Tax code for this financial year

Fluff15

Bit of a rant really - my company pays on the 1st of every month (or thereabouts) and I've just been paid my first month of this financial year, which was £70 less than last month.

I was hoping that with the new tax-free allowance that I was finally going to be less out of pocket each month (even by a smidgen), but this isn't the case. What makes it worse is that I got a payrise at the beginning of this month for change of role in the company.

It's just annoyed me that somewhere somebody hasn't worked out my tax code right last year, even though the company has a payroll service. I know it's partially my responsibility to make sure my codes are right, but this is my first full-time job after coming out of university and before/during university all my work was part-time, so my tax codes have always been interchanging. I know we all need to pay our taxes, but it's kind of a kick in the face that I'm working as hard as I can, have been given a payrise and am not going to see any of it!

Has anybody else had this happen to them?:(

comeandgo

When did you start full time work? Maybe you did not make enough last financial year to use up all your tax allowance, new financial year, new start.

Fluff15

I started in June 2012, I had received about £1500 (rough guess, don't think it's this much) from my part-time job at university between April (new tax year again) and my start date of my current job. My annual income from my current job was £18000 before my pay rise, so I've definitely been earning plenty.

Any

Fluff15 wrote: »

Bit of a rant really - my company pays on the 1st of every month (or thereabouts) and I've just been paid my first month of this financial year, which was £70 less than last month.

I was hoping that with the new tax-free allowance that I was finally going to be less out of pocket each month (even by a smidgen), but this isn't the case. What makes it worse is that I got a payrise at the beginning of this month for change of role in the company.

It's just annoyed me that somewhere somebody hasn't worked out my tax code right last year, even though the company has a payroll service. I know it's partially my responsibility to make sure my codes are right, but this is my first full-time job after coming out of university and before/during university all my work was part-time, so my tax codes have always been interchanging. I know we all need to pay our taxes, but it's kind of a kick in the face that I'm working as hard as I can, have been given a payrise and am not going to see any of it!

Has anybody else had this happen to them?:(

It is not partially your responsibility, it is FULLY your responsibility.
Payroll service doesn't "work out" your tax code at all, HMRC does and then they tell your employer/payroll provider what to use and they MUST OBEY this.
The only exception is when you start, then automatically the new employer should use the tax code from your P45 until told otherwise, again by notification from HMRC.

Any

Think about it... your tax code can change because of any sort of things... 2 jobs, benefits, pension, second house being rented out, you might be modelling at night... all sorts and the employer doesn't know about those and is not supposed to be nosy about those or any other aspect of your outside work life unless it affects them.
No one but you and HMRC can know about all your activities and taxable payments, therefore no one but you and HMRC can work out your tax code and only HMRC can change it.

Fluff15

No need to be so brash with me, I'm already upset about my loss in earnings! I was hoping for a bit of support, not a lecture.

I have always handed in all my forms to my employer so the HMRC should have corrected them long ago if I was underpaying. I now don't actually benefit from my pay rise at all, and I've been working very hard to earn it.

Any

But back to what happened...
Can you tell me what was your tax code at your last payslip and what is your tax code on your current one?

SueMaggie

Have you checked the tax code on your most recent payslip against your most recent notification of your tax code from HMRC?

I have had problems on several occasions with my company using the wrong tax code as they have not received the HMRC's notification that my code has changed.

In January 2013 I received my tax coding notice for 2013/14 from HMRC, but my employer didn't receive their notification of my code from HMRC which meant the code used on my payslip for April was wrong. However, because I spotted that it was the wrong code it's now being corrected.

You do have to keep an eye on these things as accidents (like lost notifications) do happen.

Fluff15

Any wrote: »

But back to what happened...
Can you tell me what was your tax code at your last payslip and what is your tax code on your current one?

It was 810L, and was for the whole of last tax year. I'm unsure about my current one, as I haven't received my payslip yet (I checked my online banking for my wages).

I understand I might have underpaid by the amount I earned on my job before leaving university, but thinking back more closely this couldn't have been more than £800 for that tax year (didn't have too many shifts and wasn't actually working for a couple of weeks whilst moving back home).

Not taking into my pay rise, my nett pay has dropped to £1,167.04 per month, which means my tax code is likely to be 490L - I've also started paying back my student loan this year (taken into account with a nett pay calculator).

Fluff15

SueMaggie wrote: »

Have you checked the tax code on your most recent payslip against your most recent notification of your tax code from HMRC?

I have had problems on several occasions with my company using the wrong tax code as they have not received the HMRC's notification that my code has changed.

In January 2013 I received my tax coding notice for 2013/14 from HMRC, but my employer didn't receive their notification of my code from HMRC which meant the code used on my payslip for April was wrong. However, because I spotted that it was the wrong code it's now being corrected.

You do have to keep an eye on these things as accidents (like lost notifications) do happen.

I've not received anything from the HMRC for a long time! I know my address is correct as when I changed to full time work they sent me my codes there. That code they initially sent matches with last month's payslip.

I suppose I'm just going to have to await the arrival of my payslip before I can do anything else. I'll know more then. It's just disappointing, as I was hoping for more money to myself this month.

Any

Fluff15 wrote: »

It was 810L, and was for the whole of last tax year. I'm unsure about my current one, as I haven't received my payslip yet (I checked my online banking for my wages).

I understand I might have underpaid by the amount I earned on my job before leaving university, but thinking back more closely this couldn't have been more than £800 for that tax year (didn't have too many shifts and wasn't actually working for a couple of weeks whilst moving back home).

Not taking into my pay rise, my nett pay has dropped to £1,167.04 per month, which means my tax code is likely to be 490L - I've also started paying back my student loan this year (taken into account with a nett pay calculator).

If it was 810L, with no mth1/wk1 behind it then you definitely underpaid tax last year. If you received £1500 during April/May 2012 then you underpaid tax by £300.

Our employees on earnings of £24k pays roughly £51 per month student loan repayment... so something is not right.

How much was your payrise?
Unless they took the whole £360 in one go then you shouldn't be so much under...

You need to see the payslip.

And sorry, but being so oversensitive about being lectured is not much of a help in life. You might not think you need a lecture, but people get into a lot of deep mess by thinking tax is someone elses problem and I think the earlier you understand the workings the better.
Especially as there is no education about it at schools currently... lot of people think that their tax is everyone elses problem but theirs, you are not alone. But you have a chance to not be like that and take control over your finances.