HELP! Calculating tax on monthly pay

Hi,

I am totally dumb at tax and to be honest, money in general! I have recently just changed jobs though and i feel i am paying an awful lot of tax and prsi.

Actually my net pay was just €80 more than my old job even though my overall salary has increased by €7000. Granted i pay €100 per month now into a pension. does this sound right though? IS there a calculator where i can calculate the tax and prsi i should be paying based on my income and tax credits?

Did you give your P45 to your new employer ? Perhaps it has not yet been processed and you may be on Emergency tax.

kcat said:

IS there a calculator where i can calculate the tax and prsi i should be paying based on my income and tax credits?

Click to expand...

If you search AAM for "Tax Calculator" you'll find numerous links to different tax calculators out there. Take a little time to read the instructions that come with each to ensure you are using it correctly.

It's impossible to give a quick "yeah, that seems about right" from the information given.

You give your change in salary, but don't indicate if you are/were on the higher or lower rate of tax / if you've changed from the lower to the higher.

You mention a pension contribution of €100. Is this the net cost of the contribution (e.g. would your pay be €100 more without the contribution or is the €100 including the tax relief [at either the higher or lower rate])? Is this the gross amount of the contribution (e.g. including the tax relief)? Does this include any employer contribution?

While reviewing your tax, be sure that check that you are claiming all relevant tax credits. If you rent, are you claiming the tax relief available for this? Are you claiming for refuse charges/medical expenses? etc etc.
Some very good posts on AAM that tackle tax credits and what you are entitled to.

Satanta said:

If you search AAM for "Tax Calculator" you'll find numerous links to different tax calculators out there. Take a little time to read the instructions that come with each to ensure you are using it correctly.

It's impossible to give a quick "yeah, that seems about right" from the information given.

You give your change in salary, but don't indicate if you are/were on the higher or lower rate of tax / if you've changed from the lower to the higher.

You mention a pension contribution of €100. Is this the net cost of the contribution (e.g. would your pay be €100 more without the contribution or is the €100 including the tax relief [at either the higher or lower rate])? Is this the gross amount of the contribution (e.g. including the tax relief)? Does this include any employer contribution?

While reviewing your tax, be sure that check that you are claiming all relevant tax credits. If you rent, are you claiming the tax relief available for this? Are you claiming for refuse charges/medical expenses? etc etc.
Some very good posts on AAM that tackle tax credits and what you are entitled to.

Click to expand...

thank you so much for the responses. I will study my payslip tonight and the tax calculator and post back here after that. And no, I am not on emergency tax as my P45 was handed in on time.

thanks again.

You must look at the issue on a cumulative basis and not on a month to month basis.

Ask the person who does payroll to print out your tax card for you. That is the only way of checking to see if it is right.

Brendan

Brendan said:

You must look at the issue on a cumulative basis and not on a month to month basis.

Ask the person who does payroll to print out your tax card for you. That is the only way of checking to see if it is right.

Brendan

Click to expand...

Hi Brendan, again sounding silly Im sure but what is my tax card? Is it something payroll are obliged to give me if i ask?

kcat said:

...again sounding silly Im sure but what is my tax card?

Click to expand...

Nothing silly about that. I wouldn't know a tax card if it jumped up and bit me.

To help you get started (it's always worth trying to get a better understanding of anything which has as large an impact as tax) you should check out this thread on tax credits. If you have your certificate of tax credits (this should have been recieved around Feb or March) at hand to check the figures it might be of help.

The "key posts" on Taxation, located here, provides links to a number of helpful threads, including a number of the tax calculators frequently used by AAM posters.

Using the calculators you should be able to understand roughly what the tax situation is, then following up with the "Tax Card" etc. will help you nail down the exact details.

It's something I'd suggest for someone to do every year, but potentially even more important with a significant change in circumstances such as a change in job, in requesting a P21 balancing statement (this is a document similiar to a P60 in appearance, kind of, which gives a cross check of your taxation for the year).

If, after checking the tax credits, you find you've been missing out on something you could/should have been claiming, you can backdate a claim for four years. Again, if you haven't previously requested P21s for previous years, following the updates of credits you should request a P21 for the relevant years.

Any use?

www.taxcalc.eu