Understanding Your National Insurance and Tax

H M revenue custom will no longer accept temporary NI number.

NI numbers consist of two letters, followed by six numbers, followed by one letter, A, B, C or D. No other format is acceptable.It will look something like this: AB123456C.

NI number will not show on P45.

P45, P45 is a certificate providing details from your employee's previous employment.Example of P45 is

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/employers/e13-p20(p45).pdf

Understanding your Tax code

A tax code is usually made up of one letter and several numbers, for example: 117L or K497.

If you multiply the number in your tax code by 10, you'll get the total amount of income you can earn in a year before paying tax.

Example

The tax code 117L means:

• you are entitled to the basic personal allowance
• £1,170 must be taken away from your total taxable income.

K497 means:

• your untaxed income was £4,970 greater than your tax-free allowances
• as a result, £4,970 must be added to your total taxable income to ensure the right amount of tax is collected

What counts as a taxable income ?

• earnings from employment
• earnings from self-employment
• most pensions income (State, company and personal pensions)
• interest on most savings
• income from shares (dividends)
• rental income
• income paid to you from a trust

What counts as nontaxable income?

There are certain sorts of income that you never pay tax on. These include

• certain benefits,
• special pensions and income from tax exempt accounts.

These are ignored altogether when working out how much Income Tax you may need to pay.

How much do you pay?

Income Tax rates 2007-2008

Amount above the personal allowance	Income Tax on earnings & benefits	Income Tax on savings interest
£1 to £2,230	10%	10%
£2,231 to £34,600	22%	20%
£34,601 or more	40%	40%