Tax obligations due to delayed bonus payment

I joined current employer on 20th March 2023 and was supposed to be paid me sign-on bonus with my first payroll (that was at the end of March 2023) as written in my contract. However, HR made an error and did not pay my sign on bonus in March. Upon enquiry they paid it in April despite my request to sort the issue and pay this in previous year's arrears. However, HR became unresponsive and went ahead paying as part of this year's payment. This means my annual limit is pushed into > £100,000 bracket. This has tax and child care benefits implications on me and causing great concern as I am effectively financially worse with the bonus than if there was no bonus payment at all. Is there a way to get this payment classified as such that it is treated as previous year's arrears (as I was contractually bound to be paid this in my first payroll that was paid in March) by contacting HMRC?

Hi,

You can ask for the payment to be treated as arrears of pay so that the bonus is included in 2022 to 2023 income rather than 2023 to 2024. However, as the payment has only just been made, this cannot be considered until after 5 April 2024.

Thank you.

Hi Thank you for the response. Who would I have to contact after 5 April 2024 to sort this out and what information/documents would be needed? Thanks

Hi,
You would send a letter to HMRC PAYE & Self Assessment BX9 1AS confirming the amount of bonus and that you want to claim this under arrears of pay under PAYE70023:
PAYE70023
Thank you.