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Posted: Mon Jun 23, 2008 10:52 am
by sabre0
Hi all,
I moved from US to UK in Feb 2007. I am still paid by my employer in the US but they employ a payroll company that calculates my NI contributions etc when sending pay to my UK bank account. I noticed that they have been using tax code BRM1 to calculate my taxes.

- I have never worked in the UK before.
- My base pay is well over 40,000 pound sterling
- I earn sales commission and also bonus but not every month

Should the payroll company be using BRM1 code? Is there a way for me to pay less taxes?

Thanks much,

Sabre

Posted: Mon Jun 23, 2008 12:35 pm
by JS123
This is not going to be a complete answer but some observations.
BR means they are taking off basic rate tax only and with no personal allowances. This is the strictly correct position where the employee does not have a form P45 (which you cannot have, as you have not worked in UK before). HMRC should issue a more accurate code if appropriate so contact payroll co to ask them which district deals with your tax and then ring up and ask them about issuing an accurate code. This will give you UK personal allowances if you are entitled to them. If for any reason you are not, then BR is probably the right code and the right amount of tax paid given your income.
Does your employer offer any assistance to its employees with UK tax returns etc? If so, take advantage and ask if they can help you out. If not, as I say ring the tax office as a starting point.
Hopefully someone else may be able to give a more detailed reply.

Posted: Mon Jun 23, 2008 4:46 pm
by sabre0
Thank you for your reply. I will try to get more info from the payroll company. I live in London (near Canary Wharf) so what district do I fall under....any ideas?

Thanks again.

Sabre

Posted: Tue Jun 24, 2008 1:28 am
by JS123
Your tax district is determined by where your employer's payroll is dealt with - hence why you need to ask them. It bears no relation to where you live if you are an employee (and to be honest in London rarely bears any relation to where you live whatever your circumstances!)

Posted: Tue Jun 24, 2008 6:01 am
by TN
Depending on your circumstances you may be not ordinarily resident in the UK, and not domiciled in the UK. If you work outside the UK as well as in the UK you might be able to pay less tax by leaving the funds outside the UK. You would also be able to avoid tax on the interest you earn by leaving it outside the UK.

As JS123 says, you need to get the tax code sorted with HMRC. If they deduct 22% tax then you will invariably end up paying too little or too much tax.

I'm based in London. Let me know if you need any help sorting out your taxes and remittances.

tristan.noyes@cta.org.uk