Student Income Tax

penniesforme

Hi everyone,

this is my first post.Am in a serious student debt situation, so will need some help from MSE experts to sort me out.;)

I worked in a retail chain from 2004 to april 2006. had been paying income tax and N.I , i DID NOT know that students are exempted from having to pay taxes. (stupid, i know:p ,...but i am international and a bit silly not to ask my employers about it.)

Is there any way i can claim these taxes back? I have just checking, and i have been paying about 500 in taxes and NI contribution.:eek: will be great if i can get them back, so that i can pay off some bank debt (the interest rates on overdraft are outrageous..am still trying to reclam the penalty charges...)

any advise is much appreciated.

Jeewhizz

penniesforme wrote: »

i DID NOT know that students are exempted from having to pay taxes. (stupid, i know:p ,...but i am international and a bit silly not to ask my employers about it.)

You are wrong - students have to pay tax like everyone else...

impy78

They used to be exempt from tax, but now they have the same tax threshold as everyone else, after you earn £5225, you pay tax on everything after that.

b33r

Yeh it's a common misconception. Everyone talks about the form 38S which you fill in when you a student which means you don't pay tax, the form however is only if you don't think you will earn over your tax threshold (because students tended to just work holidays etc.)

How much did you earn over the last 2 tax years?

Post the exact figures for gross earnings and tax over the last 2 years and I'm sure someone will tell you if they are correct or not, if they aren't you can still claim back by writing to Inland Revenue.

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/MoneyTaxAndBenefits/Taxes/ReclaimingTax/DG_10013075 should be helpful to you

Oh and everyone pays National Insurance irrespective of how much you earn.

dmg24

Can we not have a big banner somewhere on here, asking that before people post they search previous threads?!

b33r

dmg24 wrote: »

Can we not have a big banner somewhere on here, asking that before people post they search previous threads?!

You find a set of popular forums with as many posts a day as here which doesn't suffer from it and I'll give you a peanut! Wouldn't it be more constructive to just answer the query or link to a previous one rather than flaming newbies, I've only been posting for a couple of weeks (have been reading for a lot longer) but the flaming of newbies is rediculas, probably why I didn't start posting earlier!

penniesforme

thank you all for replying!

dmg24, i did do a search on this topic, just that i cant find anything relevant to my situation...which was why i thought that posting again is a good idea.

I think my earnings are less than 5225 a year. Wrote to the Inland Revenue a couple of weeks ago, with no reply. what do i do in this situation?? call them?? what will i need to make the phone call??

As i have said in my first post, I am an international student, and will probably be returning to my country this year. NI contributions is only for people who UK residents/working in the UK in the long run, as this goes towards pensions. I will definitely not get any benefits from this scheme, so I am wondering if its possible to get my contributions back??

all advice/information will be gladly received!

jennifernil

It does not matter who you are/where you are from, if you work here and earn enough you pay NI, so you will never get that back.

Either phone whichever tax office you are dealing with or go to a local PAYE office and ask them for forms to fill up for the appropriate tax years, then they will work out if you are due any refund.

b33r

yeh with the tax year having just turned its likely your tax office is just extremely busy. Give them a bell if you don't hear from them soon