BR Tax for 5 years - how to get 2010-2011 back?

noideapleasehelp

Hi All

I discovered last Wednesday that I've been paying tax on a BR code for 5 years which I now understand is an emergency tax code.

I found this out from my employer when I emailed them to say they'd over-paid me and they explained that HMRC had just sent me my tax code and I was due this money back.

Looking back on P60s - the same BR is on all 5 years worth with this employer.

I've been with the same organisation since early 2010, same address etc. It's been my only job.

I didn't know anything about Tax Codes until the weekend but I do now. It hadn't crossed my mind it could be wrong based on who I work with - which I won't share.

So how can I convince HMRC that they should give me 2010-2011 tax back - it's over £1400.

Reading on this site - Martin said in 2010 there was a new computer system introduced and glitch at HMRC so people were sent letters if they were due refunds etc. I didn't receive any letter.

Today I know why - HMRC had my address of 6 years ago as my current address.

How can someone employed by the same employed, paying PAYE not be given an appropriate tax code or a refund before now?

Can I use this argument when asking them to reconsider my case. It is a very large sum of money for me and I'd really like it back but not sure how to ask for it back professionally.

Thanks for any help offered.

purdyoaten

At the risk of being pedantic BR is most definitely not an emergency tax code - it is much worse than that! The emergency code for this year is 1060L M1 .

I honestly see no possibility of a claim being successful for 2010/11. Such time limits are set in stone and HMRC will fall back on the 'taxpayer responsibility to check their own tax' mantra.

noideapleasehelp

Sorry, but how should I have been aware that my Employer and HMRC gave me the wrong tax code?

Why is the onus on me to understand tax codes when they are the agencies collecting the tax and set-up to do it appropriately?

Surely their job is to apply the appropriate tax codes?

Why should I have had reason to doubt that this was not something they could do?

Savvy_Sue

I don't want to appear unsympathetic, but your tax code almost certainly appears on every payslip, P45 and P60 you've ever had.

And your home address also appears on your P60 - so did you not notice it was wrong in previous years?

The 'standard' personal allowance is a freely available piece of information.

The fact that HMRC didn't have the right address may not have helped, but any change of tax code would (or should) have gone both to you and to your employer.

If ever I didn't have that 'standard' allowance, I'd want to know why - there might be a reason but if there was a reason, I'd find out what it was!

My only question would be, can you find out why you were on BR to start with, and whether your employer 'did the right thing' at the start of your employment and at the end of the 2010-11 tax year? IF - and it's a big if - you can establish that they made a mistake, they may be liable to repay you.

noideapleasehelp

Hi Sue

Thanks for your reply.

Yes, the BR is on every P60. But I didn't until this weekend know anything about tax codes. I just thought it meant Basic Rate - and assumed that my employer and HMRC had allocated the correct code for me. It never crossed my mind until I got money back and my employer told me I was given a new tax code and research this weekend, that they could have my tax code wrong.

I'm still confused why is it for me to know that they've got it wrong? How would I know? Why should I have known about tax codes when my employer and HMRC are tasked to know this stuff?

My address on P60 is my office desk number and not my personal address. So that's why I had no idea until today they didn't even know where I lived but even so that's not relevant I think to why I've been on a BR tax code for 5 years.

So now how do I provide evidence that my employer failed to know that my being on BR when I joined them was the wrong tax code and how does that make them liable for failing to address my tax code correctly for 5 years of employment?

My question is still why did HMRC not pick up after year 1, year 2 or year 3+ that I was on this basic tax code and it was wrong?

Why have they picked up on it now and not 2 weeks earlier when I could have got this tax back - it is a lot of money for me and I'd like to get it back.

Anatidaephobia

noideapleasehelp wrote: »

So now how do I provide evidence that my employer failed to know that my being on BR when I joined them was the wrong tax code and how does that make them liable for failing to address my tax code correctly for 5 years of employment?

My question is still why did HMRC not pick up after year 1, year 2 or year 3+ that I was on this basic tax code and it was wrong?

Why have they picked up on it now and not 2 weeks earlier when I could have got this tax back - it is a lot of money for me and I'd like to get it back.

Your employer wouldn't know if BR was the correct tax code for you or not; they will use a tax code from a P45, P46 or from HMRC. If they used BR when you started working for them and HMRC never sent them a notification to use a different code, then they would have no reason to change it.

If you change address then it is your responsibility to inform HMRC. However, if you haven't been receiving any post from them, is it possible that they actually have sent you repayments of tax from previous years which you never received?

jem16

noideapleasehelp wrote: »

So now how do I provide evidence that my employer failed to know that my being on BR when I joined them was the wrong tax code and how does that make them liable for failing to address my tax code correctly for 5 years of employment?

When you moved to this company did you provide them with a P45 from your previous company? If you did then what tax code was on it? If you did not then why not - did you not get a P45 when you left?

My question is still why did HMRC not pick up after year 1, year 2 or year 3+ that I was on this basic tax code and it was wrong?

BR is a tax code normally used for a second income so perhaps HMRC thought you were employed elsewhere and that's where your main tax code has been allocated. Perhaps if you answer my questions it might be more obvious.

chrisbur

BR would also be the code used if you had no P45 and did not fill in a P46. If you did fill in a P46 what declaration A B or C did you make.

PlutoinCapricorn

Sooner or later, many people learn the hard way that they are ultimately responsible for checking that they are given the correct tax codes, and that it is wise to learn how tax is calculated and check their P60s etc.

No one seems to learn this in school; they trust HMRC and their employers to get it right, which does not always happen as we see here.

A lot does depend on what happened when you first started this job: the employer may had been led to believe that you had another job at the time, which is often the reason for the BR code.

antrobus

You can claim a tax refund for any of the previous 4 tax years.

https://www.gov.uk/claim-tax-refund/too-much-tax-taken-from-your-pay

If you’ve paid too much tax, you can claim online. You’ll need your employer’s PAYE reference number - this is on your P60.

xylophone

http://taxaid.org.uk/guides/taxpayers/tax-for-employees/refunds-for-employees

"After four years from the end of the tax year, your claim for a refund becomes out of time and HMRC will not process it. Exceptionally, if the error is not disputed and was made by HMRC, you may ask for this time-limit to be disregarded under Extra Statutory Concession B41."