…to ask for help with tax return?!?

[rbe78]

Argh, only just realised that it is self-assessment deadline, and DH’s return is due… (I know, I know, but we’re new to this - he’s not self-employed, and last year was the first year he had earned enough to be be above the threshold where you have to submit a tax return even if you’re an employee).

He’s filled it in based on his P60, and it is now saying he owes over £1,500. But not sure how this is correct - he has one employee, tax is deducted from payslip every month. Why would this be wrong?

I have also checked his P60 figures against two different online tax calculators, both of which agree that the amount of tax he has paid is correct.

Does anyone have any clues why the system might be saying he is owing tax?

And what is best to do at this stage? Pay the supposed extra tax (which we can’t readily afford) and try and get it back, or don’t submit the return, pay the fine, and try and sort it out with HMRC post-deadline?

TIA…

Has he gone over £100k? If so then you start to lose personal allowance and that may not have been picked up
previously.

Does he have any savings or does he get dividends

If this were a couple of weeks ago, I'd be saying "Leave it a week after submitting the return, then go back and see if the amount owing has changed" - because mine changes every single time.

I could be wrong, but isn't the fine for not submitting the return? My experience is that they add a tiny bit of interest per day for each day you're late paying the amount owed.

Can you do a back of a fag packet calc check?

Any BIK/Allowances etc?

Have you clicked on “view the calculation” to see how it was calculated. It is surprisingly simple to follow.

Does he have any professional subscriptions that he hasn’t put in but are allowed for in his tax code?

His tax code may be incorrect.

Have you viewed how they did the calculation? Does the £1500 include both last years tax and the first instalment of the tax to be paid in the current tax year?

Are you currently in Scotland or rest of UK as tax rates differ between the 2.

It's might be payment on account if he is taking dividends.

You should have already paid the tax for FY2223 in Jan 23 and June (?) 23. What you are requested to pay (Jan 24) now is first payment on account for FY2324.

The application is a bit unclear on this. It also projects what the payment on account is based on your FY2223 income, whereas of course dividends can vary quite a bit from year to year.

It's also true that when you complete the return, it doesn't update the last payment on account info for a few days (at least for me). So it takes some time to get the real figure and for your total amount owed to be correct. There is a tab that gives you your current position and how much you actually owe. Edit : For me in the current position it never seems to show your last payment on account (Jun) when you submit the return in Jan. It only updates how much you owe once you have completed the return and waited a few days. Bit of a bummer if you are doing it at the last minute. But it should be (relatively) easy to subtract the relevant amount from the amount you need to pay HMRC.

I think it is confusing. As I pay my second payment on account in June, it should be easy for the system to update it by January with the actual amount I owe. But apparently not. I have looked at this explanation and think it looks garbled. Hopefully it makes some sort of sense to someone.

View the calculation. It should explain it. Or remove personal details and post it here. It’s possible your PAYE code is wrong and so the tax due is correct. or it’s possible you’ve made a mistake somewhere.

Thanks @goingdownfighting - you were right, his employer had him on the wrong tax code - they had him with some tax-free allowance, which he isn’t entitled to. So he does owe the tax, but at least we know now and can get it sorted ahead of the deadline.

Thanks all!

Ok, another dumb question - do you pay before or after submitting the tax return?

It’s not his employer who has him on the wrong tax code. The HMRC issue rhe employer with the tax code that they think he should be paying against ie it’s not the employers fault

always best to check your tax code a coupe of times a year particularly where bonuses are involved

It doesn’t matter so long as you use the correct reference so it can be allocated to the correct account.

re the tax code, your husband will have had a letter from HMRC with his tax code, the responsibility lies with him to check it

@rbe78 no worries. I'm no accountant but I've had to get to grips with it all over the years. Tax is definitely taxing!