Tax

[teaandtoastwithmarmite]

Just had a pay rise of about 4%. Better than nothing I thought and it was also because we have a colleague permanently off sick so been doing more. Looked at this months pay slip and I've been taxed £70 more than last month. NI £10. How is this okay when everything else is going up? And yes I know I'm lucky to have a pay rise but I'm literally just lining the government's pockets with it. I'm so fed up

What do you mean “how is this OK”? Were you expecting your pay rise to be tax free?

The money doesn’t go to the government, it pays for schools, roads, police, the NHS and so on.

No I didn't but I already don't earn that much. Less than the average so how is it ok for me to be taking home less than I was before I had it. What do we work for? We already pay a fortune in council tax.

Maybe I missed that part out in my first post that I'm actually taking home less than before!

I work in sales so every quarter if my team hit their target, I get a (fairly sizeable) bonus. I automatically lose 50% of it to deductions. It’s just the way it is, no point losing sleep over it.

Have you checked your code? It could be that you’ve paid the wrong amount. HMRC’s helpline are good if you can get through.

I don't think you should be taking home less - is your tax code correct?

It's not possible to take home less due to a pay rise (unless possibly you're on just over £100k because of the personal allowance but I don't think this applies here)?

Have you accounted for the increased NI contributions? You'll be paying these with or without a pay rise.

Have you checked what you're paying using a tax calculator?

It's a bit of an exaggeration to say that you're 'literally lining the government's pockets'. I assume that you want things like emergency services, schools, pensions, benefits, roads, waste collection etc etc to be available? How do you suggest that they are paid for?

You will not end up taking home less after a pay rise, that’s not how it works. It may take some time for the tax to go through correctly, but you will not take home less over all.

If you don’t earn much then you will be paying very little tax overall, you’ll get over £11,000 tax-free and only be paying 20% on the rest. Higher earners start paying tax from the first pound, and pay a rate of up to 45%.

So we do get bonuses every quarter as long as we get the results. So we work for them. Fair enough I get taxed extra and I suck it up. I'm just having a moan here that I get a pay rise for hard work and pay more tax in my usual monthly salary. Maybe my tax code is messed up because of that 🤷🏻‍♀️
Shall I query that then?

What is your tax code?

Did you claim the WFH tax allowance during the pandemic? That's been removed for most people so another reason why your deductions may have gone up.

@BarbaraofSeville sorry maybe I was being a bit ott it's just everything is so expensive these days. I don't see where the money goes. As for rubbish etc we pay a lot of council tax. I'm just frustrated as want to buy a house and I'm 41 and I just don't k ow where money goes

Yes, if your actual net pay has gone down check with HR. That’s not the way that tax works. You should be paying 20% of the extra in tax if you are a low-earner.

No I didn't claim that

I used to work in payroll & the amount of people who didn't realise how much tax actually was was really surprising.

however your net pay should have been less. Do you pay into a pension? student loan? all those things will have increased.

My pension has gone up a little bit. Just used salary calculator and it looks like I have been taxed about £20 too much but DH thinks this is because I got my pay rise in the middle of a tax year
Sorry for my DM style rant but I was really annoyed 😂
Thanks for your advice everyone

Has your rise changed your superannuation % as you earn more you pay a greater percentage of your salary into the pension scheme which does make you worse off.

@Musicaltheatremum that's a good point. I've put that into the salary calculator though and it's still wrong. Think I'll have to ask hmrc

I would think the pay rise may have pushed you into a different tax, NI or pension band so I would compare your new annual salary to the tax & NI thresholds.

That still can’t reduce the net pay; it’s only the additional amount which would be taxed at the higher rate.