Employer messed up pay

scottishblondie

I was on maternity leave from February 2018 - February 2019. In that time my employer underpaid me ~£1000. It has taken until now for them to agree that I was underpaid and figure out when the underpayments occurred. They've said that they will add the amount to the July payroll, but I'm concerned about the tax treatment.

Had I received this money in the 2018-19 tax year I would have been taxed at the lower rate but this year I'm expecting to tip over into the higher rate. Am I correct in saying that since they paid me incorrectly in the first place, they should be able to square it with HMRC such that I am taxed as if I had received the money at the correct time?

Note that the company's payroll department consists of 1 person who seems rather overworked and is not very responsive, and I don't really trust them to handle this correctly.

sheramber

https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/paye-manual/paye70023