Steelworks – Emergency Tax Codes and How To Get Your Tax Back

Following a recent takeover it is understood that many employees on the Scunthorpe Steelworks have seen their employment transferred under TUPE.

A common issue with transferring employment is that employees can be placed on an emergency tax codes whilst paperwork is sorted.

As many people know emergency tax codes are bad news, as generally they mean you will pay more tax. Normally this is not a huge issue because once the correct tax code is identified your tax will be repaid as part of your following pay.

However, this can be an issue if it crosses over a tax year end – 5th April. If you are on an emergency tax code for your last pay prior to 5th April, this will not be repaid automatically through your next pay. This is because at the end of a tax year, HMRC will effectively close off that payroll year.

The question therefore is, if you were on an emergency tax code at the end of a tax year, how do you get your tax back?

The good news is HMRC should do the necessary calculations, calculate your pay for the tax year, realise you have overpaid and repay you the tax.

The bad news is this could take a while. Especially given the current situation and how busy they are, you could be waiting a very long time before this happens.

So what can you do?

Well, HMRC may take longer than usual to deal with this, particularly at the moment so our advice is to contact them directly to explain the situation. You can either do this in writing, phone or web chat. If speaking to them on the phone, be sure to take notes of who you have spoken to so you can chase up if needed.