Working out how much tax I should pay

crichierules

This financial year I have had 3 jobs.

Can anybody tell me how much tax I should have paid? As I am back to full time studying I won't work again this tax year. (enough savings to allow me to concentrate fully on study) I tried the on line assessment but the site is down and the phone is always engaged. Details below.

My first job earned me £7620.96, tax on that £1091.42
I was in that job from the start of the financial year through until 23/09/06. I had a £500 pound tax benefit due to having a company van. Tax code on my P45 is 417L.

My second job was only for 2 weeks from 17/10/05 to 28/10/05. The tax code was 489L. I earned £494.70 and tax paid £38.30
No tax benefit. This was an agency job.

I then got the job I was temping in, working from 31/10/05 to 13/01/06. Tax code 417L. I earned £3346.60 and paid tax of £527.54

(The reason I left was to return to Uni until summer to finish my degree. My first job offered voluntary redundancy so it made sense to take it and get another job until I returned to Uni)

That gives me total earnings of £11462.26 and tax total of £1657.26. Given my personal allowance starts at £4895 minus £500 benefit deduction that means I should be taxed on £7067.26. I think this means I have overpaid on tax by about £230. Am I working this out right? Do I have to wait until the end of the tax year to request a rebate (if there is one) or do I contact them now?

Thanks for any help.

exil

I make your overpayment £345

£2020 at 10% - £202
£5046 at 22% - £1110

Total £1312

However I'm not sure I understand the bit about the company van benefit.

Ring up the HMRC - though as I've found out it can take a long time to get through!

crichierules

Thanks for the reply.
The company van amount I mentioned was a deduction from the tax free amount I can earn. Personal allowance £4895 minus £500 so I was able to earn £4395 before I would be taxed.
I'll keep trying the phone number. If the rebate is as much as you think that would be great. Always good getting unexpected money.

Cheers

Careful_ly

Crichierules

What you need is a p50 you can download and print one from the inland revenue site.
Cheque will be sent approx 4 weeks after completion of that. I think the £500 for the van is for the full year and you didnt have it for that amount of time, so maybe a little more rebate than Exil calculated. HTH

crichierules

Thanks exil and Careful_ly. I finally got through to the IR by phone and they are posting out a P50. The advisor suggested that the allowance for the van was only for part of the year so I will get some extra back for that.
Cheers again.

o_t_e

Hi - with regard to the van benefit ie the private use of a company van, the £500 is the equivalent cash value for a full tax year so if you only had use of the van for part of the year you should tell the inland revenue and they will apportion the value of the benefit that is taxable eg if you only had the van from 6/4/05 to 23/9/05 then the taxable van benefit is 500*171/365=234.

The 417L code seems to include a deduction for something other than your van ie 4895-500=4395=439L tax code; is there any other deductions that need to be considered? If not, and working on the basis that you had the van benefit for the full year (clearly not the case, but...) then the tax calculation is as follows:

Total Income
11462.26 plus
500 equals
11962.26 minus

Personal Allowance
4895 equals
7067.26

tax on 2090 at 10% equals 209
tax on 4977.26 at 22% equals 1094.99

Total tax due 1303.99
Tax paid 1657.26
Tax overpaid £353.26

I suggest you ring your tax office and confirm that they have all the pay/tax tax information for these three employers - they may not - in which case they may ask you to obtain a Statement of Earnings for the employers in question. Once they have all the information submit the P50 mentioned previously, and you should get the refund.

crichierules

o_t_e, during the conversation with the IR they double checked my employment details and were aware of all 3 jobs this tax year.
I checked my Coding Notice for this year, I have £500 deduction for van allowance and £222 for underpaid tax of £48.93 from the previous year.

Gives £4895
minus £500 van allowance
minus £222 underpaid tax of £48.93

Giving allowance of £4173 so that explains the 417L code.

Thanks for the post.

(edited from original as I found my Coding Notice)

o_t_e

Hi crichierules - thought it might have been a coded underpayment - in effect then the tax you have overpaid becomes reduced by the £48 they are trying to recoup for a prior tax year - when you send in the claim it's worth sending a covering letter reminding them to ensure that the £48 is covered before they make any repayment - they're only human and sometimes forget.

The timescale mentioned previously is about right - most tax offices are weeks behind with their mail - it's an ongoing problem that is never resolved - so maybe give them a call four weeks after you send it off for an update; you should find it easier to ring them then - in Febuary they get swamped with calls about new tax codes and self assessment fines.

ps just thought it worthwhile noting that if you do some temp work that gives you access to a van next tax year, maybe during your vacation periods, the figure they'll tax you on from 6/4/06 goes up from £500 to £3000-£3500 so it's worth thinking about whether you want/need private access to the van.