Is getting a second job worth it

SLP_3

Hi,

I am currently earning £26,000 a year and due to my partner earning a lot less and moving into our first home I was looking into the idea of getting a second job either part time weekend or weekday evenings either in a supermarket or other retail shops whilst the xmas period is on. The only doubt that I have is whether it is worth getting a second job due to the tax I would have to pay.

Is there a way for me to find out how much tax I would have to pay and how much I would actually have to take home before I apply for a second job? I have looked on the government website but cannot see anything that would help me work it out.

Would appreciate any guidance that you could give.

Scaredy_Cat_3

Sorry, I know this isn't quite what you asked, but is there any possibility of getting overtime where you have your full-time job? It's just that I remember looking for a second job a while ago, and really the money I would have earned would have been less than I'd have got from just working extra hours for my normal employer at the time.

Also, have you considered applying for xmas jobs? I know places like Argos actually prefer people to be interested in making it a permanent thing, rather than just a few months over xmas.

Any

Not every employer pays 1.5x per hour of overtime. That is what I suspect Scaredy Cat is suggesting. For example I am at 22k and as that is managerial position I am expected to stay a little longer if there is the need. Only people on low wages are paid overtime - or if they are doing other persons job.

As the answer to SLPs question - unless you have any other benefits from your employer, which could up your "wage packet"-that is something else then just "salary" as it includes the value of the benefits (company car or something like that), then you will pay tax 20% on your second earnings.

By the way your OH earn less then you and so you are going to get second job? Why cannot he/she get second job?

Scaredy_Cat_3

Actually, Any, although I would hope the OP could command a proper overtime rate, that wasn't specifically what I meant. In my case, I was employed part time in a call centre, which I hated. I wanted extra money, but didn't really want to do more hours in the call centre. Also, because I only worked part time I wouldn't get overtime rates until I had worked over 37 hours, so in fact I would only have been paid at my standard hourly rate - but because I had been there for a few years, this was actually more than the xmas jobs were paying.

I don't know what the OP's situation is, but even a basic hourly rate for his/her current employer might just be better than a part time job would pay.

Any

If the OP earns £26k a year there is no way she can pay less then 20% tax.
Rates for this tax year:
earnings pa £0-£6035 no tax to pay
£6036 - £40835 20% tax to pay
over 40% tax to pay
So now it all comes down to the offered pay/hour as the OP will pay 20% off that wherever she works.
Howeever Xmas jobs won't pay much - usually minimum pay, unless it is in OP's profession and then he/she can get professional rates.
Is it worth it?
Good question - depends how desperately you need it

mstopham

SLP wrote: »

Hi,

I am currently earning £26,000 a year and due to my partner earning a lot less and moving into our first home I was looking into the idea of getting a second job either part time weekend or weekday evenings either in a supermarket or other retail shops whilst the xmas period is on. The only doubt that I have is whether it is worth getting a second job due to the tax I would have to pay.

Is there a way for me to find out how much tax I would have to pay and how much I would actually have to take home before I apply for a second job? I have looked on the government website but cannot see anything that would help me work it out.

Would appreciate any guidance that you could give.

Hi SLP

http://listentotaxman.com/ is a good salary calculator that should let you work out how much tax etc you would pay. I put your salary in with tax code 603L and added £100 a week (£5200 annually) and you would get an extra £69 a week or £299 a month so therefore I would assume you can roughly take off 31% of any hourly rate you are offered. Obviously this would change if you reach the next income tax bracket but you would need around £300 gross extra a week to get there!

chrisbur

mstopham wrote: »

Hi SLP

http://listentotaxman.com/ is a good salary calculator that should let you work out how much tax etc you would pay. I put your salary in with tax code 603L and added £100 a week (£5200 annually) and you would get an extra £69 a week or £299 a month so therefore I would assume you can roughly take off 31% of any hourly rate you are offered. Obviously this would change if you reach the next income tax bracket but you would need around £300 gross extra a week to get there!

Provided that your two employments are with different employers then each job would be treated seperately for National Insurance purposes. This would mean that the first £105 a week in your second job would only have tax deducted and no NI. So providing you were not into the 40% tax bracket you would have only 20% taken from the first £105 a week and 31% taken if you earned over this.

pebblespop

tax paid on a second job would be exactly the same as tax paid in overtime in your current job, assuming you have used your tax free allowances (which at £26K you would).
you will be charged tax at 20% on the whole of your second income.

sezzie24

I work 7 days a week as a Secretary Mon-Fri which I get my tax allowance on and as a Receptionist at the weekend where I pay 20% tax. It means I only earn approx £39 a day from my weekend job which isn't much but it means my take home at the end of the month is about £160 better.

littleange

Don't forget national insurance too

kelloggs36

Surely you only get one national insurance free amount - just because you have 2 jobs doesn't mean you don't pay it on the second job does it? I would have thought that because you have not paid it on the first £105 in the first job, that you then pay it on all your earnings in your second job up to the maximum.