Have You Paid Too Much Tax? Here’s How to Check

Ladies, and gentlemen, it’s arrived the most wonderful time of the year! No, not Christmas rebate season! That magical time when you can sometimes get a nice bit of pocket change FROM the tax man. Not everyone will be eligible – but you could be one of the lucky ones.

You’ll only receive a rebate if you’ve paid too much tax the past financial year. Most of us will have tax deducted from our pay packets in the form of Income Tax and National Insurance Contributions. The margin for error is quite slim as this is all calculated automatically. If you’re self-employed however, you work out your finances and pay tax separately, so the chance of overpayments is slightly higher.

The most common reasons for overpayments are:

• You were put on the wrong tax code

• You started receiving a pension at work

• You finished one job and then started a new one, and were paid by both in the same month

• You received Employment & Support Allowance or Jobseeker’s Allowance

Either way, by some chance, you may find that you’ve been overcharged by HMRC. Most of the time, HMRC will automatically refund you, and if you have overpaid, they will send you a P800 or a Simple Assessment letter stating that you’ve paid too much and are due a refund. Letters are sent out between June and November, so you can wait eagerly by your door for the postman each day. But if you haven’t been issued a letter from HMRC, you may still be due a refund. You may be able to check if you are due a refund and how much you are due online. To do this online, head to GOV.UK and sign in using your Government Gateway user ID and password. It’s important to note, you cannot check your Income Tax for last year if you paid any part of your Income Tax last year through Self Assessment. Once you’ve checked your details and confirmed your correct tax code, you can then check for any discrepancies.

How to claim your refund

If you’ve received a P800 letter and are due a refund, head on over to GOV.UK, follow the details on the letter, and wait for your refund which should arrive after 21 days. If you haven’t received a letter and you still think that you were owed money, you can use HMRC’s online tool to find out what your next steps should be.

This content may have been developed with the assistance of AI tools. Content is reviewed by a member of the Bright team before publication. Guidance on legislation can be obtained from your industry body.