Employer not paying my tax possibly not my NI either

kittycashcake

I have been working for my employer for nearly 3 years. The MD retired almost a year ago and the company was bought out and our terms etc carried forward.

I Have had 3 letters from HMRC in the last week, one saying they owed me £260 YAY then another saying I owed them £230 boo from sequential tax years, it stated they would contact me to arrange repayment.

I had another letter Saturday saying they can't adjust my current code as basically they don't have one for me. Turns out my employer (and new MD) hasn't paid any I think since August. My wages have always been correct as though they have been deducted properly. I have been assured this will all be sorted in the next month and not to worry and to "not bother" the tax office.

I have no idea about my National Insurance contributions.

I'm not sure how worried I should be? What questions I should be asking and with whom? Should I be concerned about my pension pot? I'm in my late 30's and just starting to think about my long term retirement plans. It's possible there is a gap in my NI contributions, can I fix this? Has a crime occurred?

I don't want to rock the boat with my employer or speak out of place, small company, no HR. But do I have any legal liability/ obligations here?

Any thoughts or suggestions would be gratefully received

xylophone

I have no idea about my National Insurance contributions.

What does your payslip show?

I had another letter Saturday saying they can't adjust my current code as basically they don't have one for me.

HMRC don't have one?!!!!!!!!
Your employer doesn't have one?

I don't want to rock the boat with my employer or speak out of place, small company, no HR. But do I have any legal liability/ obligations here?

You need to be sure that you are paying the correct amount of tax and it is in your interest to be sure that your NI is being paid.

In your position, I would ring HMRC to clarify - apparently about 7.45 am is a good time.

0300 200 3300

patanne

Make sure you keep any pay slips and other info such as P60s you may receive from your employer. Anything which shows deductions from your pay re tax and NI. If necessary then wait to receive February's (if you don't have any previous). It is your employer's responsibility to make the deductions and pay them to HMRC and your's to check that the deductions are made from your pay. If you have January's, then as Xylophone says, contact HMRC asap and put them in the picture.

You could consider contacting your pension provider and checking when the payments were made to them. My annual statement used to tell me what date they received them, they are supposed to be received within a specific time frame, which in my opinion is longer than it should be, but you can check that they are being made.

ETA (edited to add) (just re-read your original post) a request not to bother HMRC with this would be like a red flag to a bull. Start ringing when your alarm goes off and keep ringing until they answer.

kittycashcake

I haven't had a wage slip since August. I get paid weekly and as my wage stays the same I've never bothered opening them even when we were getting them, just got stuffed in my draw. No one has really been too fussed, the ones that were have given up wondering when we were going to get them.

My employer should have been paying my tax, my wages reflect its value is being removed from my pay. However the letter from the hmrc said they can't adjust my tax code as they don't have my current work details / correct tax (can't remember their exact wording). Basically they don't have my current tax deductions . My employer has basically confirmed there is an "issue" with the tax that's being resolved soon. I guessing a lump some will be paid before the end of the tax year?

I am of course nervous. I work for a small company, there are personal repercussions if I rock the boat and massive ones for my colleagues. I do believe my tax will get paid before the tax year is out, but the hmrc wanting some money now is bad timing from my employers point of view.

I am concerned about my NI contributions. My retirement is a long way off yet but I'm worried that this may not have been paid into properly too. Are they obliged to pay it? What can I do if they haven't?

I don't have a company pension yet as 2016 is the last year my employer can not auto enrol, I have been lead to believe we will be enrolled from April. But again, I am nervous.

I've never had a NI statement (not sure if it's an age thing?) - sorry for being a novice, I've always been PAYE and never experienced anything like this before do I'm not even sure I need to worry, what I should look out for and what questions I should be asking. I'm a bit mind blown.

patanne

This is the very calm version of the above. The current reporting system from an employer to HMRC known as RTI means that any reporting to HMRC has a very limited time frame for reporting (R)eal (T)ime (I)nformation to HMRC regarding employees income & tax & NI. This means that HMRC should have access to very recent info re your tax and NI status. If you can speak to them with you NI No to hand then they should be able to help you see what is going on with your 'account'

patanne

Sorry Kitty I missed your last post before I posted. I know you don't want to rock the boat & do understand that. But you all need to bear in mind that if they are not showing you as employed to HMRC then when they decide to close their doors (under their current name) then you (collectively not just you personally) will not be entitled to redundancy money or maybe even contribution based JSA (not sure about income based JSA).

Do not worry about their tax liability. I know a ltd co that owed over £40k in tax and NI. Eventually they did go bankrupt (and I do mean eventually - it took years) the difference was that HMRC knew they owed it and their employees 'accounts' showed the moneys as having been 'paid' so they were credited with the benefits. I also know of another co (much older) that had some very long term employees, that found themselves with no NI & tax records for 30 years and more so no state pension either.

Please let us know how you get on.

If they are not paying tax then they are not paying NI either as they are paid together. Ring in the early am.

jamesd

kittycashcake wrote: »

Turns out my employer (and new MD) hasn't paid any I think since August. My wages have always been correct as though they have been deducted properly. I have been assured this will all be sorted in the next month and not to worry and to "not bother" the tax office.

Now would be a really good time to ensure that you have good unemployment insurance in place.

kittycashcake wrote: »

I'm not sure how worried I should be?

Firms not paying HMRC is one of the advance indicators that a firm is in major financial trouble and likely to cease trading.

kittycashcake wrote: »

What questions I should be asking and with whom?

Contact HMRC with your old pay slips to hand and ask them to update your tax code. Tax code updates are routine and do not reveal to your employer that you told HMRC anything special. It would be useful to have one from last tax year and one from this tax year to see whether your tax code was updated. If your gross pay is the same you should be getting more net pay this tax year than last because of the increase in personal allowance. Let HMRC do any boat rocking.

kittycashcake wrote: »

Should I be concerned about my pension pot?

If this is a work pension you can contact the pension company and ask them to tell you what contributions they have received for you. The pensions they have received are safe. The money they haven't received isn't safe and may never arrive. Since you don't yet have a work pension this bit won't matter for you, it's just for anyone else in the same sort of position.

kittycashcake wrote: »

It's possible there is a gap in my NI contributions, can I fix this?

Leave it be for the moment. You are likely to work for so many years that there will be no effect on your state pension entitlement at all.

kittycashcake wrote: »

Has a crime occurred?

Maybe.

kittycashcake wrote: »

do I have any legal liability/ obligations here?

I think not.

patanne

ditto what jamesd said!

atush

Quote:
Originally Posted by kittycashcake View Post
do I have any legal liability/ obligations here?

I think not.

With the possible exception that your tax money that has been deducted needs to be paid to HMRC. And you are legally liable to pay tax.

mark5

I work for a small- medium size employer (120-160) a few years ago everyone in the company started receiving similar letters from the tax office for a period of about 2 years, we were calling our employer all the things going, it turned out they had paid the money it was hmrc who had messed up.

woolly_wombat

mark5 wrote: »

I work for a small- medium size employer (120-160) a few years ago everyone in the company started receiving similar letters from the tax office for a period of about 2 years, we were calling our employer all the things going, it turned out they had paid the money it was hmrc who had messed up.

Hmmm.

The OP has not received a wage slip since August.

I would second xylophone's advice to phone HMRC early in the morning.

My daughter got through immediately when she tried ringing as soon as the lines opened at 8.00am. That was after, I think, five unsuccessful attempts at various other times of the day.