Please help! My tax code.

mitten_2

I'm a bit useless at understanding tax issues so if anyone can advise me on this i would be grateful:

I have a part time job for which i work roughly 15 hours a week.
I also have an agency/temp job which i do over the summer months/uni vacations.

Since I have two jobs, i am on a BR tax code and just wondered whether this means i'll be paying more tax than if i was on a numbered tax code and if so, what is the best thing to do? Is it necessary to declare 2 jobs if one of them is only for a few months a year and the other one is a 15 hour p/w low earner.

Would would anyone advise me doing?

snails's_pace

br is basic rate,i think. which is emergency tax code. i think

CLAPTON

you need to speak to the HMRC and get your 15 hour per week job on a proper tax code...you are currently paying much too much.
your second job will probably have to be BR but you can apply for a refund at the end of the tax year but ask the HMRC.

for the current tax year it is too late to get a new tax code but once you get your P60 for this year write to HMRC with the full details for the tax year 2006-7 and you should get a refund.

mitten_2

CLAPTON wrote: »

you need to speak to the HMRC and get your 15 hour per week job on a proper tax code...you are currently paying much too much.
your second job will probably have to be BR but you can apply for a refund at the end of the tax year but ask the HMRC.

for the current tax year it is too late to get a new tax code but once you get your P60 for this year write to HMRC with the full details for the tax year 2006-7 and you should get a refund.

If my first job is only during university holidays then is there a chance that providing i don't earn over a certain amount i wont pay any tax on those earnings? At the moment my tax code is 503L for that job and i paid quite a lot of tax as they calculated based on my earnings for the summer months that if i carried on earning that amount i would exceed the 5030 mark and therefore pay tax. As it happens i returned to uni so didn't work any more.

My other job. the 15hr a week one is on the BR code as i had to state that i had another job as well even though the other job is only casual.

Murdina

If you just work in the vacation then you can complete form P38s for employer and they can pay you free of tax ( on assumption all you are earning so you are unlikely to be owing any tax on it) - however I don't think that will apply if you also have a regular job. Can't get onto HMRC website at present to check exactly what the form says. You need to contact tax office as mentioned above and ensure you get the personal allowance code 503 L against the regular job and the BR one against holidays. If you earn less than the personal allowance with your regular job (£5035 this year ie about £96 per week ) you can ask for "unused" allowances to be put in code for other job. Either way you need to check your tax at end of year on both jobs and if nec claim repayment. HMRC may do this for you but they may not. Also don't forget NIC which is on a weekly basis so you pay it on holiday jobs regardless. It is messy and difficult for anyone in your position.

mitten_2

thanks for the replies everyone.
I am still slightly confused, just spoken to the tax office (for 20 mins on an 0845 number on my mobilr argh!) and they said i could maybe split my allowance. ie split my 503L allowance between the 2 jobs then only pay tax on pay that exceeds that amount. Has anyone else done this? Does anyone understand what i am talking about lol

CLAPTON

if your income from the jobs is fairly regular and fixed then splitting the allowance makes sense but depends upon the numbers

how much approx do you earn in your regular (15 hr) job and what is the total of your other jobs?

mitten_2

For my 15 hour job i will earn around £89 p/w (before tax) and i will work this job most months of the year excluding June, July, August and most od December.
The other job I will work as an when (it's a healthcare agency) in the months of June, July, August and December. But as an example of how sporadic this work is, last december i only worked 6 days in this job in the entire month.

CLAPTON

basically you want your tax code to offset the higher income job ..(you haven't said how much you earn for the second job), or split the code across both job if the HMRC are willing to do this.

on its own you wouldn't pay any tax or NI on the 15 hour a week job

mitten_2

CLAPTON wrote: »

basically you want your tax code to offset the higher income job ..(you haven't said how much you earn for the second job), or split the code across both job if the HMRC are willing to do this.

on its own you wouldn't pay any tax or NI on the 15 hour a week job

It's hard to say how much i earn for my other job as it changes all the time even the hourly rate changes depending on which hospital/home i am sent to on any given day and also on the time of day. In general it would be something between £50-£200 a week but i may only work one week in december and a say three in june and three in august and then not work for that company again until the following year. (thanks for helping me with this btw, i really appreciate your thoguhts on the issue)

mitten_2

On the BR tax code in my 15hour p/w job i pay £80 tax for the month which is almost a weeks earnings (£89). Maybe i'm just moaning as no one likes paying tax but that's like working a week a month for no pay. I think i will hand my notice in if my tax continues to be so high.