April 6th has probably gone unnoticed by most students, but as the start of the new tax year it could mean a vast difference in their finances.

In December's budget, a change in a single person's tax-free allowance was announced. The main difference is that allowances are now credits. Whereas last year there was a tax-free allowance of £3,150, this year there is a personal credit of £4,200, and PAYE credit of £1,000. This brings a single person's tax-free credits to £5,200, or £100 per week. The effect of this is to ensure that a single person will not pay tax on any income below £100 per week. After this, the tax rate is 24 per cent up to £14,000. Not many students earn this much. Before April 6th, a single person began to pay tax at £76 a week.

This level of change means a lot to the pocket of the stereotypical "poor" student.

Tax for students has almost become an urban myth, involving entitlements, exemptions, emergency tax, P45s, P60s, cheques, queues and who to contact. The widespread rumour that students do not have to pay tax, however, is untrue. According to a Revenue Commissioners' spokesperson, "there are no two systems operating here".

One of the main problems students have with the tax office is trying to discover why they get taxed at the emergency rate. According to the Revenue Commissioners, this happens for two reasons: because the employer doesn't know how to sort out the tax or that the student has no P45 or no tax-free allowance certificate. In general large employers tend to sort out their employees' tax. But in other cases it can often be left up to the employee to sort out his or her own tax affairs.

"I've only ever had to pay tax once, and that was last summer. I was working through an agency and they were meant to sort out my tax for me, but I had to keep on hassling them about it, ringing them the whole time. Eventually they sent me out the form. The form itself is easy to fill in, and once I sent it off to the tax office, they dealt with my case very quickly." Olivia was taxed on an emergency basis at between £55 and £65 a week, receiving just £145-£155 a week from her earnings of £210.

Those working for the first time just have to fill out form 12A. Those who have worked before can contact their tax office, stating their RSI number and the company's PAYE number, to sort out their tax. For anyone who wants to increase his or her tax free credits even further, there is always the Rent1 form which gives a £500 credit to those living in private rented accommodation.

Anyone who is returning to college in September can claim back the tax paid since April of that year. This is based on the assumption of not using their tax free credits from September to the following April.

And finally, the tax office says its their system is now more efficient and it doesn't have the long queues of previous years.