New job - help me work out numbers

[Newjobwishmeluck]

Have a couple of questions. My heads up my bum and I’m no good when it comes to numbers so if someone could help me out that would be great! Apologies if I've posted in the wrong section but thought money would be a good place to post.

Starting new job next week -

Salary is £20k a year plus mileage costs which could possibly take it up to £24-25k.

First question is how much will my take home pay be after tax/NI?

I have already done this on the gov website however I’ve used my current tax code and I’m not sure if I’ll be on the same one or a different code as in my previous job I was only earning 11k a year. Will I get a new code because I’m earning over the tax allowance?

Also, as it’s salaried, what happens when there’s 5 weeks in a month? Would I earn more? Please excuse me if I seem thick!

This is my first position on a salary basis, I’ve always just been on an hourly rate in my previous jobs so things were a bit easier to work out.

Many thanks

In a salaried job, you get paid once a month - the same amount every month regardless of days worked.

Your take home pay will depend on things like pension contributions too.

I’d expect about £1350 per month + mileage.

Thank you @JoJoSM2

How does that work, if you work an extra week though? Sorry again if I sound dumb. Just trying to wrap my head around it.

When I was paid an hourly rate in my previous role any time there were 5 weeks in a month we would earn more so I'm wondering how it works in a salary role.

Don't think of it as 'extra weeks'. You have an annual salary that is paid to you in 12 monthly instalments.

You will earn 20k a year gross which will be paid in 12 instalments. So it doesn’t matter if you worked 5 or 25 days in a particular month. I also wouldn’t expect to always leave on the dot. If there’s urgent work, you might need to work through your lunch or stay after work and not get paid extra either. That’s the difference between hourly rates and salaries.

Your tax code does not change just because you earn more (within reason).

So say you were working 30 hours a week, for example. There are 52 weeks in a year. So your salary is basically them saying they will pay you 20k for 1560 hours of work in a year (30 x 52). They then divide that 20k equally over the 12 months.

Right! I get you. I understand a bit more now.

Definitely don't expect to leave on the dot everyday as I know there needs to be flexibility and a bit of give and take.

As you can all see I'm pretty clueless when it comes to this type of stuff but I understand now.

Thanks for all your help

£20k works out at just under £1250 per month once you take tax, NI and pension contributions into account, although obviously the pension amount will vary per person.

Oh really @wintertime6 that's a bit disappointing I expected to at least take home about £1400 after tax/ni which is what the gov site told me. Hmmm x

@Newjobwishmeluck it's probably the pension contributions that account for the difference, I think I pay a bit over £100 each month into my pension.

Expenses occurred at work aren’t taxable. If they pay your commuting mileage it is taxable.

@Newjobwishmeluck I just checked and my pension is actually around £160 each month, so around £1400 would be right if you don't include pension.

If you automatically enroll in pension at 3% then your take home would be approximately £1400 per month after tax NI & pension

This website is absolutely brilliant and spot on for working this stuff out...

www.thesalarycalculator.co.uk/salary.php

Listen to taxman.co.uk (use web version not mobile) is accurate - the only one that ever has been!

I've just used a pension calculator which saids I will pay around £58 a month and my employer £30ish. That's based on the employee paying 5% and the employer 3%. Does that sound right to you @ivykaty44?

I've also just checked my P45 from my old job and I think my tax code has changed from 85LL to C12. Does that normally happen?

Are you in England? They don't look like English tax codes

I'm in North Wales @BritInUS1

OK the rates are slightly different, but only over £50,000 so you're all good

Fab @BritInUS1 thank you

What will you be doing to get £4-5k pa in 'mileage costs'?

If you use your own car, many employers pay 45 pence per mile for any business mileage, but you have to pay all your own car costs including fuel out of this, plus have business insurance - your employer should explain how they deal with business travel. If they pay more than 45 pence per mile, you will pay tax on the amount above this level. If you do more than 10k miles pa, you only get 25 pence per mile above this level.

Hello!

This is a really helpful website for working out monthly take-home pay (that's pay after tax).

www.thesalarycalculator.co.uk/salary.php

It's really easy to use! It'll work out the tax for you etc.

I claim about £5000 per year in mileage for my job too, but don't claim every month (I like to save mine up and put in a claim usually every 2/3 months, although your employer may not let you do that!) But my advice to you would be to save your mileage if you can each month! It builds up a nice little savings pot 🥰

I will be travelling between sites most of the day everyday 5 days a week so it should add up @BarbaraofSeville

It was my employer who said that it would be an extra 4-5k a year just in mileage but obviously we don't know the exact amount.

He will be paying 45p a mile and no more I believe x

That's great advice thank you @crunchy123

Do you really make a bit of a profit on the mileage reimbursements?

My employer seems to think so but I wasn't sure x

@newjobwishmeluck I definitely make a bit of money! However I have a really economical car, and drive quite slowly 😂 But if I'm doing a 100 mile round trip somewhere, that's £45 paid back to me (100miles at 45p per mile) and it definitely doesn't cost me £45 in fuel to go that far!

Like I said before though, try to save it if you can, or at least some of it, so you can use it for servicing / mot-ing your car.