Can anyone help with two job/tax code question?

[RippleLakers]

Until May last year I was working in job A full-time (5 days a week). I was then offered job B part-time (3 days a week). I reduced job A down to 2 days, and now work job B for the remaining 3 days.

The part-time salary for job A is just under the tax free allowance threshold - £11,085 PA.

The salary for job B is £25,000.

My tax code for job A is still 1275L, and my tax code for job B is BR (basic rate - so full amount of that is taxed at 20%).

I think I should have called HMRC and changed my 'main job' to job B, so the tax code would be 1275L, and job A would be taxed at BR.

Should I have done this/would it save me money in tax and get them swapped around or does it not really make a difference? I am struggling to get my head around it!!

The simplest thing is to get the whole of your personal allowance applied to the higher paying job and be taxed at BR on the other. If you leave things as they are HMRC will probably issue a code so that the balance of your allowance will be used against job B.

In my case a Civil Service pension uses up my allowance and a part time job paying around £15k is taxed at BR. During a TUPE exercise the new employer's payroll were dippy and put 1257L against my work. HMRC were on it straight away and changed the tax code on my pension to recover a presumed over refund.

It sorted itself out after another month or so.

You'll be taxed on your total income (over the threshold), no matter where you pay it. So you'll be taxed on an income of £36,085 pa. You can't "save money in tax".

So it makes no difference which tax code is on which job? I am autistic and find it difficult to understand things to do with money, so that is why I was asking. I wasn't sure if I may be being over or under taxed.

It will all work out at the end of the year and you'll get a rebate, but yes, you could change the lower paid job to job B, to pay the correct tax in the first place.

You are currently over paying each month, but will get it back as a debate at the end of each tax year.

You could swap the A&B jobs to make it correct on a monthly basis, but you'll pay the same tax overall either way.

Great, thank you. Is it worth speaking to HMRC about seeing if I am due a rebate or do you just wait until they sort it? This has been really helpful!

HMRC are pretty good at paying back any extra tax paid. And it's a good way of saving if you do it that way.