Probably going to get too much tax back ?!

blast05

Hi,

Am in a bit of a quandry. I am completing a form 12 for 2008 at the moment. My wife was on maternity for the first 6 or 7 months of 2008 (and last 3 or 4 months of 2007) and thus earned a snip less than half her normal full salary. Her P60 reflects this. As we are jointly assessed, i can claim tax back at the higher rate based on my wife not reaching the ~34K threshold. To do this i was told i also need to submit a letter indicating whether my wifes maternity benefit (which she recevied for weeks from weeks 15 to 26 of maternity - company paid full rate for weeks 1 to 14) was included in her P60. Her employer gave her a letter stating it was but we know it wasn't. The impact is that given that the maternity beneift is not taxable, then our taxable income drops by the ~2.5K of benefits received giving us an approx 1K extra in tax back.

A bit difficult to explain all that but in summary:
my wife got an incorrect letter from her employer which will mean we get 1K more tax back than we are entitled to.
What would you do ?
Is there any way the revenue could spot the error here ? or indeed is there some other form that i need to get that i perhaps am not aware of ?

TaxingTimes

I feel that you should advise the Revenue of the correct position.

The fact that the employer gave incorrect information is not relevant - you have an obligation to declare your correct taxable income.

I would ask the company to issue you with a correct letter