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Chased by HMRC after using Giant

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    Chased by HMRC after using Giant

    Hi,

    I worked through the umbrella company, Giant, for around 8 months but became so frustrated by the fact that they wouldn't pay me on the same day each week, as well as abysmal customer service, that I decided to leave and just get paid directly by the agency through whom I'd secured the job. This was about 6 weeks into the new financial year - April/May 2017.

    I assumed that they were paying the correct amount of deductions on my behalf, however, today, I received a letter from HMRC saying that I owe them £356 for the year 2017/2018.

    I've done a check on a tax calculator (below) and the amount of tax one should should have paid on my income for the last tax year matches what HMRC say should have been paid - £2,427.20 - which means the £356 underpayment appears to be correct.

    But should that figure still be the same if, for a small part of the financial year, I was being paid by an umbrella company?

    If so, was I wrong to make the assumption that Giant would pay my tax as necessary, and do I have any form of redress?

    https://goodcalculators.com/tax-calculator-2017/

    #2
    You just need to work out who has that £356 the tax man wants, whether that be you, Giant, or the agency, so you can chase it up with whoever has retained that amount when it should have been paid.
    Maybe tomorrow, I'll want to settle down. Until tomorrow, I'll just keep moving on.

    Comment


      #3
      Originally posted by slam3000 View Post
      Hi,
      I assumed that they were paying the correct amount of deductions on my behalf, however, today, I received a letter from HMRC saying that I owe them £356 for the year 2017/2018.
      https://goodcalculators.com/tax-calculator-2017/
      I am assuming that if you have received the letter then this is a potential underpayment of PAYE tax which is a personal liability. The umbrella company would pay based on the tax code either taken from the P45 or applied based on your starter checklist. Once the first payment has been sent then this is reported via RTI and if HMRC deemed any changes needed to be made then this would have been sent to you and the umbrella.

      Other circumstances may affect this too, pension, other income, over/under payments in previous years etc etc so it is very difficult to say who is at fault. Unfortunately if it is a personal tax problem, then the libility will fall to the individual.

      Comment


        #4
        Originally posted by lucycontractorumbrella View Post
        I am assuming that if you have received the letter then this is a potential underpayment of PAYE tax which is a personal liability. The umbrella company would pay based on the tax code either taken from the P45 or applied based on your starter checklist. Once the first payment has been sent then this is reported via RTI and if HMRC deemed any changes needed to be made then this would have been sent to you and the umbrella.

        Other circumstances may affect this too, pension, other income, over/under payments in previous years etc etc so it is very difficult to say who is at fault. Unfortunately if it is a personal tax problem, then the liability will fall to the individual.

        I didn't have any other income, and my pension contributions were the standard ones made via auto-enrollment.


        Yes, I received the letter. I just assumed that using an umbrella, they paid all the correct tax on your behalf. I've always been paid directly by my agency and never had this issue in the past, so I'm puzzled that it has arisen now, when I was using an umbrella.

        Comment

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