Employer deducted Tax and NI but never paid it to HMRC - Request for advice

dragonflynine

In 2008/2009 I was a student in London. I took a part-time job at an independent shop where I was working 27 hours a week (but sometimes more). I was so lacking in confidence/self esteem when I took the job that I was just really grateful to have been taken on and I didn't ask for a contract etc. I was working for £7.50 an hour and was paid cash in hand at the end of each week. The owner would deduct tax and NI on the spot - so from the £202.50 gross I would take home around £170. I didn't get any pay-slips until the last few months I worked there, I kept pushing him on this as I told him that as a student I would be wanting to claim back my tax at the end of the year - he said that I should go to him before claiming a tax refund. When I did eventually start getting pay-slips they were strange - i.e. stating that I had worked for 1 hour at a rate of 202.50 instead of 27 hours at £7.50. My suspicions were that the money wasn't going through the books/being declared, I tried to get some advice about what to do about this at the time, but had no real success. I tried confronting my employer about things a couple of times - but he would be evasive and slightly threatening/intimidating. I eventually left the job after 10 months and left London. After leaving I applied to HMRC for a written copy of my employment history. They have me down as having worked for this employer but the dates are wrong and my history states that I paid no tax or national insurance during my employment. I am just wondering if there is anything that I can do about this now? if my employment had been registered with HMRC legitimately with tax and NI going through PAYE I would have until April 2013 to claim back the tax that was deducted. In total this guy took over £1200 from my wages. I am currently in a situation where I am out of work and living on job seekers allowance - that money would make a HUGE difference to me. I have tried to get advice about this in the past. I have contacted The Citizens Advice Bureau three times and the charity Tax Aid. Tax Aid advised me not to approach my employer directly - I discussed the option of phoning/visiting him to request my money and implying that I will report him (He has quite a number of people working for him, and he is doing the same with all of them). They advised against this, they also said that I would need to be careful as if HMRC found that I hadn't paid tax during that employment that they could come after me for that money now (which of course has made me quite fearful of contacting them to get some proper advice about what I can do). I realize that some years have passed now since this situation, but it is still an ongoing issue in the back of my mind, and as mentioned if my tax and NI payments had been legitimately going through PAYE I would still have another two weeks to claim back my tax. I would be very grateful for any advice that anyone may have, thank you.

HappyMJ

It doesn't matter that it says 1 hour or 27 hours as long as the total is correct.

Do write to the HMRC. If they come after you for the money you can take your former employer to court and recover the money to put you in the same position you were in before.

You have some payslips so that should help. Did you ever get a P45 or a P60?

You should be able to get another copy from the tax office.

dragonflynine

Hi, thank you for taking the time to read my long post. When you say write to HMRC - should I just tell them the entire scenario, as above? and no I never got a P45 or P60,

HappyMJ

dragonflynine wrote: »

Hi, thank you for taking the time to read my long post. When you say write to HMRC - should I just tell them the entire scenario, as above? and no I never got a P45 or P60,

I would...your national insurance contributions have been made which affect your pension in the future if they have not been credited to your account.

The HMRC will rarely chase you for unpaid tax if you can show some payslips and genuinely thought that tax and NI was at the time beng paid for you.