Hiya,
So far I have had 12 weeks off of work only on SSP - can I claim a tax refund for this period ? If so how do I go about getting it !!! I really am useless at stuff like this but me and hubby are really struggling due to the loss of my wages.
xx
Hi Ermintrude
Try phoning the Macmillan Helpline. They might not know the answer straightaway but will arrange for someone to phone you back. I found them to be very clued up about the financial aspects of coping with cancer.
Ermintrude
The tax year ends on 5 April 2012 (yesterday). When you get your P60 from your employer (it should arrive next month) - this will list your salary, SSP and tax/NI deducted for the year, send a copy to the tax office and ask them to review your tax position for the 2011/12 tax year and repay to you any tax overpaid. Keep copies of the letter you send to the tax office.
If that’s too daunting, then pop over to Moneysavings expert when you get your P60 and look at Forums/Cutting Tax (the experts are HMRC/Tax professionals etc) type in the details on your P60 and we can tell you what you will get as a refund and also have a letter that you can send to HMRC. It’s really easy.
forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.php?f=22
In the meanwhile, get going on the Macmillan grant as I got £300 towards my gas bill.
On my P60 for the previous year, the SSP box was blacked out, but I could find the total by going through the monthly paychits. I needed to know this figure for daughter’s student finance form, though I don’t know why they need to know. Interestingly the boxes for Stat Mat/pat pay, adoption pay (all zero) had not been obscured, only the one I needed to know!! Daft people!
It’s just another set of hoops to jump - or crawl - through. It can’t be harder than cancer treatment, really. But you do need a huge amount of perseverance. And yes, definitely keep copies of everything you send; if you have to telephone then make a written note the name of who you spoke to and the exact time of the call (they do record them) what was said and what they said would happen next and when you could expect to hear back etc. It’s useful to ask them to write to you to confirm the call, actually if you tell them you had cancer and are finding it hard to concentrate and would appreciate a written follow-up, they do mostly seem quite caring and willing to help.
Ermintrude whether you can get a refund will depend on the totals for the year from last april_6th to this april_5th, of all your pay and all the tax you have paid during that time, combined with your own taxcode they sent you last april/may. Because your pay dropped soon before the end of the year the answer is probably Yes. Early on in the year, say before your diagnosis, you will have paid tax each month as if you were going to get the same each of twelve months, and they split your taxfree allowance into twelve and tax the remainder each month, but that means that if your pay drops in the last few weeks you may not have used all the allowance and end up having paid too much. Do get it checked.
Hi all,
I am now waiting for my p60 and I will make the call also I have just received a macmillan cheque !! I am so so happy and hopefully tomorrow I will have the energy to go to the bank to put it in !
One smiling happy Ermintrude (whose udders still really hurt !!!)