Am I paying too much tax

[HopingForTheBest25]

Sorry, boring question. If a person earns £524.80 per week for 39 weeks of the year, what should the tax amount be? I'm currently paying £56.77 per week in tax and £22.63 in NI. I tried to work it out and think I should be paying £43 per week in tax rather than £56 but honestly idk. I'd appreciate it if anyone could let me know if the £56 is right

As a general principle, if you have variable hours across a year (39 weeks, you mentioned) then HMRC do not know this and will apply PAYE tax on the assumption that you work all year round. If your pay was like that, does it look
like the right amount of tax?

Depends on your tax code but with the standard 1257L I get it to the £56.60.
£524.80 x 52 = £27.3k per year, the standard tax free allowance is £12,570 so you're paying tax on £27.3k - £12,570 or £14,720. Assuming your a basic rate tax payer @20% your tax due is 20% of £14,720 = £2925, divide that by 52. It's done a cumulative basis so in the weeks you don't earn but youre on payroll you'll get a rebate unless you've got a non-standard tax code

https://www.thesalarycalculator.co.uk/salary.php is a helpful site

Thanks both. The tax code is C1253L. I work term time only so £524 gross each week for the 39 weeks then literally nothing during school holiday times.

If you think it’s wrong phone the tax office; I always find them helpful.

When it comes to summer and you don’t get paid, they’ll adjust it for September and you might get tax back. They’re pretty good tbh and it all gets worked out in the end. I guess if you need the exact money right now you need to let them know, otherwise how would they.

If you're term time only you need to be also paid for 28 days statutory holidays so you should be paid for at least 44.6 weeks a year, ie £524.80 x 44.6, so you might be being taxed on that basis.

Thanks again. The £524 include approx £10 per day for holiday pay. I'm an agency TA - it's rubbish money and I'd earn more working in a supermarket but I do really like my job.

If this is your only job there are a couple of things I would check.
C1253L - The C means you are in Wales.

The 1253L is slightly less than 1257L do you get benefits or have any other income e.g. taxable interest?

No other earned income. Do have UC but payment is sporadic - they don't pay anything during a normal month as wages too high to qualify for help, but obviously I need some support for school holiday time

That’s why you are paying more tax, it’s to make sure your total income for the year including UC is correctly taxed. It will be based on what you are predicted to recieved including UC.
Benefits don’t have tax deducted so they take it from your other income source via your tax code.

Could you work directly for the school instead of through an agency, that's likely taking advantage of you both? If you're at a school that you like, ask them if they want to employ you directly. You could negotiate higher pay while saving the school money because they won't have to pay the agency fees. You'll also then be able to have your pay spread evenly throughout the year as this is normal practice for school employed TAs.

Universal credit is tax free!

Sorry I’m more used to state pension which is definitely taxed.

So why is the tax code not 1257?

You are paying tax as if you would be earning at that level for 52 weeks per year, because there is nothing whatsoever stopping you from doing other kinds of temping work during the 13 weeks per year that aren't covered by your term-time-only work. The fact that you don't do that isn't your employer's problem or HMRC's problem but from HMRC's pov, given that you'd end up underpaying tax if your 39-week employment took tax assuming no other work and then you do other work - so it's better that you overpay and then claim back the overpayment.

If things are tight during school holidays, there's lots of holiday clubs that look for school-holiday-only staff that might be worth investigating?

Thanks again. Good to know I'll get it back at some point.