Wrong deductions

The taxpayer left his employment on 24 October 2008. His P45 stated his tax code was 375L month 1 but it did not include details of income and tax.

He began a new job on 1 November 2008 providing copy of his P45. His new employer calculated his pay as if he had no other earnings for the year instead of adopting the month 1 basis which resulted in a tax underpayment for 2008/09.

HMRC first requested the underpaid tax from the company – which was later told the Revenue had made a direction under reg 72(5) condition A of the Income Tax (PAYE) Regulations 2003 that the firm was not liable to pay because the tax department was satisfied reasonable care had been taken to deduct the correct amount from relevant payments.

The taxman issued a direction to the taxpayer demanding the...