HMRC says ‘millions’ missed out on tax refunds - check and claim

HMRC says ‘millions’ missed out on tax refunds - check and claim People can check if they’ve been affected online HMRC has issued an alert to taxpayers urging them to check if they have overpaid tax and claim their refunds. The tax authority highlighted that a ‘million’ people have missed out on claiming their dues and detailed how people can check if they might be one of them. Tax refunds are owed to people who pay too much income tax in one tax year, which can happen for a number of reasons. HMRC no longer issues PAYE refunds automatically and taxpayers need to take action to claim back their overpaid tax. The latest HMRC figures showed over 730,000 PAYE refunds went unclaimed last year, with the average refund being worth around £855, meaning Brits left a total of £624million with the taxman, according to Sky News. Taking to X, the official HMRC account advised people to log into the HMRC app to claim back any tax they are owed but there’s a number of ways to check if you’re eligible and get your refund. Taxpayers can check if they may be eligible for a tax refund using the checker tool on Gov.uk. Normally, people who have overpaid tax also receive a P800 tax calculation letter after the end of the tax year when they overpaid. The letter will have a detailed breakdown of the calculations HMRC did to figure out how much tax you should’ve paid compared to how much you actually paid. If you think there’s a mistake in these calculations you’ll need to contact HMRC. These letters also hold instructions on how to claim your money and will indicate if you can claim the money online via the official Government website. You can also claim a refund via your personal tax account, HMRC app or by contacting HMRC directly. Taxpayers have to claim their refund within four years. Once you’ve claimed your refund, it should be sent within five working days if you claimed online or within six weeks if you wanted a cheque sent to you. Your P800 letter might otherwise say that HMRC will send you a cheque, in which case you should receive this within 14 days of the date on your letter. Previously, MoneySavingExpert warned taxpayers to be wary of texts, emails or calls about tax refunds as HMRC will always contact you via post about refunds and scammers may take advantage of those expecting money back. Tax refunds can be issued if you paid too much tax on: - pay from a job - job expenses such as working from home, fuel, work clothing or tools - a pension - a Self Assessment tax return - a redundancy payment - UK income if you live abroad - interest from savings or payment protection insurance (PPI) - income from a life or pension annuity - foreign income - UK income earned before leaving the UK One of the most common reasons for paying the incorrect amount of tax is having the wrong tax code. Which may happen if you change jobs during the tax year and can result in you not being allocated the right amount of personal allowance.