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Claiming a tax refund

Updated on 6 April 2023

Students

If you were working in the UK prior to going abroad, you may want to complete form P85 ‘Leaving the UK – getting your tax right’, to try and trigger a tax repayment (if you are due one).

Illustration of people and a clipboard with the words tax refund written on it

When should I complete form P85 to get a tax refund?

As discussed on our Notifying HMRC page, completing form P85 will be appropriate if you become UK non-resident from your date of departure or will remain resident in the UK but definitely will not be working again in the UK in that tax year or receiving any other UK-sourced income after your departure in that tax year. You might be due a tax refund on your pre-departure earnings in these circumstances because if you are an employee, the personal allowance is usually divided throughout the year so you receive a proportion in each pay packet. If you leave the UK part-way through the tax year, you will not have received your entire tax-free allowance and will have paid too much tax when looking at your total annual income.

When should I not complete form P85 to get a tax refund?

If you fall into any of the following situations, we recommend that you do not complete an in-year form P85 but should wait until the end of the tax year (once you know your total earnings) to claim your refund:

  1. Will be working but think your foreign earnings will leave you below the personal allowance when added to your other income.
  2. Will be working, think that your foreign earnings when added to your other income will exceed the personal allowance but know you will be paying foreign tax at a rate that at least matches the UK rate that you would have paid on that income (typically 20%).

In both these cases, although strictly you should complete a tax return to tell HMRC about the income, there should not be any tax to pay on it. Your UK tax refund position should therefore not be affected by any foreign earnings; however, it is safest to wait until the end of the tax year to double-check the figures (you may need to ask a professional adviser to help you or if you cannot afford one, a charity like TaxAid). Once you are satisfied that your foreign earnings are not going to affect your UK refund position, you can either submit a form P85 or look forward to HMRC’s electronic reconciliation system calculating your repayment at the end of the tax year and automatically issuing you with a cheque.

Waiting until the end of the tax year to do a quick check of your figures may seem a bit over the top but it is better than getting a tax refund, only to have to pay it back to HMRC later on.

In any other case, you may need to file a tax return to fully reconcile your tax position.

Where can I get further help?

We appreciate that this is quite convoluted, so have summarised the thought process in the flowchart below:

Students: Do you understand your tax obligations when you leave the UK? by LITRG

Tax guides

Introduction to the tax system How do I work out my tax? What income is taxable? What tax allowances am I entitled to? What tax rates apply to me? How is my tax collected? What if I cannot pay my tax bill? Do I need to complete a tax return? Self Assessment: understanding the basics What is Simple Assessment? How do I claim tax back? How do I claim back tax I have overpaid through PAYE on wages or pensions? How do I claim back tax if I complete a tax return? How do I claim back tax if I am taxed under the Construction Industry Scheme (CIS)? How do I claim back tax on savings income? How do I claim a marriage allowance refund? How do I claim back tax on a payment protection insurance (PPI) pay-out? Should I use a tax refund company? What is National Insurance? How do I get a National Insurance number? What are Specified Adult Childcare credits? What is Scottish income tax? What is devolution? Do I have to pay Scottish income tax? How does Scottish income tax work? What is Welsh income tax? Do I have to pay Welsh income tax? Do I have to join a pension scheme? Tax relief on your pension contributions HMRC digital services Enquiries, penalties, appeals, complaints and debt Enquiries How to survive an enquiry by HMRC Tax penalties Tax appeals Alternative Dispute Resolution How do I complain to HMRC? What if I cannot pay my tax bill? What if I have a tax credits overpayment?
Am I employed, self-employed, both or neither? Working through a limited company What is the national minimum wage? How do I work out my tax? What income is taxable? What tax allowances am I entitled to? What tax rates apply to me? How is my tax collected? How is tax collected on taxable state benefits? How do I check my coding notice? Do I need to complete a tax return? What tax do I pay on redundancy payments?Employment benefits and expenses What are benefits-in-kind? What payments and benefits are non taxable? What if I incur expenses in relation to my job? What travel expenses can I claim? What if I use my own car for business purposes? Payroll giving Allowances and expenses paid to armed forces personnel and deductions from their income Pensions and employees What is automatic enrolment for employees? What National Insurance do I pay as an employee? How do I repay my student loan? What if I do not pay enough tax? What if I pay too much tax? What if I work abroad temporarily? What if I am in the armed forces and work overseas? First time workers Apprenticeships

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