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Tax confusion (can anyone help? panicking)

54 replies

TaxTaxTax25 · 03/01/2022 13:35

Hi all. Firstly, I do apologise as I'm posting here for traffic - is there a tax section that I can post on instead?

If not, is there anyone that can help please? I owe tax and I'm slightly panicking as I have no idea where it's from. I appreciate it's difficult without documents but I can give dates and figures. HMRC aren't open until tomorrow and I'm working all week with only a 30 minute break so I might not get time to phone them until the weekend.

Thank you...

OP posts:
AllThatFancyPaintsAsFair · 03/01/2022 14:31

I don't think it will be to with this year as they'd just send a new tax code wouldn't they?

Maye to do with the fact that they've got the wrong date for you leaving

No one can really know, try not to worry and ring as soon as you can

foodaddict21 · 03/01/2022 14:34

What hours do you work OP? They're open 8am - 6pm so could you call on way to work? I use the agent line as I'm in the industry but 8am is definitely the easier time to get through.

TheAbbotOfUnreason · 03/01/2022 14:36

Isn’t CBR the basic rate tax code for a second job, so it assumes no tax free personal allowance and taxes everything at basic rate?

AllThatFancyPaintsAsFair · 03/01/2022 14:46

@TheAbbotOfUnreason

Isn’t CBR the basic rate tax code for a second job, so it assumes no tax free personal allowance and taxes everything at basic rate?
I haven't heard of a CBR code, BR is for anyone who getting a tax allowance, there's no such thing as a second job code is there? Isn't it just BR is the default unless you say you want to split your allowance but isn't solely for if you have more than one job
TheAbbotOfUnreason · 03/01/2022 15:03

@AllThatFancyPaintsAsFair

C is the code for Wales (it would be SBR in Scotland).

Not everyone splits their tax code (or has it done automatically). If your first job pays more than the personal allowance then all your second job income would be taxed at basic rate.

I used to employ young people that had a different first job and employer and had their full tax allowance allocated to it. As employer of their second job, their tax code with us was BR and I had to deduct tax on all earnings.

Jowel · 03/01/2022 15:07

HMRC do not contact people by email.

LaMontser · 03/01/2022 15:08

Are you sure they’ve not changed your tax code by £520 to recoup the £50? I think that’s how it works. I keep getting letters saying I owe £69 and they adjust my tax code by £690 or whatever to recoup it.

greatape · 03/01/2022 15:12

Did you get any benefits in kind? Like private medical or anything? That's reported separately from your payslip and whilst your tax code should be adjusted to capture the tax on this it isn't foolproof so can cause tax payments.

Does it say what tax year you owe for? If it is the 20/21 year (ending 6 April 21), that's the one where tax returns are now being filed. It should be pretty easy to work out any underpayments for that one as you just had one employment and the year has ended. Shove your p60 amounts through a n online tax calculator and make sure they match.

What I suspect though is that given you have had multiple employments in the current tax year, this has caused a wrinkle somewhere. Definitely try and give them a call but what you could do is try and estimate what you should be paying:

April to when you left - p45 income amount
Next employment - p45 income amount
Next employment - p45 income amount
Current employment - take the taxable pay to date figure.

Add these all up to get your income so far. Then, if your income is roughly the same each month, add in an extra 3 months to get an estimate of what you'll earn for the whole of the tax year (ie what you'd expect to earn form jan-March).

Shove the total amount in one of the online tax calculators so it shows you what your annual bill will be. Then look at the tax you've paid (including an estimate for the 3 months of jan - March which you've estimated based on you payslip). That will give you an idea of whether there is a gap.

In my experience HMRC are usually pretty good at catching these things and whilst they can be wrong I would say it's probably sensible to assume they are not. They are usually pretty helpful if you talk to them though. If you haven't been paying enough through your tax code then it's better to get it corrected ASAP and is hopefully likely to be a one off issue due to the multiple employments this tax year.

TaxTaxTax25 · 03/01/2022 15:12

I'm not sure @LaMontser, could be a possibility? I haven't received any letters from them though. It's just on my online account.

OP posts:
AllThatFancyPaintsAsFair · 03/01/2022 15:48

@Jowel

HMRC do not contact people by email.
Yes they do, I had an email from them just a couple of days ago. There's literally a box to tick to say you want to be contacted that way

I've noticd this said before, where are you getting that from?

AllThatFancyPaintsAsFair · 03/01/2022 15:50

[quote TheAbbotOfUnreason]@AllThatFancyPaintsAsFair

C is the code for Wales (it would be SBR in Scotland).

Not everyone splits their tax code (or has it done automatically). If your first job pays more than the personal allowance then all your second job income would be taxed at basic rate.

I used to employ young people that had a different first job and employer and had their full tax allowance allocated to it. As employer of their second job, their tax code with us was BR and I had to deduct tax on all earnings.[/quote]
I didn't know about the C and S thank you for explaining that, I was just saying that there's no such thing as a second job specific tax code. I know that BR is used initially but that's not it's definition iyswim

worriedandannoyed · 03/01/2022 15:51

If they're collecting it in the next tax year they are just going to give you a slightly different tax code so you get less personal allowance next year to recoup it. You don't need to ring them, your tax code next year will be updated when HMRC send the tax code notice to your employer. Don't panic 🙂

eagerlywaitingfor · 03/01/2022 15:54

You're on an emergency tax code, so that is why. You need to get your last P45 to your employer's payroll department asap. Once you do that, it will all correct itself.

AllThatFancyPaintsAsFair · 03/01/2022 15:56

@worriedandannoyed

If they're collecting it in the next tax year they are just going to give you a slightly different tax code so you get less personal allowance next year to recoup it. You don't need to ring them, your tax code next year will be updated when HMRC send the tax code notice to your employer. Don't panic 🙂
I thought that as first but unless it's a type it's being collected in the current tax year so quite a lot per month
ninnynonny · 03/01/2022 15:59

I've been told on my govt gateway account that I owe £46 from last year. No idea how or why but they've reduced my tax code to get it back. It's so annoying that they can just do this without letting us enquire as to where it has come from.

BasiliskStare · 03/01/2022 15:59

@imnottoofussed not sure if of use but DH had a tax bill which was too high once - it was to do with changing employers and something had fallen between the cracks - he phoned them (HMRC ) & sorted it out - I know you are short of time but this may be something worth taking some time out with your facts and figures and phoning.

This is only further to other posters who clearly know more than me

Especially with HMRC if you can I would phone and explain.

lastandfurious · 03/01/2022 16:02

I changed jobs last April and was being emergency taxed for months - I presumed at some point the system would catch up but it never did. I phoned HMRC, had a 5 minute phonecall with a very helpful lady and she sorted it there and then. The next month I had a £500 rebate :-) Just give them a call.

ihearttc · 03/01/2022 16:21

I think it’s to do with the discrepancy in dates from leaving the first job. They may assume you have a second job over that period so you’d be paying additional tax on that I believe.

Electriq · 03/01/2022 17:31

I had problems for the first time with tax last year when I changed employers at the end of the tax year, they didn't take into account that I had already earned over the tax threshold and was not taking enough tax from my wages, not only that, they didn't bother to ask me for any details so mase it all up, had to pay £100 off for 3 weeks work, lost all confidence in the company and left.

NoWordForFluffy · 03/01/2022 17:37

I - somewhat naively - thought that after giving my new employer my P45, the tax would work itself out, seeing as they'd have the previous figures. But it seemed not. Twice! I'd never had any problems before these two incidences, and I've changed jobs during the tax year before. I thought RTI was meant to fix such nonsense!

What's your account showing your new tax code as?

TaxTaxTax25 · 03/01/2022 18:38

My current tax code is CBR - I'm based in Wales if that makes any difference @NoWordForFluffy

OP posts:
TheAbbotOfUnreason · 03/01/2022 19:16

@AllThatFancyPaintsAsFair

BR is defined by HMRC as “All your income from this job or pension is taxed at the basic rate (usually used if you’ve got more than one job or pension)”.

FatOaf · 03/01/2022 23:54

I have a similar thing with the HMRC web site. Every time I go on it tells me I owe a different amount. In fact, it tells me I owe different amounts on different pages on the same site.

BasiliskStare · 04/01/2022 00:12

I know I have said this before but DH had a discrepancy & phoned HMRC & it was sorted out very quickly - so I know you are busy but might be worth making 1/2 hour to phone some time this week if you have not worked it out.

I would agree with @NoWordForFluffy - sometimes just the P45 things don't work as smoothly as one would like - but they can be sorted out if you speak to HMRC

Good luck with it

Luredbyapomegranate · 04/01/2022 00:15

Try not to worry, it may be an error

If it’s not, they will agree a payment scale that works for you. They are reasonable.

Send them an email, saying that you are puzzled and concerned and will be ringing as soon as you are able.

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