Only working in the UK since December - should I still be paying income tax and NI?

logh

I've been working overseas for a few years and came back recently.I just started a new job (beginning of December 2015) paying approximately £350 a week.

I just got my first weekly payslip, and it shows that I am paying Income Tax and Employees National Insurance on my weekly salary, to the combined total of about £50 a week.

I thought that since it was getting near to the end of the tax year, I might not have to pay Income Tax and NI as it would be covered by my personal allowance?

Any help gratefully received.

Darksparkle

What tax code are you on?

NI has an allowance for each pay period rather than annually like tax e.g. £155 per week or £671 per month.

If you earn £350 per week you should pay NI of £23.40 approx

logh

I'm on 1060L.

If I contact my employers or The Revenue, will they be able to stop the tax being deducted from my weekly wage?

Or will I have to wait until the end of the tax year to get my refund in a lump sum?

Darksparkle

Is it definitely 1060L and not 1060L X or 1060L W1/M1?

Did you complete a starter checklist when you began working?

engineer_amy

Sounds like you are on a non-cumulative code (W1/M1).


If you didn't provide a P45 to your new employer (not likely if you were not working in the UK), you should have filled in a new starter checklist, although from the options on there you would have chosen statement B, "This is now my only job, but since 6th April I have had another job....". It doesn't give you the option to clarify that the job wasn't in the UK, or subject to UK tax. But in choosing this statement, it automatically puts you onto a W1/M1 code.


So I would say your employers have you on the correct code for the circumstances and are only applying a proportion of your personal allowance to each pay period. As Darksparkle say NI is deducted regardless of previous earnings. The new employer should not change this tax code until they receive a notification from the tax office to change it.


Give the tax office a call, but have details of previous earnings from overseas to hand, and dates of employment, they may want to ascertain where you were resident for tax purposes, how much tax should have been paid and whether there can be any offset for foreign tax. You may be sent a few forms to fill in before this is sorted out.

logh

Yes, it's definitely 1060L. I'll speak to my employers and see if they can resolve things, failing that the Tax Office.