If you observe differences in tax deducted for two periods with the same gross pay, slight variations can occur due to the software calculating based on year-to-date (YTD) figures, normalising over time. This can also occur if the tax credits has changed for an employee.

If you are new to BrightPay and comparing like for like pay periods with your current software and notice differences in the tax being deducted, please check that the following is complete / set up in BrightPay:

• Mid-year totals have been added for each employee (Pay to date and tax paid to date fields are particularly important for tax calculations).
• Pension is set up the same.
• Any other salary sacrifice elements such as cycle to work scheme are also the same.

• Benefits have been entered into the employee's record and are showing on the payroll.

   

Note: If no tax is being deducted at all, the issue is usually that the Mid-year totals have not been fully completed, causing the employee to have the full personal allowance again.

Q. Why is total tax changing from -40€ to +40€ when tax due year to date remains 0 in both periods?

A. The total tax may change between periods, even if “tax due to date” remains 0, due to adjustments or corrections in payroll calculations.

• This can happen if a previous period’s tax was over or under-deducted, and the system corrects it in the next period.
• The cumulative tax calculation ensures the correct total tax is paid to date, so adjustments may show as negative or positive in individual periods.