It is said that if someone got a temporary NI, he need to pay tax at higher rate.
It is said? By whom? Not by anyone who really knows!
There are two separate issues .... firstly .... national insurance .... does the person have a real NINO or not? Whatever, it will make no difference to the amount of national insurance contributions that are deducted. However, as soon as possible, you want to get a proper NINO in order to ensure that those contributions are properly credited to the correct account ... yours!
Secondly ... income tax, and in particular, Pay As You Earn ("PAYE"). When most people start a job they will have a form P45 to hand into their new employer. Where did they get that form P45? From their old (UK) employer!
Hey, wait a minute, what if the person has never worked in the UK before. They will not have a form P45. What happens then is that their new employer will ask them to complete a form P46 and that gets forwarded to the Inland Revenue (or we should all start to get used to using their new title, HM Revenue & Customs ("HMRC")).
When a form P45 is handed in the entries on that form instruct the new employer how to operate PAYE. Normally that would mean that PAYE will be operated on the normal cumulative basis. However when a P46 is sent to HMRC it is usually the case that a non-cumulative basis is used. This could well mean that, particularly where HMRC have not authorised the cumulative basis by the next 5th April, too much tax will have been deducted. It is possible to reclaim any overpaid tax up to nearly six years later .... for example, tax overpaid in tax year ended 5th April 2005 ... deadline is 31st January 2011.
At this time of the time it is best to wait until you have got your form P60, issued by your employer, and showing your pay and tax figures. Then contact the Tax Office that deals with your employer's PAYE scheme. They will tell you what to do.
Unless you happen to have been sent a Self Assessment tax return form, in which case completing and submitting it will get you your tax refund.
