Uniform allowance

mkgirlchick

I put in a claim for uniform allowance & my tax code is now £60 higher.
However i also put in a claim for past few years (the whole £240 thing).
I have spoken to HRMC over live chat who have told me that out of them 4 years they will only give me £40 as after tax is only worth £12 a month... and they are not sure where the additional £2 has gone in regards to calculations... Hardly the £240 it was advertised at.. or is this wrong? seems really weird.

00ec25

like many before, and doubtless many after, you have misunderstood

HMRC do not pay you £60. They reduce your taxable income by £60, so you pay less tax on the income you get from your job

as a basic rate taxpayer you are taxed at 20%. So if your income is reduced by £60 you pay £12 less tax because 60 x 20% = £12

it is in no way worth £12 per month, it is £12 per year.

Your expectations of what you are going to get are the problem.
4 years @ £60 = £240 less taxable income
240 x 20% = £48 tax refund - that should be your expectation

Dazed_and_confused

Less the £1-2 per tax year you will no doubt have owed.

HMRC ignore this until you claim a refund or need to be sent a tax bill.

So £40 for 4 tax years sounds right. Unless you were a higher rate payer.

I find it hard to believe the HMRC operative could not explain this to you, either why the tax relief is worth £12/year (to most people) or why the amount owed back to you wasn't quite the £48.

uknick

There have been a number of posts recently where posters are saying HMRC staff either didn't understand their problem, could not explain the issue satisfactorily or gave wrong advice. They then come on here to post what, in many cases, is a relatively simple question to answer.

I know HMRC are not perfect, but I'm starting to wonder if the fault may lie with the taxpayer and not HMRC.

Caz3121

mkgirlchick wrote: »

Hardly the £240 it was advertised at.. or is this wrong?

where did you see £240 advertised?
refund from previous year
20% tax payer - £12
40% tax payer - £24
non-tax payer - £0

Dazed_and_confused

Probably a bit like the regular posters on here who think HMRC pay 45p mile for business mileage.

Although to be fair a few do say it is what their employer told them.