My P60 is not correct and tax deadline is near

imgiseverything

In 2007/08, I started to do some freelancing (web design) on the side - not making masses of money but I've done everything correct: registered as self-employed (within the allotted timeframe); kept records of my incomings/outgoings. Therefore, I need to fill in my tax return which is due January 2009 which should be a breeze but...

I had three PAYE employers in 2007/08: two of these employers did everything correctly and gave me payslips, P45s, paid on time. However, the third employer did not - I did not receive payslips, pay was often late (3 weeks late at times) and I only got my P60 last week after months of fighting with them for it.

B]Sidenote:[/B] [I]The third employer, was an offshoot of the second employer - that is to say, they setup a new Ltd but all the same people were involved[/I

The P60 that they gave me is inaccurate and not much use for filling out my tax return. As I was only employed by them for 3-4 months inside that tax year, the P60 should only have 3-4 months salary on it but it the figures (salary/taxes paid) on the P60assume that I'd worked for them for a full 12 months.

I have also received a couple of paylsips from the company for August/September 2008 which could be used to guesstimate what I've paid but as the income tax figures have changed from 22% to 20% the amount of tax paid is a little different from January-April 2008.

I've rang HMRC (a while ago) and they've advised that I should estimate the figures and seemed very friendly about it - I suspect they'll stop being friendly if I submit incorrectly estimated details though

I'm at my wits end with this former employer. I doubt there is any point asking them for an accurate P60 as the likelihood of receiving in time to do my taxes is non-existent.

Any advice would be great. What would you do in my situation?

Auzelia

Should your P60 not include all paid work from 6th of April 07 -5th of April 08?

So maybe the amount that is on the P60 is your total combined income from all 3 employers.

I know when I had 2 jobs in one tax year I received only 1 P60 and it had that information on it, as my new employer was find out from somewhere how much I had earned previously.

imgiseverything

@Auzelia: I'm sure that's supposed to be the case but not in this instance. My salaries have varied from the different employers (the 2nd&3rd jobs' salaries were higher than the first job's) and the P60 looks like it has been created with no forethought about previous work in the year.

The P60 makes it seem like I was paid more money than I was throuhgout the year and that I paid more tax as well.

fengirl_2

I assume you are querying the P60 with the employer? Assuming you will get no joy there, it is perfectly acceptable to put estimated figures on your self assessment, provided you tick the box which states that some of the figures are provisional. I would also send copies of the P45's and P60 to your tax office together with a letter setting out what is in your question above and asking them to query this with the employer (saying, of course, that you have tried and failed). They may listen to HMRC!

imgiseverything

@fengirl: Thanks for the advice. I hadn't thought of posting the copies of the documents to the tax office.

My old employer is both incompetent and lazy as opposed to malicious despite my haranguing them for months there finger seems to be well and truly wedged in. Any steps I can take to bypass their involvement would definitely speed things up.