Extra £21 in tax 2012-2013??

vienly

Hi guys, wondering if anyone can advise.

My circumstances have not changed for the past 3 years.

I checked my payslip for March 2012 and my net £2,294.72 (748L)
My net for April 2012 £2,273.63 (811L).

Now that is a £21.09 difference which works out to be £253.08 a year.

I know that the tax threshold for 40% has decreased from £35,001 to £34,371 which means I have to pay another 40% tax on £630 which is £252 (which sounds about right).

What I don't understand is if my code has changed from 748L to 811L shouldn't I have an extra tax relief of £630, minusing that from £253.08 would put me in the plus side of £376.92 / 12 = +£31.41 (I should be gaining not losing)

But instead on my payslip it says I paid an extra £20 a month in tax which can't be right??

I been on hold to HMRC for the past 30 minutes and no one has picked up, tried called them several times already but no answer...

opinions4u

March can often have minor adjustments to the payslip to reflect the full tax year.

Comparing to the February payslip may be more helpful.

All things being equal I'd have expected you to be £126 better off from the threshold change and £126 worse off from the lower start of 40% tax (as you're now paying an extra 20% on that £630 below £35k).

So same net pay.

Do you have any pension contribution changes, increase union or professional membership fees etc?

http://www.thesalarycalculator.co.uk/salary.php

vienly

Hi, my Feb 2012 net pay is: £2,294.32 which is the same as March, (it has been the same for the past couple of months)

My monthly pension contribution is: £285.90 but that has been the same for past couple of months.

I have checked the past 2 years and see a drop of around £50 each time, then the net would be the same throughout the year unless I do some extra overtime.

March 2009 > April 2009
March 2010 > April 2010
March 2011 > April 2011

I never noticed it until I looked into it more closely today....
I suspect my May 2012 pay will be the same as my April 2012 with a deduction of £21.09

The only deductions I are pension and share save scheme, which is a fixed amount every month, for the past 3 years

opinions4u

Post your gross salary and what percentage the pension contribution is.

I don't think you should be paying any tax at 40%. In which case you should be around £8 a month better off.

http://www.thesalarycalculator.co.uk/salary.php

Mikeyorks

vienly wrote: »

I know that the tax threshold for 40% has decreased from £35,001 to £34,371 which means I have to pay another 40% tax on £630 which is £252 (which sounds about right).

If your net is around £2300 ....... then you can't be in the 40% band (£42475) unless there's some other large deductions? Your monthly gross should be circa £3050 or £36600 per annum?

In which case you get the full advantage of the £8115 (where's the extra £10 come from?) and your tax should have reduced around £10pm. Are you certain it's not NI / Student Loan etc?

vienly

From P60

2011-2012
Tax Code: 748L
My Gross Salary 2012: £46,510.37
Tax Paid: £8,608.40

April 2011 - May 2011 (4% pension) at 2 months
June 2011 - March 2012 (9% pension) at 10 months

average pension contribution over 12 months = 8.16% (which should be tax free)

My share save is £225 a month
My pension is £285.90 (9%) tax free

My pay fluctuates a bit because of Overtime

vienly

I used the Salary calculator, entered in my 2011 - 2012 Gross @ £46,510.37 with 8.16% pension but it says tax £7,218.05.

My P60 says Tax Paid: £8,608.40

Something wrong...? I overpaid??

opinions4u

So what was your gross figure for April before overtime? What additions were there on top of this?

At some point during 2011/12 your employer's payroll system will have made adjustments for overtime and the change in pension contributions.

vienly

Gross figure for April 2012: £3,363.35 from what payslips says, doesn't add the extra £285.90 (pension) into the gross

chrisbur

vienly wrote: »

I used the Salary calculator, entered in my 2011 - 2012 Gross @ £46,510.37 with 8.16% pension but it says tax £7,218.05.

My P60 says Tax Paid: £8,608.40

Something wrong...? I overpaid??

The P60 tax figure of £8608 agrees with a tax deduction of this amount from a taxable gross of £46510, so the problem has something to do with how your pension is treated for tax. Is the gross you quote your total gross or your taxable gross, only your taxable gross will appear on your P60. If your pension is being taken before tax on your payslips you will have two gross figures the actual gross and pensionable gross. Or it could be a scheme where the pension provider reclaims the tax element and adds it to your pension.

This does however answer your original question about your tax. Your earnings for last year were on average higher than your earnings in the last month. Your earnings put you into the 40% tax band but your earnings for the last month, being below average, reduced the amount of 40% tax that was due so some of the tax you had paid at 40% was converted to 20% and this reduced your tax for that month. In effect you got a small tax rebate so March and April tax vary due to March being a reduced figure not April an increased figure.

chrisbur

vienly wrote: »

Gross figure for April 2012: £3,363.35 from what payslips says, doesn't add the extra £285.90 (pension) into the gross

This sounds like the net pay arrangement for pension so the P60 figure would be your gross pay less the pension contributions, so tax on P60 is correct.