Excuse the possibly silly question BUT if you are on more than one agencies books and you accept work off of both how does it affect your tax? If at all ? Do you get taxed at your proper rate from both?
If you are working say in an office full time they are your main employer and will pay you the 1st £5k or so (as per tax code) tax free, then tax the next £whatever at so much %
Any work from an agency would then be classed as a second income and taxed at 25% flat (assuming you are not a 40% taxpayer)
If you work full time for one agency, you can give them your P45 and they will become your main employer and tax accordingly, other agencies would tax you at 25% etc.
Basically whoever you give your P45 to is your main employer, anyone else paying you is classed as a second income.
I think thats about it.
Thanks 8wheels . I have my P45 . Signed on with two agencies .Neither has asked for my P45.
I think I’m correct in saying that if neither agency holds your P45 then they will both stop you tax at the basic level (25%) with no allowances, I believe you should be able to have it corrected at the end of the tax year (April 5) though.
That would be right, they cannot do your tax properly without a P45. Give your P45 to whoever is likely to pay you more, if you are unsure hang on to it and see how it pans out. If after a month you are not working much for X but doing loads for Y give it agency Y and they will work it back for you.
They presumably haven’t asked for it, assuming you already have a main employer.
If you do not have a P45, your employer should ask you to complete a P46.
This will ask questions about your employments and will enable Revenue & Customs to determine the correct tax code for each employment. If a P46 is completed ‘online’, a tax code can be issued straight away.
Usually, you will receive your personal allowance (the bulk of your tax code) against your main employment. Any further employments will then be taxed at either the ‘Basic Rate’ (currently 22%) or if you ar lucky enough to earn very good money, at the ‘Higher Rate’ (currently 40%)
Overall, the amount of tax that you pay over the year will be the same, regardless of the number of employments you have
8wheels:
Basically whoever you give your P45 to is your main employer, anyone else paying you is classed as a second income.
Not neccesarily.
However, the employer that you give the P45 will continue to use the code shown on the P45.
The taxpayer can have their allowances split between two employers, simply by asking Revenue & Customs
tachograph:
I think I’m correct in saying that if neither agency holds your P45 then they will both stop you tax at the basic level (25%) with no allowances, I believe you should be able to have it corrected at the end of the tax year (April 5) though.
This does sometimes happen, usually when an employer does not stick to the letter of the law when taking on a new employee. If they ask for a P45 or complete a P46, there should be no problems.
However, if at the end of the tax year you have overpaid any tax, you just contact your local tax office and request a repayment claim form.
I completed one for a friend who was in this situation last year. He was delighted to get a cheque for over £700!
I use 2 agencies & I specifically ask them both to tax me at BR (25% or whatever (I thought it was still 22% - must be behind the times)). As I’m also self-employed with my own, un-connected to driving, business, it means I write out a smaller cheque at the end of the year & so far I’ve had no queries/complaints from either agency or the IR. As Killsville says, it’s often a nice way of saving (though you don’t get interest on it!?)
tallyman:
I…it’s often a nice way of saving (though you don’t get interest on it!?)
If you can get Revenue & Customs to keep the money long enough, you can get interest on your money and it is a ■■■■ sight better interest rate than you get with any bank.
The problem is getting them to keep it. With more and more people filing their tax returns online, the refunds come back much quicker and there is less room for error.
My mother filed her tax return about two weeks ago and has had her refund already.
tallyman:
As I’m also self-employed with my own, un-connected to driving, business, it means I write out a smaller cheque at the end of the year & so far I’ve had no queries/complaints from either agency or the IR.
I’m in the same situation, tallyman.
I’m self employed with a part time employment. I have the basic rate of 22% stopped on my employment so I know that I am not going to get stung with a large tax bill at the end of the year.
SalTheWop:
Excuse the possibly silly question BUT if you are on more than one agencies books and you accept work off of both how does it affect your tax? If at all ? Do you get taxed at your proper rate from both?
I’ve done this for many years before going self employed. Most years i would get through five or more agencies, each time as i changed signing a P46 and still got taxed at basic rate, then often i would return to an agency i had worked for earlier in the year and still be paid at the basic rate tax deduction. All i did then was to get all my P60’s and complete a tax return, always got a rebate. If you do go down this road, there was a post recently by Conor about claiming mileage allowance, i suggest you read it. Make a note of you odometer/mileage weekly along with a small log of your trips to work and you would be able to claim mileage allowance probably as well.
TAX DID SOMEONE SAY THE (T) WORD 
STOP IT NOW IT COULD BE CATCHING !!!
Can someone link to Conor’s post about claiming mileage please? With my business it’s 40p/mile off my tax so if I’m missing out on something I’d like to know about it, though I thought the ‘normal place of work’ loophole for gency drivers had been filled some time ago…
Have a search round on Revenue & Customs website. All the information and up to date rates will be on there.
tallyman:
Can someone link to Conor’s post about claiming mileage please? With my business it’s 40p/mile off my tax so if I’m missing out on something I’d like to know about it, though I thought the ‘normal place of work’ loophole for gency drivers had been filled some time ago…