Underpaid Tax

rrydvdsn

Hi all, I'm having issues with a previous employer who had me on the wrong tax code, I have now been hit with a massive tax bill and I'm a little stuck on what to do, I have read in a few places that if HMRC notified the employer to change the tax code and there was a failure on the employers part that they are liable to pay, is there any truth to this and can anyone point me in the right direction to confirm this, where would I find such a ruling? .gov site?

MeteredOut

rrydvdsn said:

Hi all, I'm having issues with a previous employer who had me on the wrong tax code, I have now been hit with a massive tax bill and I'm a little stuck on what to do, I have read in a few places that if HMRC notified the employer to change the tax code and there was a failure on the employers part that they are liable to pay, is there any truth to this and can anyone point me in the right direction to confirm this, where would I find such a ruling? .gov site?

Where you have read this? Surely those places gave details? If not, then you can probably guess why not.

The responsibility to pay the correct amount of tax (and therefore have the right tax code) is the responsibility of the individual. If you still worked for that employer, you might have been able to get a goodwill gesture from them, but I can't see a previous employer doing this.

Your best chance is to work with HMRC on a payment plan.

rrydvdsn

I've managed to find the .gov guidance on this, it comes under PAYE error in employer reductions.

MeteredOut

rrydvdsn said:

I've managed to find the .gov guidance on this, it comes under PAYE error in employer reductions.

Did they put you on the wrong tax code. ie, not the one HMRC gave them? And have they admitted to doing that?

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/family/check-tax-code/wrong-tax-code/#:~:text=However, if your code was,the tax from your employer.

TheSpectator

In very limited circumstances an employer may be held liable but all they need to say is we didn't receive the code.

OP - what did you do when you realised the code issued by HMRC (you got one right?) was different to the one being operated by your employer?

rrydvdsn

I'm unsure, on to HMRC now trying to find out, don't really want to deal with the company as they were horrendous to deal with.

MeteredOut

rrydvdsn said:

I'm unsure, on to HMRC now trying to find out, don't really want to deal with the company as they were horrendous to deal with.

If you can get a confirmation from HMRC on which tax code they sent the employer, and then are able to show the employer used a different tax code at a later date, that's a starting point.

Over what period of time was the wrong code used?

rrydvdsn

Wouldn't HMRC have any information of correspondence with the company, so would know if they requested the change of a tax code, I was on tax code BR which is 20% but earned in a bracket where I should have paid 40% so they are asking for the extra 20% on the salary over the threshold.

rrydvdsn

I started on 0T for the first week then was on tax code 0BR after the first week of the tax year and finished the year on BR.

Caz3121

were you on BR from when you started with the company. Did you provide a P45 from previous position when you started?

rrydvdsn

Yes provided a P45, no started on 0T