N.I. cockup by payroll Dept. Help Reqd.

poopyfish

Im not sure if im posting in the right category as i couldnt find any threads on this matter, sorry mods if im in the wrong place.

My wife works for a care trust looking after the disabled. She is full time employed and has a contarct for 40hrs a week. She has worked for them for over 12mths now.

The last paycheck (March period 12) from her payroll dept. showed they had paid her approx £750 on top of her hours worked but then taken that amount back under her N.I. Contributions.

She spoke to them and it appears they had not been taking the correct N.I. over the last tax year and had to make this £750 payment so the year end tax payments went through ok.
They tell us she now has to pay them back either over 10 or 12 mths, so in effect for the next year my wife will be paying double N.I. Contributions for something that was their mistake!!!!

Firstly does anybody know is this allowed? Who can i speak to to get on advice about what my wifes rights are in this situation....???

Not only have they cocked up the N.I. but we then find out that they have had her on the wrong tax code for the year and she has overpaid close to £1300. That sounds great and you say ok that will pay back your N.I. contribution however it will take at least 8 weeks before we get her P60 to then claim the tax back from HM Revenues... again this was their responsibility to sort as a companies payroll dept. surely not down to us?? or is it?

if anybody can help or point us in the right direction id be really appreciative...

alwaysonthego_2

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CLAPTON

firstly the tax code is on each of her payslips... did she not notice that her code was wrong
what was it?

it what way was the NI incorrect?
perhaps you could provide the details form a 'typical' payslip (not the March one)

in general however, mistakes need to rectified; if they owe you money then they need to repay you and in the same way if you owe them money then you need to repay it too.

poopyfish

alwaysonthego: thanks for moving my thread, apologies for being in the wrong place...

CLAPTON: We didnt notice the tax code being wrong, we presumed it was correct, were both not very up on tax codes. it turned out they thought my wife had a 2nd job and she didnt, hence they taxed her more. i dont have a wage slip here with me but i will post an example tonight for you.

The N.I. amounts varied, one month it would be £70 ish and the next it would be £9. We were non the wiser to be honest. I always presumed N.I. was like tax, whatever you earned a percentage was automatically taken off. I dont dispute if we owe it then we need to pay it.... however Our problem is that surely this is the reponsibility of the payroll dept to sort out that one of their employees is paying the correct tax & N.I. to the government. The thing that annoys us the most is they did realise on the last period and rectified it by paying what was outstanding so their books were straight. This was done with no explanation or notification to my wife.... it took a call from my wife to find out and their response was oh yes we cocked it up... and by the way we want it back over the next 12mths....Obviously when they asked how we wanted to pay either over 10 or 12mths my wife replied "NOT AT ALL", the payroll guy said he would put it to his manager as it was their cockup.... i cant see us getting away with it but its worth a shot!:D

so thats why i posted on here to find out what our rights are when concerned with a cockup such as this... and is there any offical comeback we can use against them.

chrisbur

Details of what is allowed to correct tax and NI are on page 17 of
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/guidance/cwg2.pdf
An under deduction of NI can be taken back by the employer, provided the error was made "in good faith", by no more than doubling the normal deduction over the tax year it is discovered and the following year.

poopyfish

Chrisbur: Brilliant link many thanks..

the bits that stand out for me are

" any overpayment of PAYE or employee's share of NICs should be refunded to the employee on the next payday".

the argument is whether the Tax error was discovered before the year end...

On the N.I. it looks like they can take it back as stated,which we accept..... although i like the idea that if my wife leaves her job, they have to foot the loss....

scottn

repaying over 10-12 months seems pretty reasonable.

poopyfish

reasonable yes i agree.... but an extra £70 taken off your wages each month because somebody in payroll made a mistake... Brilliant thanks for that!:mad:

CLAPTON

clearly you see it as you see it

but you underpaid 750 which needs paying back
but you overpaid 1,300 which is being repaid to you
so you will receive 550 more this tax year than you were expecting
half full half empty?

anyway maybe its worth checking the payslips and making sure the deductions are correct

Freddie_Snowbits

I think you should get your uniion invloved and have the Pay Clerk shown the the backside of a P45 for their failings. Also get the police involved as she has clearly defrauded you current wife. Lock the clerk up I say.

As for not understanding you tax code, you could choose one of the following options as well


1 Sue your mother, because you have turned out to be a numptie
2 Sue you school because they failed to teach you about maths and finance and tax.
3 Do both, because it is not your fault.

poopyfish

Clapton: I agree the glass is half full....to a point.
You may understand our slightly disgruntled opinion of the payroll dept when you hear that they have also cocked up the wages on a regular basis by not adding her timesheet hours up correctly, this last wage slip is a great example, my wife worked 201 hours, she was paid for 175......Go figure! You'd think its not difficult to add up a few numbers with these modern puter thingy's we have but hey.... what do i know!

add that to the fact that they have also screwed up her holiday entitlement, we now find out she had an additional 2 days to take from last year but they cant be carried over to this year. I know its a bonus in terms of cash but my wife would have rather had the time off.....!!!! Happens i know!

Freddie: I agree with your first comment, hang them by their short and curlies and give em a good flogging....even that would be too good!

but your 2nd.....ermm how do i say this without it coming across as too offensive....
I apologise for not being an accountant and knowing the ins & outs of a ducks !!!! in regards to tax codes... Sorry i design buildings for a living, i dont often have to work out their tax codes, i also thought that this forum was for advice not being told im a numptie coz i dont understand a topic you do.