Tax Refund In The UK

Millions of people every year become eligible for refund from the HMRC, however not many of them claim the money back! There are a number of reasons why tax may have been overpaid, including:

  • you are on an emergency tax code because you started a new job
  • if you just got married and your spouse was born before the 6 of April 1935
  • if you have multiple pensions from more than one occupation that you were doing and the HMRC did not assign your tax free personnel allowances properly, whish lid to you paying too much tax
  • If you have multiple jobs, and your employer at the second job doesn’t take that into consideration and deduct tax at basic rate and you do not get all of your tax free personnel allowance.
  • If you are not making as much income as before because of a turndown in your business, this concerns people who are self-employed.
  • if you are on the wrong tax code, this may happen if your employer uses the incorrect code or the HMRC sends the wrong tax code for you.

Before you submit a tax refund one important detail that you need to know is the cycle of the tax year in the UK, a tax year in the UK will start on April the fifth and end on the on the day of the following year, here are some important dates as well:

  • 6 April 2016:First day of the new tax year 2016/17
  • 5 April 2016:Deadline for claiming your PAYE tax refund for the 2011/12 tax year.
  • 31 May 2016:Copies of 2015/16 P60 documents issued to employees.
  • 6 July 2016:Copies of 2015/16 P11d documents issued to employees.

HMRC have a really handy online tax checker that allows you to check how much tax you should be paying. If you’re being taxed too much, you should be able to reclaim overpayments for the current tax year, which runs to 5 April, for the previous four tax years.

Refunds under PAYE or Self-Assessment

If you overpay tax under PAYE or Self-Assessment, you can make a claim for a refund.

For more information about claiming a tax refund for overpayments made through your job, or if you become unemployed, go to the GOV.UK website at: www.gov.uk.

If you are on strike, a refund will only be paid to you either when you leave the job or when you go back to work. You will not get a refund at the end of the financial year.

Refunds following a death

An overpayment of income tax may arise following a death. For more information about claiming back income tax on behalf of someone who has died, go to the GOV.UK website at: www.gov.uk. If a refund of tax is made, it is counted as part of the estate of the person who has died.

You left your job

You can’t get a tax refund straight away if you’re getting any of the following:

  • Jobseeker’s Allowance
  • Employment and Support Allowance
  • Career’s Allowance
  • Incapacity Benefit, if you’ve been getting it for more than 28 weeks

If the HMRC says that you’ve overpaid tax, you may get a refund either at the end of the tax year or when you start a new job

If you’re out of work for less than 4 weeks and you’re due a refund, you’ll get one through your wages from your new job. You can’t claim a refund.

When will I get my tax refund?

Once the HMR corrects your tax code and you are due a payment, the refund will be added to your weekly or monthly pay. However, if you left your job then the HMRC will send you a cheque.

In case of overcharged tax in previous years, the HMRC will send you a P800 calculation by email, you will usually receive it by the end of July, normally followed within a couple of weeks by a ‘payable order’ cheque for the refund that you can pay into your bank. You can also nominate someone to receive the money for you.

HMRC allows you to make a claim for the past four years, if you think you’ve paid too much tax for previous years do not hesitate to contact the HMRC.