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1. If the £30,000 exemption applies, then only the excess is included in gross pay, assuming the date of payment is on or before the last day of employment. If payment is made after the employee has left, PAYE (Code BR) must be applied to the excess over £30,000.

Unless you are totally confident that the exemption applies, I would seek confirmation from your Tax Office.

You need to make absolutely sure that the payment does in fact qualify for the £30,000 exemption, otherwise you could be liable for the PAYE if it does not, in fact, qualify.

Any taxable part of a termination payment is taxable in the tax year during which it is received (the rules changed for payments made after 5 April 1998). See Inland Revenue Manual SE13932 on their website www.hmrc.gov.uk. An idea might, therefore, be to defer payment until the next tax year - the recipient's income may well have dropped into a lower tax band (i.e. from 40%) and, ultimately, he or she may escape a further higher rate tax charge on the payment.

2. No tax relief is allowed. However you don't get taxed on it either.

3. Yes, you should receive a Notice of Coding statement (P2) from the Inland Revenue which will show your tax code for the year. This should agree with the code shown on your payslip.

4. Any earnings you would have received are taxable in the same way as if the work experience was a permanent job.

However, you are also entitled to personal tax-free allowances. If your income during the period of work experience was less than your personal allowances, or if you were on an emergency code, then it is likely that you have paid too much tax.

You should contact your Tax Office if you think you are due a refund.

5. Technically, No.

But you should check with your new employer/Tax Office to see if a local concession is in operation.

6. Your tax coding for the year (ie your personal allowance, reliefs and deductions) are probably set against your full time employment income. Your starting rate band and then your basic rate band are probably also set against your employment income.

The Inland Revenue will have told your pension company at what rate to tax your pension income. Depending on the level of your other income they may have advised that the tax should be deducted at 40%. If you telephone your local tax office, quoting your PAYE reference and/or National Insurance Number they will be able to tell you what they have advised.

At the end of the tax year (ie 5th April) you should combine these two sources of income with any other income you have, deduct your allowances and calculate your overall tax liability. This should then be compared with the tax deducted from all your sources of income.

7. Tell your Tax Office, and they'll reduce the £500 in your code.

The £500 is the taxable benefit for private use of the van. If you pay anything towards the private use, the £500 is reduced £ for £ by what you pay.

8. No, it is not correct, but a common misconception.

However, if your total income during the tax year is less than your annual personal allowance, then no tax is due. This is where the misconception arises.

If you are working during the holidays, then completion of form P38(S) will result in no tax being deducted.

9. You will need to speak to the tax district shown on your latest payslip/P60/P45. They will be able to confirm who deals with your tax affairs and what documentation to send to them.

10. You are being taxed at the 'Basic Rate', which means that for every £1 you earn you are paying 22p tax. If you have no other sources of taxable income then you shouldn't be paying any tax whatsoever. You need to ask your new employer for a form 'P46' - by completing this your employer will be able to arrange with the tax office to allocate a correct PAYE Code Number against your earnings so that you pay the correct amount of tax. You will also then get any tax back which you shouldn't have paid.

11. You would have to prove that the cost of the clothes has been 'wholly, exclusively and necessarily' incurred ‘in the performance of the duties of the office or employment’.

The wearing of a suit/smart clothes to work does not fulfil these requirements so you cannot make a claim.

12. If during the tax year the balance of the outstanding loan is £5,000 or less, there will be no benefit in kind on you. If the loan is greater than £5,000 at any point, the whole amount of the loan will be charged to interest at the official rate, for the period it exceeds the £5,000. This will then be assessable on you.

13. Under current legislation it is possible to go back six tax years before the current one. Your wife will need to contact her tax office (reference per P60/payslip) to find out what she must do. She will need to be able to produce her P60s for the relevant years to enable the Inland Revenue to review her situation. They may request that she completes tax returns or repayment claim forms for these years. Any repayments of tax due her will then be made direct to her.