Super confused about my tax!!! Help!!

girl-about-town_2

Hi,
I'm having a little confusion over my tax and I'm hoping one of you lovely people who understand it all a little more than me (that won't be hard!!) could give me some help.

I've phoned the tax office helpline this morning and didn't really get much sense out of them (the guy I spoke to appeared to be having some kind of breakdown while I was on the phone!!) so if anybody could help explain things in plaing english I would be very greatful!

These are the facts:

I finished uni in July 2006 and wasn't working whilst I was there.
I moved back home and couldn't find a job so went on Jobseekers Allowance for a little while - about a month I think.

Then I found a retail job from August 06 - March 07. I paid tax from my first payslip on a 503L 1 code. During the time I worked there I earned £3608.93 and paid £138.84 tax (according to my P60 - code 503L M1). In this same time period I also worked for another company for 2 weeks, on the same tax code, earning £546 gross.

I was then unemployed for a couple of months - though not claiming any JSA.

So my total income for the taxt year April 06 - April 07 (is this right???!!)
was
3608.93
546.00
+ the amount I was paid on JSA (approx - £190 I think)
TOTAL:
£4344.93. Am I right in thinking that this is below the taxable threshold and so I shouldn't have paid tax on this amount? Or am I just getting confused??? I really struggle with the whole tax thing!!

So that is the income for that year, now onto this one!! SOrry if anyone has fallen asleep - I nearly have!!
I went back on JSA for a while, this summer ( the trouble with living in a rural area is a distinct lack of jobs!)
I then found a job through an agency where I was doing 12 weeks probationary before moving onto full time with the company.

For this I was being paid £179.55 gross each week, on a tax code of 522L W1. So I have paid tax from the start of this job too. Paying a total £186.01 in tax. I have now gone onto a permanent contract with the company I was working for and am now receiving a monthly wage of £835.80 gross, or £730.20 after tax and NI contributions. Thetax code on that payslip is 522L (it also has N( a few spaces along but I don't know what that means!!)

So from April 07 to now my income has been:
£722.83 taxable benefit from JSA
£2244.38 through agency
£835.80 from regular job
TOTAL:
£3803.01 to date.

Again I believe this to be under the taxable threshold, so should I have paid tax on it or not?

I am confused as to whether the tax free allowance is used up in your payslips first and thenyou go on to a normal rate of tax - ie. payslip one, £800 - no tax, payslip 2 £800 - no tax and so on until you reach the threshold?? Or is it spread across the year?? I hope that makes sense??

Any advice would be greatly appreciated, apologies for such a long post but I'm trying to write everything down in a way that I can understand!!

Thanks in advance :T

mrcow

It's paid monthly as you earn it so that you don't owe a big lump at the end of the tax year. Most employers adjust as you go so that the figure is right, but if you have more than one employer within a year, it's not always simple.

If you've earned under your threshold for the year (which it looks like you have both years), then you should contact your tax office who will probably tell you to write in with the figures and you will get a refund.

[Deleted User]

Hi,

have a look here.

For 2006/07 you could earn £5035 before paying any tax,

for 2007/08 you can earn £5225 before paying any tax.

Methinks you should've had a refund of tax paid in 2006/07, when you started work again.

CLAPTON

Your tax code was wrong for last year ... it should have been 503L without the M1 ... you need to speak to the tax office or write and send a copy of your p60.
you should have all your tax refunded (but you wont get back any NI).

This year your tax code ought to be 522L and NOT 522L W1

Your allowances are spread out throughout the year so you get 1/12 per month so by DEC 2007 you should be due 9/12 of the allowances.
So up to Dec 2007 you can earn 3919 before tax is due... speak to your payroll people

Perhaps it might help is you gave all the figures from your last payslip

gross to date , gross tax to date
salary this month, tax this period
period or month number or month
tax code

girl-about-town_2

Thanks for the advice everyone, I've written to the tax office now so will wait to hear back from them. Would be lovely to get something back!