Self assessment PAYE but have tax bill

[WHW123]

Hi - last minute I know!!!

So I am completing a self assessment as a friend and I have side hustle which we registered as a partnership - regretting this!

Anyway we made no money from it so I assumed my self assessment would be straight forward. Apparently not.

So I have paye for my main employment and my tax code is slightly higher of 1304L due to registration fees etc which is the same as all my colleagues. My self assessment however has decided I owe £500ish and I can't work out why.

It's not from the partnership I did that first and checked. I have changed employer ( I'm nhs) so trust but both say the tax I've paid is correct.

So I can't work out why they are calculating £500. I've input my expenses so the registration fees etc, but doesn't seem to reduce it much. I know they use the standard code.

Anyone have an idea?

Yes I am last minute with this, but there we go .

@MrsJackRackam @R41nb0wR0se

So no I had 4 weeks off in between. So last employer December pay - although they didn't terminate on correct date so over paid but that was returned etc. And apparently that's reflected on my p60. I did stay on the bank but did not shifts so no impact.
And then had half a jan pay with my new trust, and the tax code was the same 1304L.
It's just weird as both payroll depts are saying they use an auto system so wouldn't be incorrectly paid.
Don't think I've missed anything off my return.
Fine paying if it's owed but don't get the calculation of how it is owed. And worried I'm missing something on my side.

OP - In the nicest way there is unlikely to be any other answer than you’ve underpaid through PAYE due to job changes.

There are lots of online calculators you can use to check but you need to add together your taxable salary figures per your P60s. Or if you want put the figures her, I can calculate it for you.

@ClimbingHydrangea most likely! I know self assessment doesn't take into account different tax codes. Am I right saying that the info that I gave to hmrc for my tax code so my registration cost etc, I'd just put into expenses per employment...

It's more just annoying how it can happen, if it's meant to be an automated system using a set tax code for the nhs. Surely loads of people will actually be underpaying? As if I didn't need to do a self assessment it likely would never have been highlighted.

Give them a call. DH has done several times this week and it's a 50 minute wait on average. We were expecting £800 child benefit repayment bill but at the end of of the self assessment form they wanted £2800 - no clear reason.

On the phone it turns out that DH had an 'erroneous' £2k tax bill owed from a postgraduate loan... he doesn't have a postgraduate loan. So it was a stressful few days and lots of wasted time on the phone, but HRMC agreed it was an error and wiped the debt.

All of this is to say- call them to see why it says you owe that much.

Would love to invoice them for time wasted due to their error 😂

@WHW123 - I think you are misunderstanding the way PAYE and Self Assessment interact but for the purposes of doing your tax return, forget about your PAYE code - unless it includes tax collected for the 2021/22 tax year.

And yes, include your actual professional subscription expenses as an employment expense.

Just to add Self Assessment doesn’t need to take into account PAYE codes as it is taking your total income for the year and applying the tax banding to calculate the actual tax due, then deducting the tax collected through PAYE.

If you didn’t file a tax return and only had employment income, HMRC would just do the calculation at the end of the tax year and tell you what extra to pay. People earning through PAYE don’t get away with underpaying.

So I get that sort of. So if I wasn't doing a self assessment due to side business, would hmrc have picked it up following my latest p60? But it was left due to me now commencing self assessment.
Just wished I'd known as it's an unexpected tax bill, so not budgeted for in this ridiculous climate. However, you live and learn!

And thanks everyone for your help

I'm out of date with Self Assessment but if you entered your P60 details yourself double check that you've shown the taxable pay (after deduction of pension contributions).

Yes they should have picked it up and sent you a letter stating what you owe. It’s rubbish when you aren’t expecting it I know. Much nicer to get a rebate letter!

It’s too late now but if you file before 30 December, and your tax owed is less than £3,000, you can ask HMRC to add it into your PAYE code to spread out the payment.

Very common when you change jobs mid way through a tax month. Both employers give you that month's tax free allowance. They can't do anything else. It's the way the PAYE scheme works. However, the new employer would normally adjust for it automatically when they entered your P45 onto their payroll system. The only way to avoid it is to ensure you get your P45 and give it to your new employer in good time for the first payroll of the new employer, but in reality, in a mid month changeover, the new employer will be paying you for the first half month's wage at the same time as your old employer pays you for their last half month's wage, so no time for the usual P45 handover.