My tax code is 479 L W1 what does the W1 part mean?

Question

I earn a similar amount to my friends in the same industry but no one has this suffix?

Answer 1

W1 means that your tax is calculated on a week1/month1 basis.

479 allows you a tax allowance of £4795 per year before you are taxed.

Normally tax is calculated cumulatively, but with a week1/month1 code each week is taxed individually. i.e. you get £4795/52 = £92 per week tax free against that weeks wages.

If you don't earn £92 in any particular week you'll lose part of your allowance, whereas on the normal cumulative basis it all rolls over.

Answer 2

W1 stands for Week 1. This means that each week's money is taxed as a separate entity and what you have earned in previous weeks has not been taken into account.
Normally PAYE (Pay As You Earn) is calculated on a cumulative basis so that, if your earnings fall one week,you could be eligible for a tax refund. On Week 1 basis, however, you cannot have a tax refund until your code is changed to a normal code or you reach the end of the tax year.

Answer 3

I think it stands for Week 1. It looks as if you've got an emergency tax code. This usually happens when the inland revenue (or hm revenue and customs as they're now known), don't have enough information about your tax status, perhaps you haven't given them your p45 from your previous job. It's best if you get it sorted asap, otherwise you might be paying too much or too little tax. Just give your tax office a ring, they deal with this kind of thing all the time and they'll be able to explain what you need to do. You can find your local tax office number at their website: http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/menus/contactus.shtml

Answer 4

479 L means you can earn £4790 without being taxed, the L stands for that you are single (not married - as their tax differs).

W1 - is this an emergency tax code?
If so, you'll be paying a higher rate of tax.

Might be an idea to speak to your payroll dept who'll be able to give you a clue.....

Ask for a form from payroll so that you can be paid normal tax.

Answer 5

week 1

means they will take 1/52nd of it per week in calculating your tax to be paid, whereas normall they take 1/52nd on first week, then 2/52nds against 1st & 2nd week, then 3/52nds etc...

so if one week you earned nothing the next week your friends would have 2 weeks worth of tax allowance to put against this weeks earnings, but you would still only have 1.

they usually do this because your current employer doesnt have a p45 to know how much tax you paid before joining them. come april 6th it will all sort itself out and then you need to look at your p60 and work out if you are owed any tax back.

Answer 6

It will all be sorted out after a while and if you ahve paid too much you might even get a nice refund. All should be well from Aril 6th

Answer 7

It appears to relate to emergency tax at 22%
Someone asked this before here at
http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20070202084919AAWFBXd

Answer 8

have you done a stretch?
that could explain it