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Reclaiming 'Paid Back' Maternity Pay
rapper57
Posts: 21 Forumite
Hi,
Posting for the wife.
On putting in my paperwork for Maternity leave, I ticked the box which stated I would like to take Maternity leave without the 'enhancement' as I knew our future plans were not to return to work, with plans to move to Australia the following year. However, on receiving my paperwork, my boss, the Head Teacher at the time, expressed concern and encouraged me to take the enhanced maternity pay and at the end of my maternity leave I had still decided not to return to work, then I could simply pay the extra pay back and hand in my resignation.
With this in mind, I agreed and once I started receiving the enhanced maternity pay, I put the extra money into a separate account so that at the end of my maternity leave, the money would be there to pay back to my employer. However, on notifying the school of my intentions not to return to work, they sent me a bill which was considerably more than I had been paid.
When contacting the HR department regarding this bill, I was told the bill included tax, which I had to pay back despite obviously being removed from my pay before I received it. They continued to say that if I paid the full amount back to the school by the end of the financial year, then the school would pay me back the PAYE sum themselves. However, If I wanted to pay the money back over a few months, which would go into the new financial year, then I would have to claim that money back from HMRC.
The sum being as it was, much more than expected and we were now living on one income, we decided to take the option of paying back the money over a few months. Once paid in total, I contacted HMRC to explain the situation and after checking my records etc, explained, my tax and tax returns were up to date and they didn't owe me anything; I should contact the school, as it was their responsibility to pay back that money.
From then onward, it became a back and forth of emails and phone calls between myself, the HR manager at the school, payroll and HMRC, continually being told it was the other organisations responsibility. With being in Australia by now and the difficulty of time difference and the cost of international calls, it became increasingly frustrating to keep on pursuing the issue.
Any advice where to go from here? Who is responsible to repay the monies?
Many thanks
Posting for the wife.
On putting in my paperwork for Maternity leave, I ticked the box which stated I would like to take Maternity leave without the 'enhancement' as I knew our future plans were not to return to work, with plans to move to Australia the following year. However, on receiving my paperwork, my boss, the Head Teacher at the time, expressed concern and encouraged me to take the enhanced maternity pay and at the end of my maternity leave I had still decided not to return to work, then I could simply pay the extra pay back and hand in my resignation.
With this in mind, I agreed and once I started receiving the enhanced maternity pay, I put the extra money into a separate account so that at the end of my maternity leave, the money would be there to pay back to my employer. However, on notifying the school of my intentions not to return to work, they sent me a bill which was considerably more than I had been paid.
When contacting the HR department regarding this bill, I was told the bill included tax, which I had to pay back despite obviously being removed from my pay before I received it. They continued to say that if I paid the full amount back to the school by the end of the financial year, then the school would pay me back the PAYE sum themselves. However, If I wanted to pay the money back over a few months, which would go into the new financial year, then I would have to claim that money back from HMRC.
The sum being as it was, much more than expected and we were now living on one income, we decided to take the option of paying back the money over a few months. Once paid in total, I contacted HMRC to explain the situation and after checking my records etc, explained, my tax and tax returns were up to date and they didn't owe me anything; I should contact the school, as it was their responsibility to pay back that money.
From then onward, it became a back and forth of emails and phone calls between myself, the HR manager at the school, payroll and HMRC, continually being told it was the other organisations responsibility. With being in Australia by now and the difficulty of time difference and the cost of international calls, it became increasingly frustrating to keep on pursuing the issue.
Any advice where to go from here? Who is responsible to repay the monies?
Many thanks
0
Comments
-
Can you post figures? Then someone can check if you have overpaid income tax.0
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