Incorrect Tax Code Issue!

[jimmyleaman]

Hello all,

First of all I'd like to say I've come to this website as it looks like somewhere I'll be able to get some advice on my situation

In late Decemeber I finished at Tesco Express and was offered a Christmas Temporary contract at my local Marks & Spencer store. During my Tesco Employment i was on 747L tax code. At M&S I was put on a weekly wage of £240.00 however noticed that I was on a tax code of 0T which i believe to be an emergency tax code..
Around mid december I recieved my P45 from Tesco and handed it in to M&S HR department so they could then sort out my tax code and with it, a tax refund.
I continued to recieve weekly pay for another 3 weeks until my contract came to an end on 31st December 2011. Unsuprisngly my tax code for all my payrolls where still 0T.. About 4 days after my termination of contract I recieved my M&S P45 which stated my tax code as 0T, Total Pay of £950.40, Total Tax of £190.00. On Tuesday 10th Jan, i recieved my final paycheck from M&S which was held back from my first week of work; this included £240.00 basic pay + holiday which amounted to around £300.00 and £63.00 tax was taken My first question is: I recieved my P45 before my final pay from M&S.. does this matter?

As hoped, I was then offered a permanent contract at M&S of which im now 2 weeks into.. My payrolls are still stating 0T tax code..

I went into the HR department yesterday and queried them about my Tax code further, they asked for a P45 and i stated that i gave them my P45 back during my temporary contract. The lady said to me that she will need another one as my employee number, contract..etc has now changed!
Because I gave M&S my P45 from Tesco, the only P45 i have is the M&S one which states the emergency tax code.. Anyhow i gave them that but they didnt seem to know whether it would do.

Following the unconvincing discussion with HR, i decided to ring the Tax Office today. I stated the problem, and the lady advised me that they had not recieved my P45 from Tesco and that i needed to provide some information such as:

Employee number(Well this has changed twice with M&S)
PAYEE number?
Start date

I'm really at a loss to do now and need some advice in helping me get my tax code corrected and claim my tax refund

Thanks all.

[section 44]

Any changes to your tax code need to dealt with through HMRC. At least it is nearly the end of the tax year (5 April 2012) and then you should be able to claim back any over paid tax.

[nikkisizer]

Hello jimmyleaman,

I can help you with this if required so please do not hesitate to contact me should you require any further assistance.

[mullet]

And I can help you for free. This site is about giving free advice on an altruistic basis, not touting for new business.

It is probably too complicated to deal with this via M & S now, particularly since they have both received and issued a P45 (with different tax codes). All you need to do is keep your P45s (part 1A) and P60s for this year, take photocopies then send the originals to HMRC with a covering letter headed "urgent repayment". You might then receive your repayment within a couple of months or so. For a ceased employment you use the P45; for an ongoing employment you use the P60, which you will receive during April or May this year.

I suspect that M & S are still using code 0T, so speak to the payroll department and ask them to give you a P46. Then they will be able to use code 747L (week 1). That is the emergency code for a P46 signed at statement B (and it gives you 1/12 or 1/52 of your annual allowance each payday), not 0T (which gives you no allowances at all). It won't have a huge impact for the current tax year (as you may miss February payroll so it will only change in March and it isn't retrospective), but it will mean that you get the normal tax code next year (810L) on a cumulative (normal) basis.

If you understand all I have said in this post there is no need to use an accountant.

[King_Maker]

It seems that M&S should improve their Payroll procedures - assuming she was actually following it.

M&S should use the Tesco P45 to sort out your correct PAYE Code etc - it's not rocket science. No accountant required, as mullet has already said.