Self Assessment - dodgy past employer leave me with a dilema

controversialmike

Hi all,

I hope someone advise me of how I should deal with this issue:

Just filing my return and it seems one of my PAYE employers has submitted some rather strange figures about how much I was paid.

I have a number of payslips that seem to have an additional £1000+ added to my salary and then deducted. So many of these in fact that it more than doubles the amount I was paid over a 5 month period.

I questioned them as they arrived but they delayed the response until I received my last payslip, and then shut the business still owing me £1600!, but that's not the point. Apart from this, the amounts I received were correct to the work completed (£5,317) but my last payslip states:

Taxable pay to date: £11,627
Tax paid to date: £2,464
Tax Code: 0T

I didn't receive anything like this and I doubt HMRC did either. The Payslips are so complicated that I have no idea what was actually paid in tax.

Can I just submit the amounts actually received and let tax office sort it out?

Any advise would be very appreciated.

bengalknights

Was there other people working there sounds like they may have had some "non" taxable employees which they had to cover for.

controversialmike

I've put a few messages out to others but I know that no one received a P45/60. They were a marketing agency who regularly used temporary promo staff and probably had over 3000 on their books, not including the 30 permanent staff.

Cook_County

That's what the white space is for...

jimmo

Tricky question.

On the one hand HMRC expect you to declare your P45 or P60 figures and if you fail to do so an Enquiry into your Return is very, very likely.

On the other hand you are convinced that your actual earnings were £5,317 so declaring £11,627, knowing that it is wrong could be dangerous.

It is also worth bearing in mind that the correct tax for earnings of £11,627 and using code OT is £2,325.40 so your payslips show that, provided that code OT is the correct one for your circumstances, you have overpaid £138.60 and you may well be entitled to a refund.

That makes it even trickier and you could easily be guilty of fraud if you declare your payslip totals knowing they are wrong and you obtain a refund.

I suppose the first question is how convinced are you that your payslips are wrong?

As a generalisation agencies are renowned for producing completely baffling payslips particularly where legitimate expenses are added in and later taken off.

Secondly, if you are totally confident that your actual earnings were £5,317 can you also determine how much tax was deducted from the £5317?

On code OT it should have been £1063.40.

Finally, for now, are you confident that code OT was the correct code for this particular employment?

If you had a full time job elsewhere it probably was.

controversialmike

Thanks everyone, and Many thanks Jimmo!!
The closure of the company was a nasty surprise which came very shortly after some very positive promises regarding my work and future projects

There's no way of providing a P45 or P60 as neither was sent so I'll just have to make sure this is explained in the white box.

If you can take a look at these payslips, it should give you as much of a clue as I have:


The first is an example of one of the slips with the random £1000 added and then subtracted. The second is the last slip received with the totals for the year.

The figure of £5317 comes from my bank statements. This is the total actually received from this employer (the amounts for the first two months of employment that were never received, totaling £1,358.08 net)

Adding the individual tax paid amounts (not inc NI) paid on each slip: £2,464.12 from a net pay of £6,675.62

I was thinking just to submit the facts. ie the amount actually received into my account as my full income but I've already paid the tax on these missing 2 payments (£430 according to the slips) so I'd be stupid to ignore this.

Is it just a case of explaining this to HMRC in full and just trusting the figure they send me back? (which at this stage, i don't know if it will be in the + or -)

Very many thanks!

controversialmike

I imagine it's a little rude to bump threads. If there's anyone that can take a looksie at this today though it'd be most appreciated.

This really is posing a hurdle! the rest of my figures are complete, just can't figure this one out.

dtaylor84

The figure of £5317 comes from my bank statements. This is the total actually received from this employer (the amounts for the first two months of employment that were never received, totaling £1,358.08 net)

I don't understand this sentence, particularly the parenthetical bit about missing payments. Are you saying you didn't receive any payment for the first two months?

What's the 'net pay' on the payslips compared to the amount paid into your bank account?

controversialmike

Sorry, i'll be a little clearer:

Net amount from payslips: £6,675.62
Tax paid (from payslips): £2,464.12
Amount actually received: £5,317.54

Although I have the payslips, the first two months pay were never received meaning I actually paid tax on these amounts but never received the goodies left over. As the company has closed, I have no way of reclaiming the £1,358.08 so I'm wondering if I can claim this as a loss?

I think, i'm just going to pass all this info onto HMRC (with all my payslips and bank statements) and trust they make the right calculations.

xylophone

I think, i'm just going to pass all this info onto HMRC (with all my payslips and bank statements) and trust they make the right calculations.

A good idea - make sure that you keep a copy of all correspondence and send recorded delivery.

HMRC might be knocking at the door of the ex company directors...?:eek:

controversialmike

What would you do with the missing wages? can this be claimed as a loss?