to think the tax office are a sneaky bunch

[DamnBamboo]

I overpaid NIC's during the tax year 2010/2011.
How do I know this? Well I was on maternity leave so only earned about £1000 more than the personal limit and at least 50% of this was taken off as NIC, which is too much.
Many people wouldn't notice this necessarily but I did and have been meaning to contact the tax office to sort out a refund.
I did today and had a very odd conversation with the (very nice) lady which went like this:

Me: I've overpaid NIC's and want a refund
Her: How do you know you've overpaid.
Me:

Download a p50 and just send it in. They cough up quickly if you do that. Good luck with it.

Yes, it's relatively easy to sort, but only because I know enough to sort it.
How many poor sods will also have overpaid and not be aware of it.
It's the whole, if you earn

so are NICs overpayments treated differently to tax overpayments?
I finished work in aug 2009 and got a tax rebate in dec 2009 as I knew I wouldn't be working until after april 2010, so was NIC included in this rebate or do you have to apply seperately?
Are you about to make my day?

NIC are not cumulative
they apply to the weeks in which you worked
you can only claim a refund if you have paid more than the maximum amount
it's NOT like tax

you will get nothing back
if you paid the right NICs for the weeks you worked
P50's are for tax not NI

Ah, tax - the only offence in which you are guilty until proven innocent.

Yes poor they are so it seems.

That said, when I self-assessed last tax year (the final balance owing was 3p from me to them) they said I had undercontributed on my NIC and so I had to pay the balance.

3 whole pence

So it doesn't seem as though the two are always mutually exclusive although when I filed my tax return this year, it didn't tell me I'd overpaid NIC and I have to ask for that back separately, which I'm about to do.

Agree they are thriving barstewards though. I was due £2.2k and was thinking 'when exactly was I getting this money back if I hadn't hounded you!'. Some of it was from 2009/10. It's a mistake to think your employer does payroll right all the time, so best to get clued up yourself as you may be quids in.

I paid more talkinpeace I asked my payroll to adjust it and they said they couldn't.
They were taking too much off of me for some strange reasons.

NI is calculated by your employer and usually via a computer software programme, why did you not notice it at the time and raise the problem with your employer?

Its really hard to over pay NI.

I've already had my tax rebate, I self-assess and file my own company accounts and also pay class 1 and class 4 contributions.
I will get it back, of that I'm pretty certain.

DamnBamboo
NI allowances are not related to tax codes, the payroll software should pick up the limits directly.
The only exception is company directors
and the only normal error arises due to defined benefit pension contributions

have you put your payslip figures into the HMRC online calculator and worked out exactly how much NIC you have overpaid?
www.hmrc.gov.uk/calcs/nice.htm

I did Fabby. They outsource payroll (which causes many problems in itself) and then said they coudn't do anything about it and to contact the tax office, which I've done.

Thanks talkin I will check using your link again.

Damn
if you paid class 4 then you are over the limit for class 2 exemption
I take it we are not talking about Schedule E then?

I just reread your post
am now VERY confused
company accounts and class 4 are mutually exclusive

Will sit back down and look at the whole lot again.
But I have paid a lot, a huge percentage so it seems.

Anyway, my point being is that the lady on the phone said they didn't contact you re overpayment unless you earned over 40k. So if you'd overpaid, but didn't earn at least 40k,you were unlikely to hear from them. This seems odd and unfair and makes litlte sense to me.
But as you say, this may well be due to it being hard to overpay if on

Payment from my company is what I mean talkin
What I'm saying is I'm paid by my company, as well as a director of it (very very small company) and also was an employee of another company too.

Class 1 EEs NI = 11% of everything you earn over £476 a month
Class 2 SE NI = 2.40 per week so long as you earn over £5075 in a year
Class 4 SE NI = 8% of all profits over £5715 per year

each one is independent
it is NOT like tax with a single annual allowance divvied up

the low paid can have several jobs all below the NI limit - total earning a fair bit, pension entitlement = diddly squat

Thanks talkin
Are you an accountant?

I've definitely overpaid class 1, just using your figures up there, I can see that.

I am indeed a beancounter
remember that the class 1 is PER MONTH - if you worked one month and earned £500, you still have 2.64 NI to pay
I'm currently responding to the latest consultation on tax / NI simplification and integration
how sad is that!

Not sad, can't say it means a whole lot to me though!

I bet no one is as confused as me.

poor
short answer - you can get overpaid tax back
there is rarely such a thing as overpaid NI unless you earn a LOT from different sources

Thank you!