Question:
I am really concerned about my tax. What would happen if my employer has not been paying my tax? What would be the outcome of this situation? Who would be to blame? I work for a really small company and don't think things are being done 100% properly. Even though each week money gets paid into my bank account, I've still not had any official paperwork and it's been 3 years! I don't know what to do.
Arthur Weller Replies:
There are three possibilities here:
a) your employer has been paying your PAYE over to HMRC but for some reason the paperwork has not reached you. If so, you should confront your employer (diplomatically!) and ask him to explain; or
b) he has not deducted any PAYE from your wages, and has treated you as self-employed; or
c) he has treated you as employed and consequently deducted PAYE from your wages, but has not paid it over to HMRC.
In this last case he is not only defrauding HMRC, but also stealing from you.
If the truth is that the employment status tests would classify you as employed and not self employed, then it is your employer who is in trouble with HMRC, and it is not your headache.
