Should I be paying tax

MichaelAhanti

I work a zero hours contract. Last year i earned about £11,000 but was taxed throughout the year. I now have to wait to claim a tax refund. If I am earning so little,should I even be taxed? Should I only pay tax after I have earned £10,500 as per my tax code? Thanks

PS. One week I may earn £300, the next £200, then not work for a couple of weeks.

nannytone_2

you don't wait to earn your whole tax allowance ( now £11,000) as if you did, once you'd earn that much, you would lose 20% of all earnings after.
you pay tax on any amount over the threshold ( tax allowance divided by 12,13 or 52, depending on how often you are paid)
with irregular working patterns, this can mean that you overpay tac and have to claim it back.

otherwise if you earn £500 a week, you would pay no tax for the first 22 weeks of the year and then pay £100 tax for the other 30 weeks!

thats why it is spread out

dippy3103

What nanny said- you get 1/52 of your tax free allowance each week
& then you will be rebated any overpayment at the end of the year

Darksparkle

Fairly easy for you to work out if you are due a rebate for the year.

£11,000 - £10,600= £400 X 20% = £80 tax due.

If you paid more than that then you are due a rebate.

Note that is only for tax, not NI which is treated differently.

bspm

If your Employer is paying you correctly through PAYE you should have had tax rebates during the year in your wage packet if you went weeks without earning any money.

MichaelAhanti

Thanks. That's what I thought. The big problem is they won't willingly give payslips so I don't know where I stand. I've considered going to ACAS, but that really would mean a zero hours (zero) contract.

dippy3103

You have a right to a pay slip

Darksparkle

bspm wrote: »

If your Employer is paying you correctly through PAYE you should have had tax rebates during the year in your wage packet if you went weeks without earning any money.

If HMRC have assigned the correct tax code yes.

MichaelAhanti

I know. They're cowboys.

MichaelAhanti

yes 10500L I think

Darksparkle

MichaelAhanti wrote: »

yes 10500L I think

The standard tax code for 2014/15 was 1000L. So a £10,000 allowance.

10500L would give you a personal allowance of £105,000.