Revenue say I've underpaid Income Tax for 03/04 - query????

[Jodee]

Don't know if anyone can answer this, but I;ve just had a tax calculation for the 03-04 tax year, which says I've underpaid income tax by nearly £200, because: "the underpayment arose because the medical benefit in your code was less than advised by your employer on Form P11D. The underpayment will be collected through your 06-07 code".

I left the employer in March 04, having relocated, and am now earning half the salary I was with that company, so i am peeved to be owing tax now.

Could I possibly take it up with my previous employer to see if they would cover the shortfall, as it seems to be their error in filling in the Form P11D?

Did your employer put the wrong amount for your medical cover in your P11D then??

I seriously doubt they will cover the shortfall - it's not like you are actually losing money.

But it shouldn't hurt too much if they're collecting it through your tax code. just pretend it was another NI rise or something.

My employer did this for 04/05 and I've been paying it back this year. Don't think your ex employer will pay up as it's your tax you owe even though it was their mistake.

Crap innit.

Agree with KBear. As long as your employer passed on the correct information the liability is yours. They could ask for payment in one go.

thanks for replies - Blondeinlondon, I'm guessing that's what has happened.

So even if its my ex-employer's error, because it's tax i would have paid anyway if it had been calculated properly I'm stuck with it?

Shouldn't this have been picked up in 04-05 tax year? (i was better off then!!!)

In 21 years of employment I've never had an overpayment to pay before, it's just a real pain now that I'm earning a lot less to have to foot this, even though it's a relatively small amount that I won't notice too much monthly.

I think I will give my ex-employer a call though - nothing ventured ...

It's not actually an error on your employer's part - all it means is that the amount that was deducted via your tax code during 2003/04 for medical insurance benefit (which is an estimated amount usually based on prior year figures or on what you tell them it should be) was less than the actual amount subsequently returned by your employers on the 2003/04 P11d form. It's up to you to make sure your tax code is correct for any one year to avoid underpaying tax on a monthly basis.

...underpayment...

Roobie, so I should have checked tax codes more carefully? But I don't do figures! Oh well.

Not sure that it helps if you're not into numbers, but have you got a copy of the P11D (you should have been given one). A £200 additional tax liability for medical insurance seems quite a jump - it equates to around an extra £500 in terms of insurance premium. Are you happy that you agree with the P11D - it is not unknown for them to be wrong.

Do you have a copy of your coding? It should help you work out what was originally estimated.

I'm not saying that it is a mistake, but if you were already including something for medical insurance in your tax code, this seems like quite a hike. Did you get married or have another child for example?