Query re P$5 Part 1A and Tax

Philip624

My wife has received a letter from HMRC stating that in order to work out if she has paid the right amount of tax in 11/12 they need a Form P45 Part 1A, that shows pay and tax details when leaving work, from her previous employer.

She did a small amount of work for which she was paid £1500 in total over the course of 4 months in the 10/11 tax year. This all went through the PAYE system and when the work was completed there was the chance of future work which is why I think a P45 was not issued.

The opportunity for future work fizzled out and she has now received this letter. How can she sort this out, would her old employer have to issue a P45 now to stop this happening each year?

zygurat789

If there was no P45 then there should have been a P60.
Ask the employer for the original

Philip624

Thank you for this, some more information to consider:

My wife took voluntary redundancy from a job in March 2010, so in tax year 09/10.

Following this as mentioned in my OP, she did a small amount of work for a different company for which she was paid £1500 in total over the course of 4 months in the 10/11 tax year. She gave her P45 when starting work here and this all went through the PAYE system.

As this was the only work she did in tax year 10/11 I dont think she paid tax on those earnings. When the work was completed there was the chance of future work which never materialised so I dont think a P45 Pt 1A was issued.

She then started a new job in Sep 2011, so in the 11/12 tax year and gave the same P45 from the first job, is registered on the PAYE system and pays tax.

The letter from HRMC says that in order to work out whether she paid the right tax in 11/12 then they need the P45 Pt 1A details of employee leaving work from the second employer mentioned above, the one she did a small amount of work for. The letter syas if you dont have this form then a letter from that employer confirming the details of the P45 Pt1A will suffice.

What is the best way to resolve this. Should the second employer issue a P45 now and then she sends this to HMRC and explain all of the above?

CLAPTON

firstly

a P45 is only valid in the tax year it is issued
so if your wife's P45 was dated for tax year 2009-10 then it can only be used up to 5th april 2010

if she started her new job (second job) after 6th april then the P45 is useless and should not have been handed in and should not have been accepted.

similarly when she started the job in sept 2011 (third job) again the P45 was useless and should neither have been offered or accepted.


Now for tax year 2011/12 what documentation does she have about her earning and when exactly did she start and finish?
so does she have a P45 for that job? or a P60 for that job or here payslips for that job?

Philip624

Thanks. In relation to 11/12 she has all her payslips and a P60. She started the third job in September 2011 and did not do any paid work from April 2011 until then.

CLAPTON

possibly; by handing in the P45 the details may have incorrectly have been added and so gave the impressed she had two jobs that year.


she should phone HMRC and explain she only had on job and she has the P60

is the tax correct on the P60?

Philip624

Thanks. It is correct yes, will get her to ring and explain. I am sure she has paid the correct tax as first job, the one she left in 2010, within the 09/10 tax year she has a P60 and all tax paid correctly, same for 10/11 but as she only earned £1500 there was no tax payable. For 11/12, this is the job she is still in and again has a P60 and all tax paid. As you suggest the confusion might have been caused by giving the p60 from job one for job three if that makes sense!? I will report back on how it goes.

System

If a P45 was not issued it is possible that she is still on the books with that employer and as others have said a P60 should have been issued at the end of 11/12 showing £0 pay and tax. The fact that HMRC are asking for a P45 1A indicates that they are aware that the job has possibly ended but not the specifics such as end date, pay or tax.
If she is still on the books and does not intend to do any more work for the employer then she needs to let them (the employer) know and request a confirmation from them that her employment has ceased by way of a P45 and if they cease the employment in the current tax year she needs something from the employer confirming she had no income from them in 2011/12. That way HMRC can bring her employment history up to date.