I think I just worked out my last employer underpaid me for an entire year- what can I do ?

[giddyg]

I thought it was a tax issue, but when I put my gross salary in the HMRC online tax calculator and compared it to what I was actually paid- I was underpaid by a substantial amount in the ' gross ' section of my pay on my pay slips as reported to HMRC by the company.

What can I do about this ?

No. That's kind of the point.

How can someone be smart enough to command a job paying over £100k but not understand the basics of pensions and salary sacrifice?

@burnoutbabe it does not show that, it just shows what I pasted. I didn't overlook anything.

I’m an auditor. Pay often gets messed up. Everyone should check their own. I audited an entity this year that had underpaid everyone for a year and they all got a nice payment.
the accountant is bad - maybe just too busy. You can’t have someone “not getting to it”
pay is complicated but you must understand it yourself because only you are properly incentivized to check their detail. Start with an enquiry and do not be fobbed off if you do not immediately understand the answer.

Well that's a very crap payslip then which doesn't use the hmrc correct terms.

Surely it splits out national insurance and paye?

@burnoutbabe

It does show NI

Earnings + 9,180.00
Income tax - 3,279.13
National Insurance - 476.74
Pensions - 183.45
Deductions - 3,939.32

It just doesn't say gross - it called it ' earnings '

This.
And also, look at your contract of employment which should state your actual salary before any deductions. You also need to consider ALL deductions apart from statutory deductions in the form of PAYE (tax) and National Insurance. I worked in payroll for over a decade many years ago and it was alarming how many 'educated and highly qualified' individuals simply did not have a clue about their payslips - wish I had a fiver for every post graduate that I had provided an 'idiots payslip guide' to.

OP you really should contribute more to your pension as on £110k you are paying a really crap tax rate. You’ll also be able to access more help with childcare if your taxable income is less than £100k which it would be with a £10k pension payment.

@MyDeftDuck good to know I'm not the only one !

@LittleBearPad you're absolutely right. 110k is such a silly salary. But I work on commission and it was meant to be almost double that, but it wasn't last year unfortunately.

I'm in a new job now with a different salary and much better prospects thankfully.

The £8,996 is presumably the £9,180 minus the pension contribution of £183.45. So £9,180 is what your taxable income would be if you didn’t pay into a pension and £8,996 is the number reported to HMRC because that’s what you’d be taxed on.

Yeah I see that now. Thanks everyone for helping.

I still don't know if I paid the correct tax. My accountant will help and if he doesn't, I'll get a new one.

So stressful. Hope you can get it sorted.

But surely the gross pay would still be visible on the payslip? Mine is salary sacrifice and the full gross amount appears in my payslip. But then the pension is deducted before tax and NI.

OP doesn’t even know if she paid into a pension. Making a claim at ET is a bit overkill!

I know it's not the question but your pension contributions are really low for your income about 2%, you should be looking to get that closer to 5-10%

Your total pension contribution should be 8%, the least your employer can contribute is 3%, if you are paying 2% they must legally be contributing 6%

Depending on when OP started paying into a pension, what she needs to save for retirement could be significantly more than 8%.

It's capped at £50k total salary though (or was when I did it a few years ago)

1. Pay more into your pension. Speak to a financial advisor
2. Ask your accountant to explain your pay and tax affairs to you so that you can understand them. If they can't do that, find a new accountant
3. Check your payslips from your new employer regularly and make sure you understand them. Your employer payroll department is 1st point of call if you have queries. If you are on commission and you have high earnings this is important.

Op I think you’ve got the answers now, but just to say that this would be a question for your employer/payroll, not your accountant. Your accountant might be able to give you the answer like the posters here did (ie it’s probably your salary sacrificed pension) but the best person to ask is payroll because there are a few reasons why gross pay and taxable gross pay aren’t the same and it could be a mistake or not!

Hope your accountant gets your tax return done soon. And yes I echo others - pay more into your pension!

@ISeeCheekyFuckers I know it should be more I was questioning whether even the minimum was being paid

the legal minimum is 8% of upto 50,270 of which the employer must pay 3%
8% of 50,270 is 34022 or monthly £335 if her employer is paying the minimum 3% of it would leave OP paying 5% which is £209 per month so not that far from her £183 so the divide is more like 3.5% and 4.5%.

My monthly gross pay is around a 6th of yours, yet my pension contribution is more than half (if that figure you've posted is accurate). I'd do something about that. And get an accountant that does what you ask!

I'm

Im contributing more in my cutting role.