Ex employer overpaid me, now they want the GROSS amount returned...?

Savvy_Sue

burnoutbabe wrote: »

(i assume its harder if a different tax year but simple enough in the tax year)

Yes, it's harder, but there is a procedure which is probably irritating but simple enough, and at this time of year it should not be an issue!

jobbingmusician wrote: »

Oh, actually, I see that this will leave THEM owing YOU for a few days' pay in September. Hmmm. Assuming there's no holiday involved (you did get payment for any untaken holiday accrued, didn't you?) you could just send them x% of the payment they made you, where x = [30 - date you left] divided by 30

(The maths behind this, giving an example. If you left on the 7th, they should pay you for 1-7 September. They have paid you for 1-30 September. They therefore owed you 7/30 of September's pay, and thus you owe them 23/30 of the payment they made you.)

That's not how everyone does it, sometimes they use the number of working days in the month. Plus, the amount of tax due on a part-month payment will change, and not directly in proportion with the no. of days worked.

I'd second the advice to get this moved to Cutting Tax - jobbingmusician you can do that can't you? - as they may be able to work out more precisely what you should have been paid.

Failing that, I'd either repay the whole amount and trust them to repay what they actually owe you, you can always take them to court if they don't, OR do a rough calculation in your favour and repay that amount. They might realise that taking you to court for a small amount isn't going to end well ...

Meanwhile I hope you've got the amount tucked away somewhere earning interest where you won't spend it!

jonesas

agrinnall wrote: »

I would ask for this to be moved to the Cutting Tax board, because there is something at the back of my mind that says paying back the gross amount is the correct thing to do. I wouldn't rely fully on what a HMRC customer service person has told you.

I have received very helpful advice from this forum but I will keep this in mind, thank you