Payment issue.

Maynoothspur

Hi. Hope someone can help here.

My gf has been working in a sales job for the last 3 months & for the last 3 months her boss has paid her and issued a payslip for approx. 50% of her agreed salary. The payslip States that the other 50% is emer tax. Fair enough for the first month i suppose. So she calls the tax office last week and they have no record of her working for this company at all or paying any tax. This guy seems to be just pocketing half her wages. What recourse should she take? Also the accountants preparing the payslips surely that's a breach of ethics? Will she get her money back given that this guy seems to be a proper chancer?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Mr. Loverman

What did the accountant / owner say when she told them this?

Clauric

Maynoothspur wrote: »

Hi. Hope someone can help here.

My gf has been working in a sales job for the last 3 months & for the last 3 months her boss has paid her and issued a payslip for approx. 50% of her agreed salary. The payslip States that the other 50% is emer tax. Fair enough for the first month i suppose. So she calls the tax office last week and they have no record of her working for this company at all or paying any tax. This guy seems to be just pocketing half her wages. What recourse should she take? Also the accountants preparing the payslips surely that's a breach of ethics? Will she get her money back given that this guy seems to be a proper chancer?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Of course Revenue haven't heard of your girlfriend working for this company, or that she is paying taxes. It is because your girlfriend has not informed Revenue that she is employed and who she is working for.

First step is to get her employer'a company number. It is normally found in her payslip. She then rings Revenue, and asks for her tax credits to be assigned to the company. Revenue will then send out a letter (or if the company uses ROS a communication for them to download) outlining the rates and credits that you are entitled to. Alternatively, your girlfriend was sent a letter from Revenue with the same information. Simply copy it, and bring it into your employer. That will solve the taxes going forward.

With regard to the past taxes. Employees generally don't return the specific amounts of tax paid by each individual until February of the year after (I.e. thus February for 2014). So what she needs to its get her P60 from her employer. Thus will show the amount of tax paid, as well as USC and PRSI. Copy it, and then contact Revenue asking what the exact way to remain the over taxed amounts, as well as USC, if she entitled to it. They will probably require a copy of the payslips. They should then, if everything is in order, and you out a check or electronic transfer for the overpaid amounts.

Alternatively, if the employer is crooked, it may trigger a tax audit.

Mr. Loverman

Clauric wrote: »

Of course Revenue haven't heard of your girlfriend working for this company, or that she is paying taxes. It is because your girlfriend has not informed Revenue that she is employed and who she is working for.

What do you mean "of course"?

She should not have to do this. The accountant / payroll person should do it as part of their normal day to day tax process.

The only reason she needs to do it is if something dodgy is happening, as may or may not be in this case. And even then, it's not a guarantee whatsoever that she will start paying the correct tax.

Mrs OBumble

Is it your girlfriend's first job?

If it is, then she should have given her PPS number to the employer and filled in a P12a from Revenue - more info here: http://www.revenue.ie/en/personal/faqs/starting-work-tax.html

If it's not, then she should have given her P45 from the last job to the employer.

If she does not have a P45, or if it's not for the same year that she started work, then she should have done as Clauric suggests. In theory it's the payroll person's responsibility to chase up the person and get a P46 from them - but in practise when the payroll is prepared by an accountant who has no direct contact with the employees, this can be difficult. (The employer won't be keen on paying the accountant to spend time chasing staff, and the accountant won't necessarily have the staff member's contact details.)

I usually tell people to contact Revenue with details (employer registration number, start date, and information about what income they've earned so far this financial year) whenever they start a new job, just in case the payroll person forgets or Revenue are unsure about earnings earlier in the year.

Jim2007

Mr. Loverman wrote: »

What do you mean "of course"?

Well it's a long time since I did payroll, but I would have thought the same, it is up to the new employee to sort out their tax situation and the whole point of emergency tax rates is to motivate you to sort it out...

seventeen sheep

Jim2007 wrote: »

Well it's a long time since I did payroll, but I would have thought the same, it is up to the new employee to sort out their tax situation and the whole point of emergency tax rates is to motivate you to sort it out...

But if the employer had submitted their p30 for the first month, revenue should have issued a tcc for the employer soon afterwards. No way should she still be on emergency tax three months in.

I work in payroll, it's unusual for someone to be on emergency tax for their first month (only happens if they start right before payday), by the second month we've received their tcc. Always.

seventeen sheep

Clauric wrote: »

Of course Revenue haven't heard of your girlfriend working for this company, or that she is paying taxes. It is because your girlfriend has not informed Revenue that she is employed and who she is working for.

First step is to get her employer'a company number. It is normally found in her payslip. She then rings Revenue, and asks for her tax credits to be assigned to the company. Revenue will then send out a letter (or if the company uses ROS a communication for them to download) outlining the rates and credits that you are entitled to. Alternatively, your girlfriend was sent a letter from Revenue with the same information. Simply copy it, and bring it into your employer. That will solve the taxes going forward.

With regard to the past taxes. Employees generally don't return the specific amounts of tax paid by each individual until February of the year after (I.e. thus February for 2014). So what she needs to its get her P60 from her employer. Thus will show the amount of tax paid, as well as USC and PRSI. Copy it, and then contact Revenue asking what the exact way to remain the over taxed amounts, as well as USC, if she entitled to it. They will probably require a copy of the payslips. They should then, if everything is in order, and you out a check or electronic transfer for the overpaid amounts.

Alternatively, if the employer is crooked, it may trigger a tax audit.

I really don't think this is correct ... employment taxes are submitted and paid on a monthly basis.

NinjaTruncs

Mr. Loverman wrote: »

What do you mean "of course"?

She should not have to do this. The accountant / payroll person should do it as part of their normal day to day tax process.

The only reason she needs to do it is if something dodgy is happening, as may or may not be in this case. And even then, it's not a guarantee whatsoever that she will start paying the correct tax.

My last two companies to work for have not contacted revenue for me. I needed to do it myself and there was nothing dodgy going on.

thesimpsons

seventeen sheep wrote: »

But if the employer had submitted their p30 for the first month, revenue should have issued a tcc for the employer soon afterwards. No way should she still be on emergency tax three months in.

I work in payroll, it's unusual for someone to be on emergency tax for their first month (only happens if they start right before payday), by the second month we've received their tcc. Always.

when company submits a P30, usually monthly but often on a 2 or even 3 monthly basis too (Revenue often changes smaller companies to 2/3 monthly returns) there isn't a breakdown of who the actual individual employees are. therefore it wouldn't prompt Revenue to automatically issue a P2C (Statement of Tax Credits) for a new employee.

I've occasionally had employees on Emergency Tax for a number of months and its always the employees own fault. I would always with a new employee ring Revenue and ask for their credits as sometimes a P45 can take a long time to come, but often too there will be a valid reason Revenue won't use cummulative tax basis if there is outstanding issues with an individual. Not all payroll/accountants will contact Revenue for a new employee though, some don't have the time to do it, some just don't see why they should do it. It is the employees responsibility to ensure their own tax situation is up to date.

Get your gf to contact Revenue as Clauric has recommended.