student with 2 part time jobs - tax help please

moneypooh

My DD has a job at her place of Uni and works holidays at home. She doesn't overlap so only ever paid for one job at a time. The problem she has is tax, without a tax code for the holiday job she'll get no allowances and will need to claim the tax back. The problem is she can't stop and restart with the two companies and besides it's very difficult if she only works for 2 weeks at home before heading back to Uni.


My question is: is there anyway she can not be taxed for the holiday job? She never gets anywhere near her allowance, but having to claim tax back takes weeks/months and causes no end of grief with the tax office. Is there anyway of making it simpler??
The tax office can't seem to grasp the idea of her having 2 employers but not at the same time, surely this is very common with students??


Any help/advise appreciated.

SuperCat007

moneypooh wrote: »

My DD has a job at her place of Uni and works holidays at home. She doesn't overlap so only ever paid for one job at a time. The problem she has is tax, without a tax code for the holiday job she'll get no allowances and will need to claim the tax back. The problem is she can't stop and restart with the two companies and besides it's very difficult if she only works for 2 weeks at home before heading back to Uni.


My question is: is there anyway she can not be taxed for the holiday job? She never gets anywhere near her allowance, but having to claim tax back takes weeks/months and causes no end of grief with the tax office. Is there anyway of making it simpler??
The tax office can't seem to grasp the idea of her having 2 employers but not at the same time, surely this is very common with students??


Any help/advise appreciated.

It's probably nothing to do with the tax office, it's probably the way that the employers have submitted her forms, so she's put on an emergency tax code by HMRC, this is 20% tax.

I have 3 jobs (which have changed) and I'm a student (I don't earn anywhere near the allowance) and every time I've started a new one I've been put on the emergency tax code. All you have to do is phone HMRC with your earnings for that year and they can make 'personalised' tax codes for each job. You often have to wait on hold, but it's really easy when you get through.

It also shouldn't be that difficult to claim back, again all you have to do is phone up with your actual amount earned (or to be earned) in the job and they will alter the code and the company then has to refund you on your next payslip. Unless it's from the previous tax year in which case it is down to HMRC to refund.

The only way to make it simpler is to be paid cash, but that isn't exactly honest and most companies wouldn't go for that. But to be fair it's a pretty simple process anyway once you know how.

agrinnall

moneypooh wrote: »

The tax office can't seem to grasp the idea of her having 2 employers but not at the same time, surely this is very common with students??

I'm afraid I don't believe this, there are probably millions of people with two jobs or who have multiple sources of taxable income - my 83 year old mum has state pension and two private pensions, all of which have parts of her tax code allocated to them. So HMRC are well versed with the issue, and it is far more likely that when your daughter has spoken to them she hasn't explained her situation properly.

As Cat has adviced, she should ring them again and clearly explain what she earns and ask for her allowance to be split across the two jobs so that she pays no tax. She will need her NINO and if possible the employer tax references. Best time to ring is early in the morning, 8 a.m. or a bit earlier.

The fact that she is a student is irrelevant and I wouldn't even mention it unless asked.

moneypooh

She has clearly explained her position to the tax office on several occasions and never been given any advise about dividing her tax allowances between the 2 jobs. That seems the simple thing to do but has never been told this, I guess she hasn't spoken to the right person before.

SuperCat007

moneypooh wrote: »

She has clearly explained her position to the tax office on several occasions and never been given any advise about dividing her tax allowances between the 2 jobs. That seems the simple thing to do but has never been told this, I guess she hasn't spoken to the right person before.

Or she hasn't explained the right thing... All I've done before is phoned and enquired and was given all the information. She just needs to phone HMRC state how she wants to split the allowance between her two jobs and they'll alter it for her, then she'll get a notification of her new tax codes. Simple.

moneypooh

Seriously my DD isn't an idiot, she explained it quite clearly and had no help at all. The tax office haven't been any help so far, doesn't surprise me I've had dealings with them and they were not helpful at all, depends on who you get through to I guess. I hope she has better luck when she calls on Monday.

SuperCat007

moneypooh wrote: »

Seriously my DD isn't an idiot, she explained it quite clearly and had no help at all. The tax office haven't been any help so far, doesn't surprise me I've had dealings with them and they were not helpful at all, depends on who you get through to I guess. I hope she has better luck when she calls on Monday.

Tell her to phone up and tell them. Don't ask. Just phone and say I have 2 jobs, I earn £x in job 1 and £y in job 2 per year, and I'd like to split my tax allowance accordingly between the two. Also tell her to actually split the allowance and tell them how much she wants where, this makes it much easier for them to comprehend.

tomtontom

SuperCat007 wrote: »

Tell her to phone up and tell them. Don't ask. Just phone and say I have 2 jobs, I earn £x in job 1 and £y in job 2 per year, and I'd like to split my tax allowance accordingly between the two. Also tell her to actually split the allowance and tell them how much she wants where, this makes it much easier for them to comprehend.

This ^^

OP makes it sound so complicated, when all she needs to say is "I've got two jobs, please split my tax code".

KeepOnKnitting

To be fair to the OP, I told HMRC that I was self employed and I ended up with two separate records at the tax office, on for my employed work and one for my self employed work. They actually duplicated me. HMRC aren't perfect.

sheramber

Telling HMRC that she has two separate jobs , one after the other, implies that she is leaving one to start the other and then back again. In which case only one code number would be issued and it would be expected that she would get a P45 when she stops working each time.

If she is kept on the books at each job then the code can be split and each employer carries forward the code number issued ot them.

However, if the employer ceases her as amployee and then starts her again as a new employee each time they have no authority to continue using the code number and will treat as her a new satrt.

She needs to get each employer to continue her as an employee , albeit she is not being paid for the absent period, then they can continue to use the code number issued to them.

She tells HMRC that she has two part time jobs each earning £x amount per year and she wants her allownces split between teh two.

It is then up to each employer to operate the relavant code number.

Shelldean

tomtontom wrote: »

This ^^

OP makes it sound so complicated, when all she needs to say is "I've got two jobs, please split my tax code".

This is all she needs to tell them. DD had two jobs whilst at uni.
One was silver service as and.when she was needed the second in a fast food chain.
When she called to get her code divided she was asked what her potential maximum would be for each job. As she learnt a lot less in silver service job I think that had a tax code of 300 meaning she could earn £3000 before.tax. whilst her main job had a code of 700 meaning she could earn £7000.

And the tax she'd paid in emergency tax was refund via her pay slip next pay run. (Fortnightly)

She then never paid tax for either job.