Gas engineer working for a company and getting taxed straight away

Hi all/ good morning, I hope all is well. I work as a gas engineer and I have been since October 2023. Now I'm not sure which forms and all I need to be filling in to do my taxes as I work for a company but kind of like I choose when to work and not to work. They then pay me out but they automatically deduct the tax expense which is 20% of the whole income I make that month. They pay me hourly and depending of how many hours I do is what they pay. I don't get sick pay at this job as again, it's a choice on when you want to and not want to work. However, as I've been charged more tax than normal as it doesn't include the personal allowance that I'm entitled to which I beleive is around £12,570 might be a bit more now but for some reason that's not been included. I also have business expenses that were made and am not sure if I can claim back for this. I need advice on what forms I will need to fill in for this type of job as I've already been taxed so I'm not sure how to go about this? Thanks in advance for your patience in reading this and your time in answering.

It sounds like you need to complete a Self Assessment form. You will be able to enter how much you have earned, and also list your expenses as you can offset these against tax (assuming the company you are working for are not going to be reimbursing you for these). Once submitted, HMRC will be able to see how much you have earned and how much tax you have paid and see that you have overpaid and should issue you with a refund. This can take a few months as I understand it. Also, if you are being paid PAYE (what I mean by that, is you get a payslip showing what you have earned, what deductions have been made and what your tax code is) then it is worth checking your tax code. It sounds like you are on what is known as "emergency tax". Which basically means HMRC don't have enough enough information to know what your earnings look like, so they are just taxing you on the whole lot with the intention of figuring it out later, once they have received your self assessment. Hope that helps... Jon

Hi Mohammed1707,
This sounds like a subcontractor and therefore self employed and will need to complete a tax return.
For allowable expenses, please refer to:
Expenses if you're self-employed
Thank you.