HMRC have just issued a news release reminding students that they need to fill in a P38(S) to ensure that they do not pay tax on their earnings from temporary jobs, provided that they are not going to total more than the personal allowance during the year.

The Director General of Personal Tax, Stephen Banyard, is quoted as saying:

'We don't want students to pay tax when they don't owe any, so we're encouraging them to fill in a P38(S) and send it back to us.'

From which I think we can conclude that Mr Banyard, or one of his staff, is a fan of 'The Apprentice'. In the final episode, one of the contestants, Susan Ma, was asked how she had paid the fifteen staff she had taken on for an event.

'In cash' she repled, eliciting a trademark raised eyebrow from the redoubtable Margaret Mountford.

In the 'You're Hired' show which followed, Ma explained that they were all students who earned less than the personal allowance, and so did not have a tax liability.

Which raises two questions:

1. Did they each complete a P38(S)?

2. Did they exceed the limit for NI contributions?

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