Working whilst a student

pengatal

Hello
I wonder if anyone can advise me please? My son is a student and has just had a one off 3 week period of work. Could anyone please offer some help on whether he needs to pay tax and/or N. I contributions? We're confused. Thank you in advance for advice received

agrinnall

The answer is "it depends". And it requires a lot more information from you to even get started.

First up is was he employed or self-employed?
Second, what dates were the 3 weeks that he worked?
Next is how much did he earn each week?
And finally (for now) what is his tax code and was it correcty used if he was employed?

Any answer on what might or might not be due would be guesswork just now I'm afraid.

pengatal

Thank you for your reply. I'll answer as best as I can.
He was employed as far as I can gather.
3/4/17 - 7/4/17
16/4/17 - 20/4/17
24/4/17 - 28/4/17
£450 per week
I don't have the info for your last question at this time sorry.
Thank you again

agrinnall

Thanks for that information. It's likely that his 3 pay days were all in the current tax year, which makes things easier.

His employer is required to use PAYE to deal with any tax and NI, so there should be no need for him to pay anything himself. If he hasn't had payslips he should ask for them to confirm what was deducted to be paid to HMRC (and he should have been given a P45 if the employment has now finished which will summarise what was paid).

At £450 he is definitely liable to pay Class 1 National Insurance, around £45 per week. This cannot be reclaimed. He may well have also had some tax deducted, and depending on whether he intends to work again this year, and how much, some or all of it may be reclaimable. There is information about when and how to reclaim tax here:

https://www.gov.uk/claim-tax-refund/overview

Piscean1991

National Insurance - yes he needed to pay.

Tax - the employer will have deducted it based on the prospect of him earning £450 every week for the year. I worked at uni but because my hours were so changeable and I had two jobs (and therefore two tax codes), I often ended up paying tax despite not using my full allowance. I just got a refund around September every year and ended up buying a car when I finished my degree.

If he doesn't intend to work again this tax year, he can ask for a refund or just wait until next June-September time to get it.

pengatal

Thank you both for your replies (apologies for delay.. I'm having real issues getting onto the forum for some reason).
I'll pass on all the info. The job was a one off 3 week contract only. He doesn't expect to be paid yet so will sort out ASAP.
Thanks again for your help.