Change of tax code?

[Deleted User]

My husband has just rung me with his wage slip details. It is his 2nd wage from this job and luckily it wasn't emergency taxed this time, however his tax code is now 360L and we seem to remember it being 420L? He was on JSA from April '08 - August '08, and before this did a variety a jobs/changes/JSA periods. Would this have any impact on his tax code?

He now works 32.5hrs/week at £6/hr, gets paid on the 1st monthly. His wage slip this time says 142 units with £853.10 gross pay, £699.10 net pay, £110 being taken for tax and £44 taken for NI. Tax code 360L.
Is his tax code good or bad?! We are a married couple with 2 children.

Why do you think his tax code has changed? Is it something obvious like a JSA period or national change or should I be getting him to ring and enquire? Any help/suggestions would be gratefully received.

ceeforcat

What did your husband give to his employer upon commencement? Was it an old P45 per chance? If so, ask him to request a form P46 from his new employer. They will operate code 603L on an emergency basis which will mean that he pays the correct tax each month from now on. The HMRC will eventually issue a code to allow him to benefit from any unused tax allowances since April during his period of unemployment.

Also are you sure his code did not increase from 360 to 420 as opposed to the other way round?

chrisbur

The tax deducted this month is correct for a code of 360L which is strange as you mention he was on emergency tax last month. If it was emergency tax then he would have paid less than he would have on 360L and so the extra would have been collected this month. If he was on BR then he would have paid more than 360L and this would have reduced his tax this month. For 360L to have worked out correct the code must have been applied on a month 1 basis. This is common practise if the tax office have issued the code. You should have had a notice from the tax office advising of a code change.
Even a code of 420L suggests that his code is being adjusted for some reason eg tax owing from a previous year, or some benefit being recieved from his employer.
Being married having children or being on JSA will not affect his tax code so you need to find out why it is lower than the 603L "normal code", it may be because he has had some benefit in an old job that he no longer gets so needs to advise the tax office of this.

If you cannot find a tax code notice to explain this code then you will have to get in touch with the tax office to see what is happening.

[Deleted User]

Thanks for your replies. Yes, he handed in a P45 from the Jobcentre to his new job.
His first wage slip says Tax Code - BR week 1/Month 1. This was for 65.66 units at £6 rate - total £393.95, tax paid £78.60. Total net pay £315.35. No NI paid.

I will mention about a p46 form and see if that makes any difference. As far as I'm aware he doesn't 'owe' any tax, he's not self-employed and doesn't get any bebefit through his wage.
So tax code 603L is the normal rate code now? I think we will probably have to ring and find out why.

ceeforcat

So, it appears that BR was applied because he had no form P45 and had not completed a P46. In this instance your husband loses 20% of all earnings in tax. This is more a penalty code than an emergency code.

As I suspected his P45 probably showed that old code number and those responsible for processing his salary operated the same code incorrectly when he handed it in.

My previous posting is still my best solution for solving the problem.

[Deleted User]

Thanks ceeforcat, I'll get him to do a p46. Will he get any tax back that he has been overcharged anytime soon?

chrisbur

You need to find out why he is on a reduced tax code. Does he have any PAYE Coding Notice; looks like this http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/p2/p2.pdf
If he had a P45 with a code of 420L and is now on 360L it was most likely that the tax office issued this code. If this is the case I am not sure if his employer would now let him sign a p46 to get a better tax code than the tax office have given him.

If I were you I would check for a coding notice to see what that had on it and if that did not help then get in touch with the tax office.