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If you work for an employer

If you're employed on a casual, temporary or part-time basis by law your employer must:

What about 'cash in hand'?

It's illegal for your employer to pay you 'cash in hand' without deducting tax and NICs from your wages.

If you accept money in this way, you risk losing your employment rights and the right to some benefits, such as:

In addition you could end up having to pay the tax and NICs yourself.

If you suspect your employer of not paying tax or NICs on your wages you can report them in confidence using the tax fraud hotline on Tel 0800 788 887.

• Tax for the employed
• PAYE forms: P45, P46, P60, P11D
• Reporting tax fraud

If you work for more than one employer

If you work for more than one employer, you'll get a special tax code to take this into account.

Your tax allowances will normally be given against the pay from your main job. Your other job(s) will be taxed at the basic or higher rate, depending on your total income.

• Understanding your tax code

Employment rights

All employees have rights, whether they are full or part-time, casual or temporary, including:

If you're concerned about your rights, you can ask a union for help or get free advice from your local Citizens Advice Bureau.

• Check the facts about employment rights and find a union (opens new window)
• Find your nearest Citizens Advice Bureau (opens new window)

If you're a student

If you're a student, you still pay tax on your income unless all of the following apply:

Ask your employer for form P38S and tax won't be deducted from your earnings. National Insurance will still be deducted if you earn more than £105 a week.

• Find out more about tax for students (opens new window)

If you work for yourself

If you're self-employed on a temporary or part-time basis you must register with HMRC as self-employed within three months of when you first start work. You'll have to complete a Self Assessment tax return and are responsible for paying your own tax and NICs on the income you earn. (Even if you don't think you'll earn enough to need to pay tax, you still need to complete a tax return.)

Working for cash

You can accept cash payments for work you do, but it's illegal for you not to declare this on a Self Assessment tax return, and pay Income Tax and NICs if these are due. This will depend on your overall taxable income in the tax year.

• Tax for the self-employed
• Information from Business Link on how to register as self-employed (opens new window)

Checking your employment status

It's important to understand the difference between being employed and self-employed, as this affects how you pay tax and NICs. Read more in our related article.

• Work out if you're employed or self-employed

Does how much you earn affect the tax you pay?

Everyone gets a personal tax-free allowance (£5,435 in 2008-2009). You don't pay tax on anything you earn below this amount.

The National Insurance you pay also depends on your earnings. You don't pay any National Insurance if you earn less than £105 a week.

• Personal and tax allowances
• National Insurance

More useful links

• Employment rights, looking for work and more (employment section)
• More from HMRC on employment status (opens new window)
• Find out more about your rights at work (opens new window)
• Tax and NICs for the self-employed from Business Link (opens new window)
• Training and work-based learning (education and learning section)
• Work and work-related issues (over 50s section)