Claiming refunds for the current tax year

Tell your Tax Office why you think you have paid too much. You may need to send in more information to support your claim and if so your tax office will let you know what paperwork you should supply.

Once they process your claim it might be necessary to issue you with a new tax code, meaning any refund will be added to your wages or pension and the amount will generally be paid automatically through your employer?s payroll.

However if the repayment is due towards the end of the tax year and you have already received your final pay for that year, you may have to claim a refund directly from your tax office (see the next section).

Claiming refunds for previous tax years

You will need to write to your Tax Office to get any refund due. You should include any paperwork about your earnings in the tax year you are claiming for, like:

• pay slips
• forms P60 and P45
• details of your employment - including any employee benefits you got
• details of your pension

HMRC will work out how much tax you are owed and send you a repayment in the post or by bank transfer.

In most cases you can get back the tax you have overpaid as long as you claim on time. The time limits for claiming a refund are shown in the table below. If you fail to make a claim within the time limit you will miss out on any refund due.

Time limits for claiming back tax

Useful links

What if I paid too much tax on my self assessment tax return?

Reclaiming tax if you've overpaid through your job

Reclaiming tax on purchased life annuity income

Claiming a tax refund when you stop work

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