Can I claim anything if ive been away?
 

If ive been out of the UK for 1-year is there anyway of claiming anything back wether it be tax or NI contributions even If I haven't worked their for 1-year. I was reading a book and it says I can claim tax back. But im rather confused because I havent worked in the UK for 1-year. I know when we do tax returns we can claim tax back but ive not been working in the UK for a while.

Re: Can I claim anything if ive been away?
 

If you worked an incomplete tax year when you left, you should be able to claim tax back.

Also, if you start working partway through a tax year, you should be in good shape tax-wise.

I think a decent search of the "Inland Revenue" site should give you all the answers you need. http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/index.htm

Re: Can I claim anything if ive been away?
 

Thanks dunroving,

It says on the site I can claim tax from a foreign income. So if I've been working abroad I'm assuming. Ill give them a call when I return.

Thanks

Re: Can I claim anything if ive been away?
 

Have you been paying tax in the UK from that foreign income?

Re: Can I claim anything if ive been away?
 

No. Ive been outside the UK earning for the past year. Does that count?

Re: Can I claim anything if ive been away?
 

It depends where you've been and at what rate you've been paying tax. Be completely honest. The UK tax office is very fair compared to others. Tell them what you've earned and how much tax you've paid. They will explain what you're entitled to but if you've not paid UK tax, you won't be entitled to a rebate unless they think you owe them, you then pay tax and then it comes off the next years allowance.

Re: Can I claim anything if ive been away?
 

Your posts are really not very clear. I will attempt some guesswork.

You might be eligible for a refund of UK tax if, say, you left the UK mid tax year (could be this year or last year), were paid in the UK under PAYE and therefore you did not receive the full benefit of personal allowances which are pro rated under PAYE schemes.

If you have paid tax in the UK and overseas on the same source of income, you may have overpaid somewhere along the line and could be due a refund.

If you have not paid UK tax (as one of your posts suggests) then of course you are not entitled to any tax back :blink:

NI is a weekly tax not an annual tax like income tax and therefore you cannot have overpaid (unless there was a miscalculation but very unlikely) and hence never repayable.

Re: Can I claim anything if ive been away?
 

Hi Bermudashorts,
You seem to have some understanding of the system -I have been away for 7 months in total - but have been on annual leave & maternity leave for all this time, getting full pay 16 weeks & 1/2 pay plus matty leave the remainder of time - still paying all taxes/ NI contributions would it be worth while asking about applying to get tax refunded for my time away - I hit 2 financial years, the NI I realise needs to stay deducted - is there a cut off date for the 2008/2009 financial year that I must apply before (would rather try dealing with Inland revenue for Scotland when I am back in June/ July) - just thought I might be able to get some advise before I start trawling through the inland revenue site & get very confused.
Thank you :)

Re: Can I claim anything if ive been away?
 

Kitty, I am still not really very clear on your facts which need to be very precise for tax matters. So I am having to fill in with guesswork. So firstly lets split the two tax years and firstly deal with 2008 / 09 which just ended in April 2009.

It sounds like you might have been paid as an employee for the whole of the year? The fact you were on maternity leave and annual leave for part of this year is not relevant for tax purposes. Is this correct? If so and you were paid under a PAYE scheme for the whole year, you should have had your tax deductions asjusted to compensate for lower income. I would think it unlikely you are due a refund unless the PAYE was incorrectly calculated. When you get a 2008/09 P60 you would easily be able to check it.

I am also not clear what has happened this year, i.e. from April? Are you earning an income now? Are you coming back to the UK for good in June? Are you planning to work again in the UK during this tax year? If you are coming back and planning to work again, I would suggest that you do not need to do anything for this tac year. Once you start a new job you hand in your P45 if you have one and the company PAYE will deal with tax matters.

If the Inland revenue have asked you to do a tax return, I believe paper based ones are due end October and self assessment on line end January. The self assessment on line is very easy and I highly recommend it.

Note that if you were only out of the country June to June then you are still UK resident for all tax purposes.

Re: Can I claim anything if ive been away?
 

Hi,
Sorry I know its confusing, basically I have been getting paid for my job in Scotland but have been living in Australia - November 2008 to June 2009 - I am not physically at work as on matty leave but still classed as employee as if I was in uk. I might be as well phoning the inland revenue & let them work it out since I will be back in time before the cut off date. Thank you for your response to my question. :)

Re: Can I claim anything if ive been away?
 

OK, well this is what I had guessed in my last post, I would say you are most probably not due anything back. I would also say it will be very easy to check yourself once you get your P60, probably a lot less painful than trying to contact Inland Revenue.