Tax while on secondment, please help!

Person_one

Hello, first time posting in this section, hope I'm in the right place and there are some helpful tax experts here!

I'm going to uni in September but am being seconded by my employer who will continue to pay my salary for the three years of study even though I won't do any work for them.

Will I pay the standard income tax and NI during this time? Several people have told me that full time students don't pay tax but this doesn't seem right as I will be earning over the threshold despite not actually working! Salary is around 13k before tax.

Thanks for any help, I'm just trying to sort out my budget before I start.

withabix

Of course you will pay tax as normal.

BoGoF

withabix wrote: »

Of course you will pay tax as normal.

Not all the time, have a look at this scholarship exemption, strict conditions must be met though

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/manuals/eimanual/EIM06237.htm

Person_one

BoGoF wrote: »

Not all the time, have a look at this scholarship exemption, strict conditions must be met though

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/manuals/eimanual/EIM06237.htm

Thanks, it looks as though that might apply to me, as the course is 40 weeks a year for 3 years and my salary will be below the 2007 level so I assume also below the 2011 level.

That's really helpful, no amount of googling 'secondment and tax' was revealing much!

BoGoF

Just to be clear one of the conditions is that the employer requires you to enrol at the educational establishment. If there is no such requirement from them then any payment you receive will be taxable as normal.

Person_one

BoGoF wrote: »

Just to be clear one of the conditions is that the employer requires you to enrol at the educational establishment. If there is no such requirement from them then any payment you receive will be taxable as normal.

It'll be quite hard to get my degree if I don't enrol, so I don't think that'll be a problem!

BoGoF

The problem may be convincing your employer to pay you without deduction of tax. Depends if they have any experience of this type of situation but point them in the direction of my earlier link.

jimmo

Person_one wrote: »

It'll be quite hard to get my degree if I don't enrol, so I don't think that'll be a problem!

I fear you may have missed the point there.
The employer must require you to enrol....
If your employer approached you and said "We want you to go on a course" That would be fine.
If you applied to go to university, were accepted, intended to resign and your employer said "Don't do that, keep your job and we'll continue to pay you whilst you study." That would be different.

Person_one

jimmo wrote: »

I fear you may have missed the point there.
The employer must require you to enrol....
If your employer approached you and said "We want you to go on a course" That would be fine.
If you applied to go to university, were accepted, intended to resign and your employer said "Don't do that, keep your job and we'll continue to pay you whilst you study." That would be different.

Oops, yes I completely misread that! If its any excuse I'm on nights this month and my brain is addled.

The course isn't compulsory, I suppose I'll have to do some further research but the info on SP4/86 is very useful and a starting point I wouldn't have found myself, so thanks again.