Will I be overtaxed on first pay cheque?

Dealo

Hi guys,
I start a new job in September, and unfortunately I start after their payroll cut off date. This means I won't be paid on my first payday - however when it comes to the end of October payday, I will get a bigger pay cheque than normal. I'll get paid for October + the 13 days I'll have worked in September.

My question is - as this will be my first pay cheque in my new employment, will HMRC assume that this is my new salary, and therefore overtax me? If so, will I need to wait until April to reclaim it or can it be done sooner?

Thanks!

molerat

Providing they are working with your correct tax code and P45 information you will be taxed correctly for the year to date.  The only problem would be if they used the emergency tax code for some reason.  PAYE corrects itself so if anything is incorrect in the first pay run it will be sorted in the months going forward - each month it reconciles tax due on the year to date.

chrisbur

I would not go so far as to say that there is no chance of any problems.  While the process may well be "coded and programmed" problems do sometimes occur.  The case with the OP is where there is often a problem with the calculation of national insurance.  The employer just puts the two pay periods through as one pay period with the result that the wrong NI is taken, usually an over-deduction though in a few cases an under-deduction.  Though being new to the company may not be wise to make a fuss over this, if it happens.  Tax as molerat said may not be quite correct to start with but that will correct itself eventually.
EDIT  The post that this post refers to and quotes from has now been deleted.