same earnings different tax!!!

BoxerfanUK

Hi all,

Can anyone give me any idea why I would pay different tax on the same earnings in two different months?

I am employed and pay tax under PAYE.

In May my salary was X and my overtime was Y. In August I paid £40.00 more tax and yet eveything on the two pay slips are identical to my May payslip i.e. earnings, NI, Pension contributions, tax code etc, just £40 more tax!!

My earnings are not always identical each month and some months my earnings would take me into the 40% tax bracket. I don't know if this has anything to do with it but was just wondering why the difference, if anyone can help.

jem16

BoxerfanUK wrote: »

My earnings are not always identical each month and some months my earnings would take me into the 40% tax bracket. I don't know if this has anything to do with it but was just wondering why the difference, if anyone can help.

Without figures for each month it would be impossible to say.

However tax is on a cumulative basis and with you earning more in one tax month (perhaps enough to pay 40% tax on some of it), the next month could see you pay less as your tax readjusts itself.

There could also have been a tax code change between April and May.

antrobus

The answer will be because PAYE is calculated on a cumulative basis, that is, taking into account ALL your earnings earned so far in the tax year. So it's perfectly possible to pay more tax on the same earnings in August 2011, compared to May 2011, because your earnings in June and July were sufficient to push you into the higher rate tax bracket for August whilst that wouldn't have been the case in May.

Glennn

Easiest thing to do would be to ring your payroll department.

Without seeing exact figures it's impossible to tell.

EDIT: Agree with antrobus... Any chance you earned more in those months between.

chrisbur

The other possibility is that you had higher earnings in April which had some 40% tax taken, and then your May earnings were lower so some or all of the 40% tax taken in April was repaid to you in May.

As has been said only way to check for certain is for you to advise pay and tax along with tax code for each month of this tax year.