I'm concerned my employer isn't paying my tax

anyonu

I've been working for a small business for 5 years, my employer gave me some pay slips for the first couple of months but then stopped. The only time I've had a p60 was when I applied and got a mortgage for my house.

Does anyone know of a way I can check that they are paying my tax out of my salary, preferably without getting them into trouble straight away if they are found not to be?

My salary is paid into my bank account monthly.

many thanks

olias

Why wait over 4 years to chase this up?

Did your employer give any reason why the payslips stopped? Did you not think to ask him?

Did your initial payslips show the correct tax/NI outgoings? Did your monthly pay change when he stopped the payslips? When and how did your P60 arrive? Did you request it or did it come at the end of the tax year? Were the salary and tax deductions shown on it accurate?

Personally I would start by requesting a monthly payslip stating that you need it for your records and to keep track of your monthly income and tax outgoings etc. See what his reaction is to that first before taking the matter further.

Olias

Meepster

Call the tax office and ask them how much tax you have paid this year, as you think there could be a mistake and you are paying too much. Take it from there...

anyonu

In fairness it was probably my fault that they stopped. He asked if I needed them to be printed off every month and I said no for some reason. They appeared to have the correct figures on them when I did have them but I haven't had one since.

I had to request my p60 to be produced for my mortgage application which was in December 18 months ago and haven't had one since. The figues looked good on that as well.

Recent events have made me question what is going on behind the scenes though and I do wonder if I am paying the right amounts, if anything. My thinking is that if I start asking for things, my suspisions will become obvious. If I call the tax office, will they want to know why I want to know how much tax I've paid?

moneyuser

I would get your NI checked as well. Just ring and ask for a statement for the last 5 years.

*Louise*

Just ask them to give you a monthly payslip from now on. The amount of tax paid will accumulate on that so you can keep an eye on it.

You could also ask for last year's P60 to be printed - that would put your mind at ease if it is corect.

fengirl_2

HMRC will not tell you whether or not your employer has been paying your tax and NIC - this is part of his tax affiars and is private. It is his liability, so if he hasn't been paying, he is the one in trouble, not you. You have to have a payslip by law and you can go to an ET if you dont get one. A P60 is also required by law and you can tell HMRC if you don't get one - this may alert them to other problems.

PlutoinCapricorn

It is good that you have decided to sort things out. I can't imagine why you said that you did not need payslips, it is essential to keep them. And P60s are very important too.

One thing that you can do right now is to look at the net payment amount that you are receiving each month. You must know your gross salary: you can calculate the NI and income tax payable each month, deduct them and see whether the result is the net that you are receiving.

If the figures agree, you can be sure that the correct amounts are being deducted, but of course you cannot know whether they are being sent to HMRC, together with employer's NI.

Any

If the employer is not paying PAYE for you, it's his problem.
But to leave YOU out of problems you need the payslips and P60s to prove you have worked all this time.

Because if he is not paying for you, he probably didn't register you as his employee and HMRC might think that you were not working and therefore contributing to your state pension etc...

horrifiedreader

anyonu

By law, your employer must give you a payslip when or before you are paid your wages.

It must include your gross pay, take-home pay and any deductions. Deductions that change, like Income Tax payments, must be individually listed each time. Fixed deductions such as trade union subscriptions for example, can be shown as one combined total provided you have been given an annual statement showing how that total breaks down.

Whether you want them or not doesnt matter - the onus is on your Employer.

The same applies to a P60 - an Employer has to provide this to each employee still working for them at the end of the tax year. However, if it gets lost, the employer is under no obligation to send a copy.

I would advise that you ask your employer, formally in writing for all back months of payslips.

If that it is refused/ignored, I would then launch a grievance procedure with the company.

If a grievance is ignored, you then have grounds to go to ET.

Hope this helps.

anyonu

Thanks everyone for your advice.

I guess my main issue here is not wanting to burn any bridges with my employer and also not wanting to raise my real suspicions. There are only two of us in the firm and I will likely be asked for good reasons for him to have to spend a day writing a load of back - dated pay slips and this year's p60.