax code for this year in light of this so I don't pay too much tax? What will happen about the £60 "bonus" everybody got this month, have I now missed out on that? What should I do now, because I really can't afford having £100 of my pay go walkies

CLAPTON

did you give your new employer a P45?

ShelfStacker_3

CLAPTON wrote: »

did you give your new employer a P45?

Yes, on my first day there.

CLAPTON

you need to speak to your payroll people... if you gave a P45 they should have used the tax code on the P45

System

ShelfStacker wrote: »

What will happen about the £60 "bonus" everybody got this month, have I now missed out on that? What should I do now, because I really can't afford having £100 of my pay go walkies

The £60 is not a bonus it is the result of the government bowing to pressure from the public and increasing your tax free allowance from £5435 to £6035 in the 2008/2009 tax year. That's an extra £600 tax free and means you will be better off in the year by £600 x 20% = £120 and that equals an extra £10 per month you get to keep out of your gross pay.

Because the code is changing in September you are effectively getting back the £10 you "overpaid" in April, May, June, July and August along with keeping the extra £10 in September. When your code is changed from BR to the correct code any tax you have overpaid will be refunded to you in your pay packet.

gordonstights

CLAPTON is right. There is no reason for you to be put on a BR code if you gave them a P45. A P45 should have the tax code your previous employers used for you and your new employer should use this too until they are informed otherwise by HMRC.

Check your copy of your P45, see what tax code you were on previously & show it to your new payroll dept and tell them you shouldn't be on BR (assuming your previous employer didn't also use BR!)

ShelfStacker_3

Well, I contacted the tax office, and they talked me through the whole thing and got a coding notice sent out, and they've put me on code 609L. Which doesn't make up for the fact that I've paid too much tax at all!

September pay
£12700/12 = £1058 gross
Paid £211.67 tax and £66.37 NI

On that amount I SHOULD have paid about £110 tax, meaning I'm £100 down, but the most I'll get back now will amount to about a tenner :S Should I call them up again?

Mikeyorks

Don't understand. If HMRC have just issued Code 609L (slightly above the basic 603L) - then your employer can't have applied it yet if your OP relates to Sept pay? Once they apply it to your Oct pay then the excess you paid on BR + the extra (7 months of the ...) £600 allowance will come into play.

If your last post does relate to Oct pay (you say it's September?) - then check the Code number that's been used against it?

chrisbur

ShelfStacker wrote: »

Well, I contacted the tax office, and they talked me through the whole thing and got a coding notice sent out, and they've put me on code 609L. Which doesn't make up for the fact that I've paid too much tax at all!

September pay
£12700/12 = £1058 gross
Paid £211.67 tax and £66.37 NI

On that amount I SHOULD have paid about £110 tax, meaning I'm £100 down, but the most I'll get back now will amount to about a tenner :S Should I call them up again?

If a coding notice of 609L has just been sent out then this will be applied to your wages when it is recieved.
If the notice is for 609L month one then there will be no correction for any overtax paid earlier or indeed any undertax if that is the case. The code will just give you a correct monthly tax figure untill the tax office can issue a cumulative code.
If the code is 609L cumulative then it will also have details of pay and tax before you started in your new job and your tax will be recalculted back to the start of the tax year. Any overpaid tax or underpaid will then be adjusted in your pay.
As you say you have been overtaxed about £100 last month but without knowing your pay and tax before last month I cannot comment for certain on you tax position. Providing your tax was correct up to starting this new job you will get the £100 and the £60 as a tax reduction when a cumulative code is issued.