How to claim back emergency tax already paid

got2dothisnow

My 18 year old son has paid tax for the first three months of his new part time job. His payslips so far show OT as tax code which I know is an emergency code. He won't earn anywhere near the personal allowance for the year, although has already paid £400 in tax. Just registered on Gov Gateway for him to update details and he has the correct tax code showing on there, plus the amount of tax he has paid, although it says he is not expected to pay any tax this year. My question is, how does he claim back the £400 he is owed? He can't afford to wait until next April! Will it be automatic, or does he need to do something? I thought it would say on the gov gateway page but can't see anything.

maisie_cat

There used to be a form you could complete to advise HMRC that you were unlikely to work or claim taxable benefit in the remainder of the tax year. I think this link might help https://www.gov.uk/claim-tax-refund  

chrisbur

Firstly the 0T tax code is not the emergency tax code that is 1257L.  The 0T code is used for anyone who declines to give the information required on a Starter Checklist.  If his code on Gateway is 1257L then either it has recently been sent to the employer and will be applied next payday so best to check with employer if that is the case and if not to phone HMRC to get the code sent to the employer.

Savvy_Sue

If he's continuing to work, then he'll get it back through his pay once he gets the right tax code, probably 1275L. He should concentrate on that.

MalMonroe

got2dothisnow said:

My 18 year old son has paid tax for the first three months of his new part time job. His payslips so far show OT as tax code which I know is an emergency code. He won't earn anywhere near the personal allowance for the year, although has already paid £400 in tax. Just registered on Gov Gateway for him to update details and he has the correct tax code showing on there, plus the amount of tax he has paid, although it says he is not expected to pay any tax this year. My question is, how does he claim back the £400 he is owed? He can't afford to wait until next April! Will it be automatic, or does he need to do something? I thought it would say on the gov gateway page but can't see anything.

Your son could go into his personal account on the Gov Gateway and send HMRC a message querying the code and the tax taken. I'm now a pensioner and every year I'm allocated an incorrect tax code which means every year I have to contact HMRC to ask why, when my personal account states that I don't have to pay tax because my income is so small, they annually apply an incorrect tax code which means I AM paying tax. They then adjust the code and I do get the refund fairly quickly - via one of my private pensions - after that without having to wait until the next financial year. I'm sure that if I waited until the next financial year things would be sorted out but I'd rather have my money in my bank account than theirs, especially when it's been their error. (No apology either, as yet. . . )

Contacting HMRC that way, for me anyway, is far preferable to hanging on the phone, which I've done many times in the past. And well worth a try.

penners324

He needs to speak to the payroll department at his company about why they have the wrong tax code.

Speaking to HMRC is pointless 

Savvy_Sue

penners324 said:

He needs to speak to the payroll department at his company about why they have the wrong tax code.

Speaking to HMRC is pointless 

He may need to do both. You can tell me I'm using the wrong tax code for you, but if it's one HMRC sent me, I'm not going to change it.

Or I may explain that I'm using that code as a result of what was on the New Starter declaration. If I didn't get one, or it was wrongly completed, then I may be able to amend.

But sometimes, there's nothing I can do, and I'll tell you to speak to HMRC.

Spendless

I've just done this. I also had code OT. My previous employer didn't send my P45 through in time for my new job. You can't supply details on-line frustratingly. Your son needs to ring HMRC. You can't ring them until you've been in your current job for 5 weeks, your son is over this time so that's ok. Be prepared for a wait, I was on for 25 minutes before getting through, it immediately cut off so I rang back another 25 minutes got through that time. You go through some questions initially before being connected to an advisor who will then ask you more details. I rang one Thursday late morning, I received a notification saying my tax code had changed the following day and my tax was paid back the following Friday in my wages (I'm paid weekly on Fridays) so 8 days from phone call to receiving money. 

Dazed_and_C0nfused

Spendless said:

I've just done this. I also had code OT. My previous employer didn't send my P45 through in time for my new job. You can't supply details on-line frustratingly. Your son needs to ring HMRC. You can't ring them until you've been in your current job for 5 weeks, your son is over this time so that's ok. Be prepared for a wait, I was on for 25 minutes before getting through, it immediately cut off so I rang back another 25 minutes got through that time. You go through some questions initially before being connected to an advisor who will then ask you more details. I rang one Thursday late morning, I received a notification saying my tax code had changed the following day and my tax was paid back the following Friday in my wages (I'm paid weekly on Fridays) so 8 days from phone call to receiving money. 

Was there any reason why you didn't comply with the new starter procedure with your new employer?

Had you provided them (the new employer) with a completed new starter declaration they would have put you on the emergency tax code of 1257L.

penners324

Fill in a new start form (previously p46) if no p45, payroll systems will apply 1257L M1 code until told to do otherwise by hmrc

Spendless

Dazed_and_C0nfused said:

Spendless said:

I've just done this. I also had code OT. My previous employer didn't send my P45 through in time for my new job. You can't supply details on-line frustratingly. Your son needs to ring HMRC. You can't ring them until you've been in your current job for 5 weeks, your son is over this time so that's ok. Be prepared for a wait, I was on for 25 minutes before getting through, it immediately cut off so I rang back another 25 minutes got through that time. You go through some questions initially before being connected to an advisor who will then ask you more details. I rang one Thursday late morning, I received a notification saying my tax code had changed the following day and my tax was paid back the following Friday in my wages (I'm paid weekly on Fridays) so 8 days from phone call to receiving money. 

Was there any reason why you didn't comply with the new starter procedure with your new employer?

Had you provided them (the new employer) with a completed new starter declaration they would have put you on the emergency tax code of 1257L.

I'm an agency worker. I supplied all information that I was requested to by my contact/advisor  at the recruitment agency when I started the job. I was unable to supply my P45 from my previous job because I hadn't been sent it from the previous agency I worked for between  Nov 21 - March 22 . When I realised I hadn't been sent it, I chased it up. The previous agency then sent me it but encrypted but without the password to unlock it, so I contacted them again about it. Having still not got a reply from prev place despite chasing, I told my agency contact I was still waiting for it but in the meantime I'd found an older P45 from a job I had before that in Sept/Oct 21, and sent that over not thinking. I suspect it then looked like I was also  still at the previous Nov/March job and all my tax code was being used there. I didn't consider this until I looked at my first payslip. A couple of weeks later when I had already started my new job  the previous agency sent me my P45 and also the password so I could view it. I sent this on to my consultant at the agency with an explanation and said I was paying too much tax. My code still didn't change. I then rang HMRC and discovered you had to work at a place 5 weeks before you can speak to them about a change to tax code. I waited this time, rang back as detailed and the tax code changed  and my money  was paid the following week. It's 2 weeks ago today I rang and a week tomorrow since I received the overpaid tax back.