Tax on salary

[ThomasAndFriendss]

Hi all,

I started a new job in July and as such I was paid for two weeks wages that month.

I was expecting to be paid around £800 but I received just over £1000, I thought this was correct and my calculations on a part-month wage were wrong.

I sent my P45 to payroll a few weeks ago and this months pay is £200 less than I was expecting (I was paid a full wage last month and that was correct - this month I'm getting 200 less)

I've spoken to pay role and I'm on the standard code 1185L. I queried why my salary was so low and she said I paid very low tax in my first (part) month and it's probably just correcting itself.

Does that sound like a plausible explanation?

It's not unusual for tax amounts to vary in the first few months of employment, particularly if there's a period where your P45 hasn't yet come through. If you're unsure, you can ring HMRC and get them to take a look. I would guess that in your current job:

Month 1 - no P45, so no info about what you'd earned since April 2018 or tax you'd paid. Your pay would have been calculated based on zero previous earnings, so you would have been charged very little tax.

Month straight after you submit P45 - previous earnings and tax now known, so system will adjust not only what tax would be due that month, but also any underpaid tax from previous month(s)

Following month - pay and tax should stabilise and be the same from this point on (assuming no changes in tax code)

It depends what box you ticked on the tax form they gave you when you joined. The one where you say if it's your only job since April, or not.

@MagicKeysToAsda thanks! That makes perfect sense in relation to what payroll told me. "Month one tax" I think she called it.

I could really have done without this, huge struggle this month now! 😩