Different Tax Codes

DueMarch11

Hi All

Since I started with my local council back in March they have been paying me with the BR tax code.

Called HRMC who changed me over to 647L and said that I should get back the over tax that I paid in my next pay.

Each month since then Ive still been paid by the council on the BR tax code, even though I have had the letter from HRMC to say that my tax code has been changed.

Ive been in contact with both parties, got HMRC to fax over a copy of the tax code change notification to the council, as it turned out that it didnt work every time hrmc told the council on the electronic system, whatever that is.

Question is, what do I do now? So far I have overpaid tax by about £1000 and Id quite like it back!! Im due to go on maternity leave mid Feb and dont want this hanging over me.

Neither party are really that interested in my dilemma and are 'not allowed' to talk to each other, I have to be the go between

Any help would be appreciated

Horseunderwater

Hi
Did you complete form P46 or hand in a P45 when you started working for your current employer?
If so, then something has gone wrong with the system badly.
What seems to have happened so far from what I can read, is that no authority has been received in writing by either party from you. Writing a formal letter signed by you authorising both your employers wage dept and HMRC to talk to each other might be a first step. I'm talking about snail mail written on paper and signed by you and sent to both of them.
Quote your national insurance number on the letters and if you know the tax office reference which should be on any P60 from 2010.
Whenever you start a new job - the first thing you should do is hand in any P45 part 2 and 3. If it is not from the current tax year eg being you left work to care for children or parents say and had a fair gap, then you must make sure that you obtain form P46 to fill in and return to the employer who sends it to their tax office, who in turn send out the P2 notice of coding back to both you and the employer. Your employer can only act on that notice when they get their copy. Or that is the way it used to work when I worked for them. If you do not know your NI ref, then contact DWP and ask them to send the details out to you.
The other alternative is to wait till the end of the tax year in April 2011, obtain the P60 - so make sure your employer has your current address on file. Then you can obtain form P50 (downloadable from HMRC site) and claim back the tax at this point. Presumably, you are intending to return to your job after maternity leave, so it should get sorted by then I'd have thought. I think I read that most offices have a 12 week response delay. Normally refunds are (were in my day) prioritised.
So write a letter to them both giving each authority to speak to the other and get all sorted.

molerat

Take your letter from HMRC and go into your HR / paroll dept and ask them !!!!!! is going on and sort it. If they have had written info from HMRC to apply the correct code ask them why they havn't done it, if you do not get a satisfactory answer then raise a formal grievance. It seems it is your payroll dept that is fouling up.

Mikeyorks

DueMarch11 wrote: »

Neither party are really that interested in my dilemma and are 'not allowed' to talk to each other,

Wholly untrue. But as both your employer and HMRC will communicate via the electronic exchange system 'talking' shouldn't be necessary. As previous post - take the fax into your payroll people and pin their ears back. If they truly haven't had the electronic notification from HMRC then get them to talk to HMRC and confirm the Code. There's no such thing as 'can't talk' ..... but it's down to your payroll in the first instance as you have proof of the revised code.

DueMarch11

Thanks for your replies!

Got home last night to find this months payslip, tax code now changed and tax has been paid back to me in this months pay. Lovely!

Typical isnt it, the only month I dont bother nagging either party and it gets sorted! Oh well, will know what to do if it happens again.

Thanks again x

Horseunderwater

So glad it sorted itself.