previous employer didnt pay tax on payslip,now i owe 1500 quid

lifeandtimes

Hi,

Can anyone advise what i can do at the moment?

I work for an company here who use agencies for their centers, i.e staff stay the same but if a new agency gives a better offer they will go with them when the other agencys contract is up.

At the end of 2014(december) the agency i was working for was switched to a new agency.

I applied for health expenses and did a p21 balancing statement for 2012/13/14. Revenue have advised that i owe just over 1500 quid for 2014 as only 40 euro tax was paid by the previous agency through my pay. I dont really understand my payslips so i wouldn't have noticed this. They have confirmed it will be taken out of my tax credits for 2017 and 2018.

Can anyone advise what i can do here, i understand that this needs to be paid as everyone contributes to tax etc but where do i stand with the previous employer. I mean they have really hung me out to dry here by doing this?

I might add that the previous years tax with this company were fine and no issues such as this.

Any advise is greatly appreciated

L1011

You need to find, and learn to understand, your payslips from that period as you need to find out whether the agency was simply not taking tax, or whether they were taking it but not remitting it to Revenue.

Avatar MIA

lifeandtimes wrote: »

Hi,

Can anyone advise what i can do at the moment?

I work for an company here who use agencies for their centers, i.e staff stay the same but if a new agency gives a better offer they will go with them when the other agencys contract is up.

At the end of 2014(december) the agency i was working for was switched to a new agency.

I applied for health expenses and did a p21 balancing statement for 2012/13/14. Revenue have advised that i owe just over 1500 quid for 2014 as only 40 euro tax was paid by the previous agency through my pay. I dont really understand my payslips so i wouldn't have noticed this. They have confirmed it will be taken out of my tax credits for 2017 and 2018.

Can anyone advise what i can do here, i understand that this needs to be paid as everyone contributes to tax etc but where do i stand with the previous employer. I mean they have really hung me out to dry here by doing this?

I might add that the previous years tax with this company were fine and no issues such as this.

Any advise is greatly appreciated

Alas, from a tax point of view there's nothing you can do about it.

In theory you might have a civil case re hardship etc against the agency that didn't deduct your taxes, but in reality it's not going to be worth it.

They overpaid you and Revenue are now claiming it back. From a tax point of view it nets off, but it does cause you cash-flow problems.

You could probably ask Revenue to spread it over a longer period, at least three years.

lifeandtimes

thanks for your input guys

i have reviewed my payslips for the period before and during and there is no tax paid on the payslip so revenue are correct and the money is owed.

i will ask and see if the spread it over a longer period but it doesn't make much of a difference.

Im not sure where i stand with the company, you suggest a civil case against them and say its not worth it, can you clarify a bit more for me please?

Sunny Dayz

Hi OP, I normally don't have much time for the PAYE tax agents as they are generally doing what most people should really be able to do themselves. PAYE anytime is very simple to use. However they are useful for people who have absolutely no clue about their taxes.
It might be worth your while contacting one of those businesses, bringing your payslips and P60's and tax credit certificates. Get them to have a look and see why you employer left you owing so much tax, did they not apply your tax credits cert correctly, were you claiming the wrongs credits, did you employer calc your wages wrong etc. Also these companies should check if you tax credits are correct and if there are any others which you could claim.

Avatar MIA

Sunny Dayz wrote: »

Hi OP, I normally don't have much time for the PAYE tax agents as they are generally doing what most people should really be able to do themselves. PAYE anytime is very simple to use. However they are useful for people who have absolutely no clue about their taxes.
It might be worth your while contacting one of those businesses, bringing your payslips and P60's and tax credit certificates. Get them to have a look and see why you employer left you owing so much tax, did they not apply your tax credits cert correctly, were you claiming the wrongs credits, did you employer calc your wages wrong etc. Also these companies should check if you tax credits are correct and if there are any others which you could claim.

It is possible that the P21 (Revenue) have not included all the possible tax credits due. But, the OP should be able to give us enough information about his payslip for us to tell if he's claiming the general tax credits.

OP,

Anyone can take anyone to court for a civil suit if they feel they have suffered, such as financial loss/emotional stress. But, companies make such errors quite frequently and I've never heard of someone being compensated. It's not something to consider, imo, and I mentioned it only because I thought you might have been considering it from your opening Post.

lifeandtimes

Avatar MIA wrote: »

It is possible that the P21 (Revenue) have not included all the possible tax credits due. But, the OP should be able to give us enough information about his payslip for us to tell if he's claiming the general tax credits.

OP,

Anyone can take anyone to court for a civil suit if they feel they have suffered, such as financial loss/emotional stress. But, companies make such errors quite frequently and I've never heard of someone being compensated. It's not something to consider, imo, and I mentioned it only because I thought you might have been considering it from your opening Post.

Hi thanks for your reply.

I am currently claiming the correct credits i believe, funny thing though at the beginning of 2014 i received a p21 statement saying i owed 1640(i know i cant catch a break), i called up revenue,everyone was really confused and i sent in all my payslips for 2013, turns out that i was claiming single parent tax credit for 2013 which i was entitled too but this was removed for fathers in 2014 and this made it seem like i had underpaid in tax, this was removed and that balanced out the underpayment.

I don't feel this is the issue here, iv had a good look through my payslips and yes tax wasnt paid bar one month before the switch of venders (employers) at the end of the year and that amounted to like 40 odd euro, being honest i wasn't looking for it so wouldn't have noticed it as i only get paid once a month and check the payslip once.

The main issue i would have now is the gripe with the former company, their negligence has put me in a difficult position now regarding repayment

Avatar MIA

lifeandtimes wrote: »

turns out that i was claiming single parent tax credit for 2013 which i was entitled too but this was removed for fathers in 2014

Removed for fathers? Never heard of that, seems unlawful. Is the child staying with you?

Sunny Dayz

OP is it possible then that the payroll dept didn't update your tax credit details for 2014 but may have carried forward your credits from 2013 including the one parent tax credit? That might explain why you owe €1,500 as the credit is 1,650. I would also suggest checking your 2015 payslips and tax credits.

lifeandtimes

Avatar MIA wrote: »

Removed for fathers? Never heard of that, seems unlawful. Is the child staying with you?

sorry i should clarify that, in the budget of 2013 this tax was removed from both parents and allocated to the parent the child resides with i.e main carrer and unfortunately that's not with me

lifeandtimes

Sunny Dayz wrote: »

OP is it possible then that the payroll dept didn't update your tax credit details for 2014 but may have carried forward your credits from 2013 including the one parent tax credit? That might explain why you owe €1,500 as the credit is 1,650. I would also suggest checking your 2015 payslips and tax credits.

ehm that could be possible, it was strange as i was paying everything fine in 2013 and then at the beginning of 2014 nothing was being paid and the in 2015 they just started again, if its the case that the tax credits were applied when not due id still owe this money though wouldn't i? Unless they were paying the tax part but not reflecting my payslip due to the credit counteracting it?

I have contacted the previous employer to see what has happened so hopefully they can shed some light

lifeandtimes

kerosene wrote: »

There is a well known agency in dublin paying skilled construction workers €8.65/hr, but giving their employees tax free breaks like overnight stay etc to boost their wages. If revenue investigated here would the agency or employee be liable?

no as this is no different to one for all vouchers etc being given as incentives,not illegal, please dont derail my thread thanks :P

Avatar MIA

lifeandtimes wrote: »

no as this is no different to one for all vouchers etc being given as incentives,not illegal, please dont derail my thread thanks :P

Mmmm - it would be different. It's currently allowed to give up to €500 in a once off voucher per year(€250 in previous years). Very different, but don't want to derail your thread.

thesimpsons

Whatever about who made this mistake or how it was made, at the end of the day you didn't pay any tax for vast portion of the year. It wasn't on your payslips and you should have seen this and queried it. It's a hard lesson but the full onus is on the employee to ensure you are paying the correct tax. Employees need to know and understand tax for this reason - if it's owed, Revenue will recoup it. The best you can do us ask for it to be repaid over a longer period. Revenue are good at this so ask for 3 years instead of 2 yrs if u need it.

lifeandtimes

thesimpsons wrote: »

Whatever about who made this mistake or how it was made, at the end of the day you didn't pay any tax for vast portion of the year. It wasn't on your payslips and you should have seen this and queried it. It's a hard lesson but the full onus is on the employee to ensure you are paying the correct tax. Employees need to know and understand tax for this reason - if it's owed, Revenue will recoup it. The best you can do us ask for it to be repaid over a longer period. Revenue are good at this so ask for 3 years instead of 2 yrs if u need it.

yes that is true and I have not made any mention of me not going to pay this back, iv pointed out that the money is due to them and i fully understand that, however i feel someone must be held accountable for a mistake here. I do not do my taxes as my employers takes care of this, i should be able to rely on the payroll department of my company to fulfill there job right and not put me in a situation such as this. If i made a mistake in my work i would be reprimanded. Granted i am a little bit annoyed about this whole situation however i still feel something should be done and im am currently in contact with the company regarding this matter.

thesimpsons

I didn't suggest you weren't going to pay the taxes due - I suggested you ask for a longer period for paying it back. I was pointing out that if you had checked your payslips during the year, you'd have seen that tax wasn't being deducted and it could have been sorted earlier and you wouldn't have a tax bill now. Did you not wonder how come you weren't paying any tax during the year? Its not enough for employees to say they don't understand a payslip as it is really fairly self explanatory and employees have to become aware of their own liabilities for paying taxes. There are numerous help pages on revenue and here on boards and elsewhere to help.

while you don't do your own taxes and you leave it up to an employer to handle them, employers can and do unfortunately make mistakes. And maybe someone has already been reprimanded for this. But you don't have any leg to stand on with with employer - if someone there made a mistake they company will handle it themselves in their own way.

However, also it may be that someone in Revenue provided the employer with the incorrect taxes and credits for you and the mistake is not on the part of the employer at all.

Arbiter of Good Taste

Unfortunately OP, it sounds like the responsibility for the mistake lies with you. If you are saying that Revenue changed your tax credits, then you should have noticed this on your last tax credit certificate which they would have sent you.

Secondly if you read your payslips, then you should have noticed that you were being paid more than usual. That should have raised questions.

Neither of these are complicated, and don't need you to know anything about tax.

If my guess is correct, then it's not fair to blame your payroll provider

lifeandtimes

thesimpsons wrote: »

I didn't suggest you weren't going to pay the taxes due - I suggested you ask for a longer period for paying it back. I was pointing out that if you had checked your payslips during the year, you'd have seen that tax wasn't being deducted and it could have been sorted earlier and you wouldn't have a tax bill now. Did you not wonder how come you weren't paying any tax during the year? Its not enough for employees to say they don't understand a payslip as it is really fairly self explanatory and employees have to become aware of their own liabilities for paying taxes. There are numerous help pages on revenue and here on boards and elsewhere to help.

while you don't do your own taxes and you leave it up to an employer to handle them, employers can and do unfortunately make mistakes. And maybe someone has already been reprimanded for this. But you don't have any leg to stand on with with employer - if someone there made a mistake they company will handle it themselves in their own way.

However, also it may be that someone in Revenue provided the employer with the incorrect taxes and credits for you and the mistake is not on the part of the employer at all.

thanks for your reply and I apologize if my post came across as abrupt, the situation i have been landed in leaves me with a sour taste in my mouth, i appreciate your advice

lifeandtimes

Arbiter of Good Taste wrote: »

Unfortunately OP, it sounds like the responsibility for the mistake lies with you. If you are saying that Revenue changed your tax credits, then you should have noticed this on your last tax credit certificate which they would have sent you.

Secondly if you read your payslips, then you should have noticed that you were being paid more than usual. That should have raised questions.

Neither of these are complicated, and don't need you to know anything about tax.

If my guess is correct, then it's not fair to blame your payroll provider

Thank you for your reply,the reason i did not notice this is becuase i have a variable bonus each month and my wage could increase or decrease and the extra money wouldnt have been seen, i know that sounds great but its not really, i would have more one month or less the next depending on performance

i can agree that i should monitor my payslip and advise of any discrepancies which i will do no in the future but surely you cant plant the blame for this solely on me, it is someones job in the payroll deppartment to do this correctly and it was not or as you have said it could be an error on revenues part in either case there is fault lies/begins somewhere up the line

barneystinson

lifeandtimes wrote: »

Thank you for your reply,the reason i did not notice this is becuase i have a variable bonus each month and my wage could increase or decrease and the extra money wouldnt have been seen, i know that sounds great but its not really, i would have more one month or less the next depending on performance

i can agree that i should monitor my payslip and advise of any discrepancies which i will do no in the future but surely you cant plant the blame for this solely on me, it is someones job in the payroll deppartment to do this correctly and it was not or as you have said it could be an error on revenues part in either case there is fault lies/begins somewhere up the line

The bottom line is that not enough tax was deducted from your pay. You received this money (albeit unwittingly), so I'm not sure what exactly you hope to get out of finding someone to blame...?

Cherry Blossom

Is the mother of your child working OP? If not, or if she is not earning enough to use it she can transfer her single parent tax credit to you. She would need to ring the revenue with both your PPS numbers to do this.