Is the Inland Revenue taking too much tax?

M-O-R

Hi All,

For what seems like a relatively straight forward question i am getting no where. My payroll department appear pretty useless and I cannot get through to my local tax office.

Here goes...

I have used the listentotaxman.com income tax calculator which says I should be taxed £794.17 per month in income tax on my salary. I am being taxed more however (as a result of my tax code = 241L) to the tune of £929.37 per month.

I cannot account for the higher tax amount i am paying, and as advised, my payroll department have pretty much said "thats just how it is" without being able to explain any further.

Why does the tax calculator say one thing and then when i put my tax code in the tax calculator the actual tax take amounts to a different (and higher) figure?

I dont have a company car although do get a car allowance, although i dont think this is relevant to the discrepancy in the two figures above.

M-O-R

Sterile

I cant explain it but I certainly wouldnt let myself be fobbed off by a payroll department if I wasnt happy. You can be damn sure the payroll people arent paying 1k a month in tax. What about going above them, human resources manager etc?

Failing that persevere with the tax office. You might have to go in and see them in person.

The money's not going to be lost though, if it turns out you were overpaying you'll get credited.

mrkbrrws

HM Revenue & Customs should have sent you a notice of tax coding which details what makes up your tax code.

If you haven't got one then you will need to contact HMRC to get a duplicate and then you can check if everything is correct.

The reduced tax code may be because of unpaid tax in previous years, other income being coded out or benefits received (company car etc). Your employer has no way of knowing what your tax code should be or how it is made up.

M-O-R

Thanks for the reply.

I work pretty much next door to a tax office so will pop in. The phone has been constantly engaged for 2 days now!!!

It is puzzling though. The budget newspapers out today also confirm that my annual tax take should be less than what they are collecting.

Considering i still owe £8K on my student loan (down from £16K) i do feel rather hacked off they appear to be plundering my wages remorselessly, my eyes nearly watered this month at the total deductions - now 38%!!!

Cheers guys, any other advice warmly welcomed.

M-O-R

Dave101t

i too was paying, but on a K533 code, which means they were charging me for an extra 5330 quid that i wasnt earning, and they removed my tax free allowance, but that was due to unpaid tax in a previous year and car and fuel benefit.
you need to speak to your tax office, payroll dont know how your tax code is worked out, they simply get told what it is.

im still not happy with HMRC's figures and asked them to provide me with my tax breakdown for the last 3 years, which they did.
im still trying to claim back 600 quid but i got out of paying 5000 quid which is a bonus!

M-O-R

Right... popped into the tax office next door and spoke to a helpful lady.

We think the problem lies in that i am still being taxed for a company car i stopped using in mid December 2008 - despite me sending all relevant forms when required.

I am collating a P11D from my previous employer, P45 & P60 from current employer and need to go back to tax office to ascertain whats what.

Will let you know how i get on. I think i am probably owed about £600 if it gets resolved quickly.

Thanks.

Any

Sterile wrote: »

I cant explain it but I certainly wouldnt let myself be fobbed off by a payroll department if I wasnt happy. You can be damn sure the payroll people arent paying 1k a month in tax. What about going above them, human resources manager etc?

Failing that persevere with the tax office. You might have to go in and see them in person.

The money's not going to be lost though, if it turns out you were overpaying you'll get credited.

Payroll department has absolutely no idea what made up your tax code so I cannot see how they are going to resolve this. The only thing they should have done was to tell you "call tax office". They might have SOME idea to the extent of what affects tax codes, but cannot really spell you out your personal circumstances.

And if the human resources manager was able to help, that would be the first human resources manager understanding tax codes I have ever seen.

Well done OP, I hope you get your refund sorted out soon.