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Employer over paid tax while paying correct wage, story inside.
lovesbacon
Posts: 4 Newbie
Hi!
First time poster so go easy on me. Wasn't quite sure where to post this, but here looked the best fit.
18 months ago i started a new job with the joys that comes with it, longer hours but more money. A weekly sum of money was agreed for payment and honored by my employer.
September 2015 (last year) it was bought to my attention by my employer that he had been paying far to much tax for me while still paying me the agreed wage. I contacted the tax office and true enough, i was on the incorrect tax code (538T or something similar and it should should of been 1060L) i obviously asked them to correct my tax code and notify my employer and/or his accountant.
Shortly after i received a cheque for a sum of money made out in my name. A phone call to the tax office confirmed it was a cheque for my over payed tax. I tried to explain as best i could what had happened regarding my employer still paying my full wage while paying too much tax due to my tax code being wrong. I asked who's the money was and was told by the tax office that in no uncertain terms the money was mine. Obviously with this in mind and seeing as it was my name on the cheque, i placed the money in the bank and moved it to a savings account not really knowing how i stood legally and morally. To this day the money is still in that savings account and accessible.
Four months have passed with nothing said about the money or my tax code. I figured it was sorted and that i had no more to worry about. Obviously i had that cash in my savings and i still dont really know where i stand with that, for that reason i have not spent any of it.
Last Friday after work i get a call from my employer telling me that he is STILL paying too much tax for me. I can hear his accountant wittering on in the background that my tax code is 538t and should be 1060l. I explain that i have already spoken to the tax office in September and that this should of all been sorted out.
So i once again phone the tax office and ask what my tax code is. Sure enough, i am still on the incorrect tax code and i am informed that it should be 1060l. I question if they have record of me questioning it previously and sure enough, on the 30th of September 2015 i made a call to them for this very same reason. The guy on the phone cant explain why my new tax code isn't being used and tells me he will get the system to once again issue my new tax code to my employer and/or his seemingly inept accountant. The guy at the tax office informs me that i will be receiving ANOTHER cheque for over paid tax and that it should be with me shortly. "Great" i think, another cheque made out to me for money i dont even know is morally or legally mine.
So a very awkward week then follows at work, with my employer seemingly wanting to avoid any kind of contact with me and basically blanking me. Friday comes and i am immediately called into the office "for a chat" where i am basically screamed and shouted at, told i am lazy, questioned as to what i have done all week, have my girlfriends serious illness (cancer) belittled by using the phrase "my heart bleeds for you" while i try justifying why i might be texting said girlfriend from time to time while she is recovering from chemo etc etc. Luckily i managed to keep my cool....
"So how is the last paragraph relevant" i hear you ask? Well i suspect that little outburst is due to the fact that my tax code is still incorrect for god knows what reason and he is going to now be out of pocket to the tune of £1000 because my agreed wage was continually paid by him and he has over paid tax for me, which i will then get back when my tax code is finally corrected in the form of another cheque.
TL;DR version;
Employer agreed wage.
Employer paid agreed wage even though tax code was incorrect.
Employer out of pocket (?) due to over paid tax.
Employee (me) gets cheque for over paid tax.
Employee (me) does not know where to stand morally or legally.
My question is this. Can my employer claim that money back off the tax office or is it claimed off me? Should i just give my employer the money from the tax return, should that be his anyway? Should i spend the money on hookers and blackjack and say screw the world?
My gut says i should give it back but my head questions whether i am just giving away money. My heart says i should withdraw the money from the bank in cash form and burn it in front of him for belittling my girlfriends illness....
Where do i stand?
First time poster so go easy on me. Wasn't quite sure where to post this, but here looked the best fit.
18 months ago i started a new job with the joys that comes with it, longer hours but more money. A weekly sum of money was agreed for payment and honored by my employer.
September 2015 (last year) it was bought to my attention by my employer that he had been paying far to much tax for me while still paying me the agreed wage. I contacted the tax office and true enough, i was on the incorrect tax code (538T or something similar and it should should of been 1060L) i obviously asked them to correct my tax code and notify my employer and/or his accountant.
Shortly after i received a cheque for a sum of money made out in my name. A phone call to the tax office confirmed it was a cheque for my over payed tax. I tried to explain as best i could what had happened regarding my employer still paying my full wage while paying too much tax due to my tax code being wrong. I asked who's the money was and was told by the tax office that in no uncertain terms the money was mine. Obviously with this in mind and seeing as it was my name on the cheque, i placed the money in the bank and moved it to a savings account not really knowing how i stood legally and morally. To this day the money is still in that savings account and accessible.
Four months have passed with nothing said about the money or my tax code. I figured it was sorted and that i had no more to worry about. Obviously i had that cash in my savings and i still dont really know where i stand with that, for that reason i have not spent any of it.
Last Friday after work i get a call from my employer telling me that he is STILL paying too much tax for me. I can hear his accountant wittering on in the background that my tax code is 538t and should be 1060l. I explain that i have already spoken to the tax office in September and that this should of all been sorted out.
So i once again phone the tax office and ask what my tax code is. Sure enough, i am still on the incorrect tax code and i am informed that it should be 1060l. I question if they have record of me questioning it previously and sure enough, on the 30th of September 2015 i made a call to them for this very same reason. The guy on the phone cant explain why my new tax code isn't being used and tells me he will get the system to once again issue my new tax code to my employer and/or his seemingly inept accountant. The guy at the tax office informs me that i will be receiving ANOTHER cheque for over paid tax and that it should be with me shortly. "Great" i think, another cheque made out to me for money i dont even know is morally or legally mine.
So a very awkward week then follows at work, with my employer seemingly wanting to avoid any kind of contact with me and basically blanking me. Friday comes and i am immediately called into the office "for a chat" where i am basically screamed and shouted at, told i am lazy, questioned as to what i have done all week, have my girlfriends serious illness (cancer) belittled by using the phrase "my heart bleeds for you" while i try justifying why i might be texting said girlfriend from time to time while she is recovering from chemo etc etc. Luckily i managed to keep my cool....
"So how is the last paragraph relevant" i hear you ask? Well i suspect that little outburst is due to the fact that my tax code is still incorrect for god knows what reason and he is going to now be out of pocket to the tune of £1000 because my agreed wage was continually paid by him and he has over paid tax for me, which i will then get back when my tax code is finally corrected in the form of another cheque.
TL;DR version;
Employer agreed wage.
Employer paid agreed wage even though tax code was incorrect.
Employer out of pocket (?) due to over paid tax.
Employee (me) gets cheque for over paid tax.
Employee (me) does not know where to stand morally or legally.
My question is this. Can my employer claim that money back off the tax office or is it claimed off me? Should i just give my employer the money from the tax return, should that be his anyway? Should i spend the money on hookers and blackjack and say screw the world?
My gut says i should give it back but my head questions whether i am just giving away money. My heart says i should withdraw the money from the bank in cash form and burn it in front of him for belittling my girlfriends illness....
Where do i stand?
0
Comments
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Your employer should have been deducting the tax from your wages. So your employer shouldn't be out of pocket, you should.
Example - you earn £2000 per month on 1060L your net pay is then £1617.
However if you earn £2000 per month on your net pay is then £1530.0 -
How did he know it was an incorrect code ?0
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What does it say on your payslip? Your employer doesn't pay tax for you he takes it out of your wages and should be documented on your payslip0
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You have been paying too much tax because you have been on the wrong tax code.
So HMRC have given you this overpaid tax back. It belongs to you because you had the wrong amount (ie too much) deducted from your wages.
What your boss and his accountant is unhappy about is that your having the wrong tax code has messed up his accounts.
I know very little about this but you could read this:
https://www.gov.uk/running-payroll/overview
It is up to your boss and/or his accountant to sort this out with HMRC.
You owe him nothing.0 -
The OP didn't pay too much tax though, he received the correct amount because the employer adjusted the net pay.0
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glentoran99 wrote: »How do you know this? Have you seen the OP payslip?
No, I read the OP.
... I tried to explain as best i could what had happened regarding my employer still paying my full wage while paying too much tax due to my tax code being wrong...0 -
No, I read the OP.
... I tried to explain as best i could what had happened regarding my employer still paying my full wage while paying too much tax due to my tax code being wrong...
But you cant say for sure unless you know what is documented on the OP payslip
I find it strange that the OP agreed a wage "after tax"0 -
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It would be helpful if the OP could clarify their contractual arrangement for pay.
It sounds to me like a net pay agreement whereby the employer pays an agreed sum every payday and then works out a gross tax NI etc for the returns which will give this net pay.0
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