Overtaxed by payroll

CashCrammer

Hi all,

I have a situation which hopefully some of you can help me with:-

I recently joined a new company at the end of February with my first wage payment due a few weeks after that (had this confirmed by HR). However it was not paid correctly as I was missed off the payroll so they advanced me my wages via a CHAPS transfer however there was no tax/ NI applied to it just a lump-sum cash advance.

When it came to the following pay date they put me onto the payroll however as they missed me off it the first time, they did a cumulative payment i.e. double the value it normally would be (being 2 months worth). They also deducted the previous cash advance so things were correct. I usually get taxed about £500/ month, so was expecting a £1000 tax deduct. However the tax was double (just over £2000) therefore i'm down £1000 on my net pay this month.

The payroll people said it was the only way they could do it, however I believe the payroll obviously thinks i'm on double the salary that I normally am, due to the 2 months being added into 1 wage payment. Therefore it taxed me a large portion of this at 40% however i'm still just within the 20% bracket so i'm not due any tax at 40%!

I've spoken to HMRC and they said it is up to payroll to refund the tax however they don't seem to be able to understand what they've done!

Ultimately i'm £1000 down due to the payroll not adding me the first time, and processing my wages incorrectly, and struggling because of it - is there anything by law etc that means they have to pay me back this circa £1000 asap, or will they just have to do it month-by-month through the tax code until the end of the year? (As I say I can't nor probably can many others be £1000 down on their net pay because of the Payroll Departments error).

Sorry for the babble but hopefully you get the idea of the situation.

Ps I've gone to my manager about this and they basically said dont worry you will get it back eventually!

Thanks

jem16

CashCrammer wrote: »

is there anything by law etc that means they have to pay me back this circa £1000 asap, or will they just have to do it month-by-month through the tax code until the end of the year?

Can you clarify exactly when the payments were made as we are just into a new tax year.

Figures would also help to see what has happened along with your tax code.

CashCrammer

I just got my payslip through, the payment is to be made on 15/04/13.

The tax code showing is 944L which HMRC said was right.

They advanced me £2.2k the first time (mid March), and the payslip shows this deducted out so back as square 1.

The Payments section show £7,148.75. Deductions:- (£2,010.90) tax, (£642.96) NI, (£2,200) advance. Net pay = £2,294.89

This is 2 and a bit months pay added onto one payslip. I'm on about £500/month tax so it should be about £1000 tax I believe (give or take a hundred or so).

jem16

CashCrammer wrote: »

I just got my payslip through, the payment is to be made on 15/04/13.

The tax code showing is 944L which HMRC said was right.

Yes as it's being paid in the new tax year.

They advanced me £2.2k the first time (mid March), and the payslip shows this deducted out so back as square 1.

The Payments section show £7,148.75. Deductions:- (£2,010.90) tax, (£642.96) NI, (£2,200) advance. Net pay = £2,294.89

Yes you've guessed correctly with the higher payment, you are paying some tax at 40%.

This is 2 and a bit months pay added onto one payslip. I'm on about £500/month tax so it should be about £1000 tax I believe (give or take a hundred or so).

It will correct itself but may take more than one month to do so. What do you expect as your normal gross? I suppose the good thing about it is that you may have saved a bit on NI.

CashCrammer

Thanks for the reply - I usually take home just under £2,500.00 net pay/ month.

Any idea what I would expect to recieve next month - £3000 then the rest after that? (As I only usually pay £500 tax/ month I guess £500 would be the most I could receive extra next month).

I would ask my payroll but from speaking with them I dont think they could tell me!

chrisbur

CashCrammer wrote: »

Thanks for the reply - I usually take home just under £2,500.00 net pay/ month.

Any idea what I would expect to recieve next month - £3000 then the rest after that? (As I only usually pay £500 tax/ month I guess £500 would be the most I could receive extra next month).

I would ask my payroll but from speaking with them I dont think they could tell me!

It would be better if you could give your gross pay rather than net.

Have you checked last year's earnings to see if you are due any tax back. As your new employer did not pay you it is possible you could be due a refund for last year. I would assume that you had no more earnings after the P45 was issued so if you give the figures from that they can be checked.

CashCrammer

My gross is £39,900.

I was made redundant mid November 2012 and didn't work since starting late February 2013 (other than claiming contribution based JSA). Sorry for the basic question but how would I go about getting a refund - filling in a tax return (i've never done this before)?

jem16

CashCrammer wrote: »

My gross is £39,900.

I was made redundant mid November 2012 and didn't work since starting late February 2013 (other than claiming contribution based JSA). Sorry for the basic question but how would I go about getting a refund - filling in a tax return (i've never done this before)?

So presumably you handed your P45 to the Job Centre and then they gave you a P45 to give to your new employer? What were the figures from that P45?

You need to give figures as tax is all about the detail.

Dazed_and_confused

Unless you had another reason to fill in a tax return that shouldn't
be necessary, a letter normally does the job along with copies of your P45's (Part 1A from previous job and job seekers claim) and P60 from your new job.

One complication you might have is that with starting your current job in February you would normally get a P60 but with no payments being made until the new tax year you might be best checking with your payroll section if they intend to provide you with a P60 for 2012:13 as HMRC would normally expect that if you had the new job from February.

If you post the figures from your P45's and what your tax code was last year it should be possible to check if a refund is due

chrisbur

CashCrammer wrote: »

Thanks for the reply - I usually take home just under £2,500.00 net pay/ month.

Any idea what I would expect to recieve next month - £3000 then the rest after that? (As I only usually pay £500 tax/ month I guess £500 would be the most I could receive extra next month).

I would ask my payroll but from speaking with them I dont think they could tell me!

On a gross of £39900 I make it that your tax will be reduced by £25 aprox next month. As you were paid £7148 for month 1 that was £3823 above your normal salery so for the year you will be getting £43723 which is taking you £2273 into the 40% tax band. As the figures stand at the moment you will not be getting back all of the extra tax you paid.

CashCrammer

Last year my code was 729L. I'll try and get hold of the P60 off them to see the figures.

Only £25 next month! Is there no way they can alter it to be more of a lump sum refund (as it was their fault I was originally missed off the first time)?

Also, as you mention as they added last years money into this new tax years, as it stands I will not get all of the money repaid... How can I go about resolving this!?

Thanks