Paying tax on earnings

laurenced

HI all

Last summer I earned ~£1000 during the Edinburgh Festival (the month of August). My earnings were taxed, presumably because on that 'salary' my income would be ~£12000 a year and therefore very taxable. However, since I only worked for a month, my yearly income was only ~£2000 (including working during the rest of the year).

So will I get the tax back? Is it automatic or do I need to fill out any forms? My employer tells me it should be automatic, around this time of year (circa April 5th I would have thought, but I've not had any refunds).

Can anyone shed some light on this?

melancholly

you should get a P60 at the end of the tax year (although i'm still waiting on mine!) from your employer. then i'm not so sure - i need to claim tax back and will eb calling the inland revenue about it when i get the form - any more specific advice would be greatfully received!

xnikkix

I'm in the same situation and stil unsure what to do. I haven't received a P60 for my summer job just my weekend job. So firstly I think I need to chase this up with the agency and then get on to the Taxman. Will be nice to get a wee bit of money back!

Sillychuckie

Just claim it...
I left my job in August 05, only 4 months after the new tax year started. Knowing that I was unlikely to get another job that tax year, I IMMEDIATELY put in a claim for a refund of the money I had been overtaxed on. I got it within 2 weeks.

Go to them, don't wait for them to come to you.
a) Its quicker. You get your money earlier.
b) Having got your money, you earn interest on it... not the gov't.
c) They might make an admin error and you might never get any of it. I don't trust them to do it automatically.

Even though I might have eventually done more work that year, it is still worth claiming it early. If you do end up working more (obviously not relevant for your question), its easy enough to let them know.
Claim claim claim... thats my vote.
You will however need your P60, but I got it the moment I left the job in August. I would have thought that you could also have requested it at this early stage rather than hope they send you one at the end of the tax year.

laurenced

Sillychuckie wrote:

Just claim it...
I left my job in August 05, only 4 months after the new tax year started. Knowing that I was unlikely to get another job that tax year, I IMMEDIATELY put in a claim for a refund of the money I had been overtaxed on. I got it within 2 weeks.

Go to them, don't wait for them to come to you.
a) Its quicker. You get your money earlier.
b) Having got your money, you earn interest on it... not the gov't.
c) They might make an admin error and you might never get any of it. I don't trust them to do it automatically.

Even though I might have eventually done more work that year, it is still worth claiming it early. If you do end up working more (obviously not relevant for your question), its easy enough to let them know.
Claim claim claim... thats my vote.
You will however need your P60, but I got it the moment I left the job in August. I would have thought that you could also have requested it at this early stage rather than hope they send you one at the end of the tax year.

Well I still work with the same company, but just a couple of shifts a week now, so since my employment with them hasn't ended I haven't got a P60. Is there a way to get one?

eileenfromplaistow

you only get a P60 if you are still employed by the company on 5th April - and even then they can be slow to be issued. If you finish with an employer during the tax year, they should give you a P45, which has the reference number of the employer on it - your own reference is your national insurance number. You can claim during the year for overpaid tax, using the P45 and writing to the tax office with details of your employments since 6th April.
Employers provide their Tax Office with a complete list of employee pay and tax after the end of the tax year(ie effectively the P60s for each and every person employed), so you could contact the Tax Office direct, and give them as much info as possible (employee number can be quite useful in temp employment). If you phone your local tax office, they can give you an address for the right office.

missk_ensington

If you do any work in future dont begin until youve filled out a student tax form (This is ONLY for work during uni holidays and weekends) You can earn over £5000 tax free, however regardless of this you should still be under your personal allowance (Ive been taxed quite a bit recently and Im under my allowance. When I investiagted my tax code on the payslip was BR (Basic Rate) It should be 531 (or something like that) meaning £5310 is what you can earn per year before tax.

There a problem in the way they calulate tax full stop. They do it pro-rata and divide your Allowance by 52 wks (its approx £90 a week) Anything above £90 a week is taxed but for some people like me on a temp contract sometimes earn £50 and other weeks £150 depending on how much work comes in, so that for eg, would work out £75 over two weeks, yet you'd get taxed on the £150.

I was told to ring Inland Rev and they tell you what to do.

Good luck! x

laurenced

I called the IR and they told me simply to get a P60 from my employer which I fill in, send to them, and that's it. The tax gets credited back once they confirm that you earned less than £4895.

yeslek

file a claim asap - i had to when i only worked 6 months last tax year, i ernt £6000 but was taxed as if i was earning the full £12000 so i got a nice £500 chq back for the additional tax

Savvy_Sue

laurenced wrote:

I called the IR and they told me simply to get a P60 from my employer which I fill in, send to them, and that's it. The tax gets credited back once they confirm that you earned less than £4895.

But as eileen says, you ONLY get a P60 if you are employed at the end of the tax year! And then you only get it from the employer who's employing you at that point, not any previous employers. If you are due one, you should get it by 31 May (legal requirement).

If you were NOT in employment at the end of the tax year, you should have got a P45 from any employers earlier in the year. And that's what you can send off to the tax office as proof of earnings.

The_Saving_Man

laurenced wrote:

HI all

So will I get the tax back? Is it automatic or do I need to fill out any forms? My employer tells me it should be automatic, around this time of year (circa April 5th I would have thought, but I've not had any refunds).

Can anyone shed some light on this?

As you've been told in other replies, you need to call the last tax office to hold you're details and claim a rebate. To find your tax office, look on your P45, on the one which should say Employee Copy and Part 1a on it. At the top there should be a 3 digit number which is the office number. Go on to the Revenue and Customs sites https://www.hmrc.gov.uk and at the top there's a link that says 'Contact Us'. Click on this and you'll arrive at a screen that is divided between old Revenue Tax issues and Vat and Customs issues. Click to contact by phone on the Tax issues side and then on the next screen click 'Specific Enquiries'. Select the 'Individuals' option, and in the box enter the three digit office number and that should take you to a number for your tax office. When you call, have three things to hand. Your National Insurance Number, the tax reference number for your last company (the set of numbers on you P45 that come after the office number and seperated by a \), and the last coding that you had. Make sure you say that this was your last employment wihin this tax year, and all you have is the P45. They should have Part 1 of your P45, which should have been sent to them by your last employer. Make sure you make it clear that you will not have a P60. Your previous employer will probably not produce or destroy any P60 relating to you, as it's been rendered irrelevant by your P45.

You could of course sit and wait for them to automatically rebate you. Average waiting times are currently about 1 and a half to 2 years!!

Hope his helps and please feel free to ask anymore questions you may have.