Can i reclaim tax?

Kayl06

Was in uni from Sept 08 - May 09 and was unable to get a job.
May 09 - Sept 09 was unemployed and couldn't claim JSA because i was still classed as a student, lived on pretty much nothing.

Sept 09 finally found a job and take home approx £1000 a month. Shifts change every week so can't give exact figures. No tax code on my pay slip (very small company but is above board).

Gross for November - 1197
Tax - 131.40
NI - 79.31
Net - 986.29

If that helps anyone.

Should i be paying that much? Or can i reclaim some of it back in April.
Thanks

dmg24

If you are due any repayment it should be reflected in your pay once your tax code is sorted.

cool_pinkie

Were you a student in April 08 as it best to work it out from April to April?

I was the same situation but I managed to get JSA after Uni. I just looked at my P60 from previous jobs/current job and JSA and worked out how much tax i'd paid from 2008/09. Am not sure if you could claim now for this tax year.

Just ring up your local tax office and say you think you mite be entitled to a rebate and they'll prob send you some forms.

Kayl06

Work are very unlikely to sort it out anytime soon, there's too much going on without having to sort out my tax too. I don't mind waiting anyway.

Just wanted to know if i was paying too much really

Kayl06

Yes, was a student in 08 too but not sure why that would matter as we are in a different tax year now.

fengirl_2

You need to take control of the situation, its not your employer's job to sort out your tax. You need to ring your tax office and tell them what you have told us. Ask them to issue a cumulative code number to your employer. he will then refund any tax overpaid through your wages.

rupee99

If you did not have a P45 when you started your new job (which would seem to be the case) you should have been given a form by your employer which once it had been completed it would be sent to the tax office that deals with their PAYE affairs. In due course you should be issued with a tax code.

In the mean time you will be taxed on a month/week 1 basis. That means, if you are paid monthly, you will be given 1/12 of the annual allowance (c.£500) against each months income, the balance taxed at 20%. Once the tax code is issued all of the months since April allowances will be given and, on the figures above you should get most, if not all, of the tax you have paid back automatically through the payroll.

You really want to get this sorted out ASAP, quite apart from getting your money back if it goes past March the repayment becomes much more messy so if you haven't been given the form ask the company's payroll office as soon as you get back what is happenning..

Savvy_Sue

That form is a P46 and you can download one yourself from the HMRC website.

If you tell us what your tax code is on your payslips, we might be able to tell you whether it's likely you've paid too much tax. If it's BR or something plus Wk1, you have.

trevormax

It is deff a wk1/m1 tax code. It is not BR because if it was, the OP's tax would have been around £239. It is not cumulative because if it was, the tax would have been £0 due to all of the OP's unused personal allowances from April to now. On a wk1/m1 code, the calcs are as follows:

Gross £1,197 less one month PA £539 = taxable £658 @ 20% = £131.60 tax.

OP, do as Fengirl suggests and contact your tax office to ask for a cumulative code to be issued. You will then get any overpaid tax back through your wages. Once the cumulative code is sorted, if your wages stay around the same level, you should not pay any tax until around March (although you will pay NI)

Savvy_Sue

I've just read the first post properly (d'oh!) and it says there's no tax code on the payslip, which I would have said was wrong ... I thought that HAD to be included, but maybe I'm wrong.

But I follow trevormax's impeccable logic, and I meant to give a link to HMRC.

Kayl06

I did have a look on the HMRC site but found it very confusing so thanks for letting me know exactly what i need to look for.

I know it would have been easier to ask in work what to do, but everyone has been so busy its impossible to do!

Thanks for the help though.