The UK tax year runs from April 6th to April 5th of the following year.

PAYE stands for Pay As You Earn. In the UK, PAYE is a method of collecting tax directly from employees’ wages so they don’t have to file a tax return themselves. Many temporary workers in the UK are PAYE workers.

1. HMRC sends your employer a Coding Notice which tells your employer how much to tax you.
2. Your employer deducts the tax and pays it to HMRC. The amount deducted is shown on your payslip.

The first thing you’ll need is a NIN (National Insurance Number). This is a unique tracker that the UK tax office (HMRC) will use to keep track of your PAYE and National Insurance Contributions.Taxback.com can apply for a NIN for you.

You could be due to claim back a UK tax refund in any of the following situations:

• You started working during the tax year
• You stopped working mid way through a tax year
• You had a break in employment
• You incurred expenses which are allowable against your employment income
• You were taxed incorrectly or on an emergency tax code
• You worked in more than one job.

As a lot of backpackers in the UK work less than a full year, they can often be due a UK tax rebate. The amount tax you get back depends upon your individual circumstances – we can check everything for you once you register.

An emergency tax code is a code that your employer or pension provider uses on a temporary basis until HMRC has enough information about your income to enable HMRC to send them (and you) your correct code. It normally makes sure that you get the basic Personal Allowance (and therefore some tax-free pay) but doesn't take into account any other allowances or reliefs you may be entitled to. Your employer or pension provider will normally keep using it until HMRC tells them what your correct tax code should be.

You should be aware of the following forms:

• P46: Issued to employees by employer when they start work and they have no P45 from a former employment;
• P45: Issued to an employee by the employer when the employee leaves that employment.
• P60: Issued to an employee by the employer at the end of a tax year. It is a summary of pay, tax deducted and National Insurance deducted.
• P11D: Issued to the employee by the employer at the end of the tax year. It reports all Benefits in Kind the employee has received during the tax year.
• P85: Can be found online. Completed by the taxpayer to advise HMRC that they are leaving/have left the UK.

As a temporary worker in the UK, you should keep all your forms so we can make sure to get you the maximum legal tax refund possible.

You should keep any documents you receive from your employer (P45, P60, P11D) as these are required to file your claim. If you are claiming for tax-deductible expenses then you should keep sufficient records to satisfy HMRC if it decides to carry out an audit on your file.

If you are leaving the country during a financial year and either won't be working again in that financial year or are leaving the UK permanently or indefinitely then yes you can claim a refund from HMRC upon departure and won't have to wait until the end of the tax year.

If you are leaving temporarily and will be working elsewhere in the tax year that you leave e.g. if you go to Australia on a working holiday visa, then you will most likely have to wait until the end of the tax year to claim a tax refund. It will all depend on your exact circumstances but we can check this out for you and let you know.