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Last reviewed: June 2022
Tax rebates, tax returns, PAYE, Self Assessment: it’s tough to get your head round HMRC’s tangled world of tax. Every time you think you’ve got it straight, the taxman changes the rules on you. What’s more, he kicks up serious grief if you don’t keep up. If you can’t speak his language like a native, you can quickly end up choking on fines, penalties and worse.
For most UK workers, the Pay As You earn (PAYE) system is the way HMRC grabs its slice of the cash coming in. Under PAYE, your employer takes a cut of all the money you’re making and sends it straight to the taxman. It’s not much fun, but at least it does mean you’re not stuck filling out a ton of forms every time there’s tax to pay.
A tax code is a little string of letters and numbers that tells your employer how much cash to hack off your pay before forking it over to you. You can find it on a bunch of documents - and it’s worth keeping an eye on it, since it can and will change once in a while. Look out for your tax code on:
If you spot a change in your code and don’t understand it, getting some expert advice from a professional accountant is a great idea. A good accountant can explain exactly what it all means, and sort it out for you if the taxman’s got his wires crossed. If you change your name or decide to work for yourself, for instance, you’ll need your tax code fixed so you don’t end up on the wrong side of HMRC.
The amount you’re coughing up to HMRC comes down to 2 basic things: how much you’re earning and what your Personal Allowance is. Your Personal Allowance is listed in your tax code. Whatever you earn up to that amount each year, the taxman can’t lay a finger on it.
After your Personal Allowance is used up, the next chunk of your pay is taxed at the Basic rate. Once you hit the upper limit of that, anything more you earn gets hit with the Higher rate. Really big earners can find the top end of their pay being taxed at the even higher Additional rate.
On top of your Income Tax, you’ll also find yourself coughing up National Insurance contributions (NICs). Again, your employer handles this before you get your pay. If you’re on PAYE, you’ll be paying Class 1 NICs, which go toward stuff like your State Pension and a bunch of benefits you might find yourself claiming from time to time. Gaps in your payment history can lead to trouble down the road, but you can sometimes make voluntary payments to catch up.
Again, because the taxman loves his little codes, the NICs you pay are worked out from your National Insurance category letter. You can generally find this on your payslips, but most people using PAYE will be in category A. Here’s what they all mean:
Most people on PAYE never need to deal with the taxman directly to pay their normal tax. However, sometimes, HMRC’s going to want to stick its beak a little deeper into your business. Maybe you’ve got some extra cash coming in outside of your PAYE job, or maybe you’re trying to claw some money back through a tax rebate. When that happens, you might find yourself filing a Self Assessment tax return. Here are some examples of people who need to send returns:
That last point’s a big one. If you ever get a letter from HMRC demanding a tax return, don’t ignore it. Even if you’re sure it’s a mistake, it’d be an even bigger one to leave the taxman waiting.
When you leave a job you get a form called a P45. This pretty much just tells you what you’ve earned so far in the tax year, and how much of it HMRC got its mitts on. You’ll be able to double check stuff like your National Insurance number and tax code, too.
The main thing is knowing what to do next. If you don’t have another job to go to straight away, or if your new earnings are lower than before, you might be owed a slab of tax back. Basically, HMRC’s been taking tax from your pay on the assumption that you’ll keep making the same money for the whole tax year. If you stop work part-way through the year, you might well end up with a refund due.
There’s another important form called a P60. This one’s got the same kind of information in it, but it covers the entire tax year. If you don’t get one you need to kick up a fuss, since you might have a tougher time claiming back the tax you’re owed without it.
The Marriage Allowance is a way of you and your spouse (or civil partner) shifting your Personal Allowances between you. Basically, if one of you isn’t getting the full benefit of their Personal Allowance, they can transfer £1,190 of it to the other. To pick an example, if your spouse is bringing in £10,000 a year with a personal Allowance of £11,850, they’re missing out on some of the benefit. In that case, they could shift £1,190 of their unused allowance over to you, meaning you don’t pay tax on over an extra grand of income. That’s worth £238 a year.
We’re all used to the taxman taking a big bite out of whatever cash we’ve got coming in. When it comes to benefits, though, he’s a surprisingly fussy eater. Here are some of the payments he wants his share of:
While he’s stuffing his face on those, though, he’ll still manage to keep his hands off things like:
Unless you’re living overseas pretty much permanently, HMRC might still chase you for tax on what you’re earning. It’s all about whether or not you count as a “UK resident” for tax. A lot of that comes down to how much time you’re spending in the UK each year. If you’re here more than half the time, chances are you’re a UK resident.
If your overseas employer’s a UK company, you’ll probably still be paying National insurance, too. For foreign employers, you might find yourself coughing up the local equivalent instead. To check what taxes you have to pay, HMRC has a few tests:
One smart thing to do before you leave is check if you're owed a tax rebate from HMRC. If you're leaving part-way through a tax year, you may not have used up all of your tax-free Personal Allowance. If you're registered for Self Assessment tax returns, don't forget to file one as normal after the end of the tax year.
HMRC has a special form for people who are going to be away from the UK for a complete tax year. Visit their site for form P85 "Leaving the UK - getting your tax right" in good time before you leave.
If you’re earning abroad, there’s a tricky catch to watch out for. Depending on your situation, you could actually end up paying tax in 2 countries at once! The UK’s got some “double taxation” agreements around the world to make this less painful, so it's worth checking with to see what you're letting yourself in for.
If it turns out you’re not a UK resident for tax, you’ll normally be off the hook for your foreign income. You’ll still be paying UK tax on anything you’re earning here, though – along with things like UK bank account interest or rental income.
There’s a bunch of reasons why you might find the taxman picking your pocket. Maybe you’ve stopped working or left the country part-way through the tax year. Maybe you’ve been forking out for work travel or other essential expenses from your own pocket. If your circumstances have changed, like switching to a lower-paid job, then you might have paid too much tax over the year. You might even have been put on the wrong tax code. All of these things and more can mean you’re due a tax refund from HMRC.
The thing is, the taxman’s not always going to hand it over automatically. For one thing, he won’t necessarily know how much you’ve been spending on things like travel for work. When you don’t get an automatic refund of what you’re owed, you have to make a claim yourself. That means working out exactly what you’re due, and backing it up with records and evidence. It’s a tough job for most people, and it takes a real tax expert to get the most from the refund system. A tax refund specialist can help find out what you're owed and claim it back. Even if you’ve never claimed before, you could still get back what you’re owed for up to 4-years.
The key thing to know about HMRC’s calendar is that the taxman celebrates his personal New Year’s Day on the 6th of April. Yes, it’s weird and clumsy, but it's got something to do with Pope Gregory XIII and the 11 days that went missing in September 1752. No, that’s not a joke.
Anyway, here are some of the main dates HMRC keeps circled:
The wheels at HMRC can turn pretty slowly sometimes, but they usually get there in the end. From start to finish, you’re probably looking at about 8-10 weeks to pry your refund cash from the taxman’s tightly clenched fist. Even so, there are a few things you can do to get your claim rolling as fast as possible:
How much tax you can pry out of HMRC’s clutches depends on your situation. On average, though, a typical yearly refund claimed through a specialist like RIFT is worth around £750. If this is your first refund claim and you’re claiming for the full 4-years, that adds up to over £3000!
When you're trying to bring down your Income Tax bill in the UK, there are a few basic things to check:
Most people in the UK get a tax-free Personal Allowance worth £12,570 per year. You won't start paying tax on your income until you go over that. There are also several other kinds of income that you won't need to pay tax on, such as:
Most people in the UK qualify for a tax-free Personal Allowance, which is the amount they can earn before they start to pay Income Tax. The standard Personal Allowance for 2022/23, for example, is £12,570. Anything you earn under that threshold won't be taxed.
If you're on the books and paid through the Pay As You Earn (PAYE) system, your tax is calculated automatically for you by HMRC, based on your tax code. This is why it's so important to check the code you're on, and to ask questions if it changes unexpectedly or looks wrong.
If HMRC notices that you've paid too much or too little tax, they might send you a P800 tax calculation form to explain the situation and tell you how they're squaring it up. However, when you've got expenses to claim a tax refund for, HMRC won't automatically know about them. That's why you need to make a tax refund claim to get your money back.
Yes, absolutely! In fact, only working for part of the tax year almost certainly means you're owed a tax refund. When HMRC works out the tax you'll pay through the PAYE system, it assumes that you'll be earning steadily throughout the tax year. If you stop working part-way through, your PAYE payments for the year will have been too high. That means you'll be owed some tax back.
HMRC certainly has the power to look into your financial affairs to make sure you're paying the tax you owe. Depending on the situation, they may be able to get information directly from your bank or building society. This can happen, for instance, if they're actively investigating your situation.
If your PAYE tax looks too high, there are a few things that might be worth looking into. For example:
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Self Assessment generally is how people report any cash coming in that isn’t taxed PAYE. Self-employed people use the system to sort out their Income Tax and National Insurance – but a lot of other people have to file returns, too. For instance:
If you’re thinking of becoming your own boss, you need to let HMRC know quickly so you don’t end up choking on tax bills and penalties. That means registering online for Self Assessment by the 5th of October. Depending on how you’re set up (Sole Trader / Limited Company, etc.), you might have some other paperwork to handle as well.
Once you’re registered and have a Unique Taxpayer Reference number (UTR), you can go online and fill in your yearly Self Assessment tax return on the HMRC site. There’s a hard deadline of the 31st of January for filing and paying up what you owe. If that date blows by and the taxman doesn’t hear from you, you’ll be looking at a minimum of a £100 fine. The longer you keep him waiting, the worse the penalties get.
When you’re running a business, a lot of the cash you’re spending on essential costs can be used to bring down the tax you owe. Unlike with PAYE, the taxman doesn’t have his sights set on every single penny you’ve got coming in. It’s your profits he’s interested in. Costs that are completely necessary to run your business count against the income you’re paying tax on. The more you’re spending on your business the less tax you owe.
To get Self Assessment right, you need to get comfy with keeping records. Every time you spend cash on your business, you need to keep some evidence of it. Treat your invoices and receipts as if they were money. When it comes to filing your tax return, that’s exactly what they’ll be.
As for what counts as an “allowable expense”, it all depends on what business you’re in. The basic rule is that if it’s completely necessary and only for business use, it probably counts.
When you’re dealing with Self Assessment, the clock’s always ticking. Here are the big dates and deadlines to watch out for:
When you’re paying your tax via Self Assessment, HMRC doesn’t like waiting. In fact, the taxman hates hanging around so much that he makes you pay tax in advance on money you might not have even earned yet! Here’s how it works:
The good side to payments on account is that, when the January tax deadline rolls around, you’ll probably have already paid most of the tax you owe for the year. The bad side is that the amount you’ve paid is based on estimates. If your income drops from one year to the next, you’ll have paid too much tax and will need to claw some back. Find a specialist accountant or tax rebates expert to help you out.
The fines and penalties for not paying the tax you owe start to bite if you're even one day late with your payment:
When you're claiming a tax refund, the more information and evidence you can show to HMRC the better. You won't necessarily need to keep every last scrap of paper just to make your claim, but a good record of the mileage you've travelled for work is a great start. After that, the more receipts you can keep, the more tax you'll be able to claim back.
If you're really not a fan of paperwork, you could choose to use HMRC's flat-rate expenses system instead. Rather than keeping precise records of what it's costing you to do your job, you can claim fixed amounts that vary depending on the kind of work you do. You'll probably never get back all the tax you're owed this way, but it can be simpler overall to claim it.
HMRC has specific tax bands that determine how much Income Tax you owe, and at what threshold you start paying. For example, here are the 2022/23 tax bands for England and Northern Ireland:
Keep in mind that Income Tax isn't the only thing you'll need to pay from your earnings. There's also National Insurance to consider. Your National Insurance contributions (NICs) will depend on how much you're earning, and whether you're "on the books" or self-employed. Again, if you're employed, this will be handled automatically through PAYE. If you're self-employed, all the calculations will be based on your yearly Self Assessment tax returns.
It's certainly possible to find yourself facing a prison term and a criminal record for failing to pay the tax you owe. If you're found guilty of tax evasion, for instance, you could end up with anything from 6 months to 7 years in prison, not to mention the fines and legal fees involved.
It's not just tax evasion that can land you in prison, though. Every year, for instance, about 100 people are given prison sentences for falling behind in their Council Tax payments.
If child is at least 13 years old (for part-time work) or 16 (for full-time), they can start earning (there are age limit exceptions for certain types of work, like TV or the theatre). If your child's under 16, they won't need to pay National Insurance or be included on your payroll. If they're 16 or over, though, you can pay them a salary through the PAYE system. At that age, they'll be entitled to the National Minimum Wage. Obviously, if your child is already an adult, then all the normal rules for employers apply.
There are specific restrictions about employing younger people, so check the gov.uk site and your local council's rules for more information.
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