Five reasons why you may be owed a tax refund as HMRC pays out £50m – how to claim

HMRC has paid back over £50million to around 12,500 pension savers over just three months, it emerged this week. The cash was refunded to around 12,500 people between April and June who were overtaxed when taking out their retirement savings, with each person being paid £4,000 on average. There are several reasons why you may be owed a tax refund from HMRC Credit: Getty You can even claim tax back if you’ve paid for your uniform – or for washing/repairing it Credit: Alamy However, it’s not just pension savers who may be owed tax back – YOU could be able to claim too. Here are all the reasons why you might be owed a tax refund and how to make a claim. Sign up for the Money newsletter Thank you! You’re on the wrong tax code This is the most common reasons why people are overpaying tax – and it could quietly add up for years. Anyone employed or paid via PAYE is given a tax code by their employer via HMRC and it is shown on your payslip. This code dictates how much income tax you pay on your earnings – so it’s important to check if you’re on the right one. If you are on the wrong code, the tax office will often put you on an emergency tax code until you contact them about changing it. You can check your tax code on your online personal tax account, via payslips, or on the HMRC app. You changed jobs If you moved jobs recently, you might want to check that you’re on the correct tax code. Most read in Money This can arise if your P45, which should be handed to your new employer, has been lost in between jobs. This may be the case if you’ve taken some time off in between roles. It means you may be put on the wrong tax code, or may have not been given the correct amount of personal allowance. You paid for work expenses yourself You may be owed tax relief if you paid for things you needed to do your job and your employer didn’t reimburse you. This can include things like uniform and specialist clothing, tools and subscriptions, or mileage. However, you cannot claim tax relief for these things if your employer pays you all the money back, and you must only use these things for your work. If your employer has paid some of your expenses, you can only claim tax relief on the amount they have not paid. You must provide copies of the receipts showing you’ve paid for the items. You paid to maintain and clean your work uniform yourself Workers have to keep their uniforms clean and maintained throughout the year – and the costs of this can add up. This also applies to repairing or replacing small tools you need to do your jobs, such as a scissors for a hairdresser. You may be able to reclaim hundreds of pounds worth of tax for up to five years of expenses. All the tax codes and what they mean L – You’re entitled to the standard tax-free Personal Allowance. The common tax code is 1257L. M – Marriage Allowance: you’ve received a transfer of 10% of your partner’s personal allowance (£1,257) N – Marriage Allowance: you’ve transferred 10% of your personal allowance to your partner S – Your income or pension is taxed using the rates in Scotland T – Your tax code includes other calculations to work out your personal allowance, for example, it’s been reduced because your estimated annual income is more than £100,000 0T – Your personal allowance has been used up, or you’ve started a new job and your employer doesn’t have the details they need to give you a tax code BR – All your income from this job or pension is taxed at the basic rate (usually used if you’ve got more than one job or pension) D0 – All your income from this job or pension is taxed at the higher rate (usually used if you’ve got more than one job or pension) D1 – All your income from this job or pension is taxed at the additional rate (usually used if you’ve got more than one job or pension) NT – You’re not paying any tax on this income Tax codes starting with K mean you have income that isn’t being taxed another way and it’s worth more than your tax-free allowance Unused marriage allowance If you are married or in a civil partnership then you may be able to reduce your tax bill by claiming Marriage Allowance. This is a special tax rule that lets you transfer £1,260 of your personal allowance (currently £12,570) to your husband, wife or civil partner. It can reduce your tax bill by up to £252 every tax year and is free to apply for. You can also backdate your claim for four years, currently up to the 2021/22 tax year. To be eligible you need to be married or in a civil partnership and earn less than £12,570. Your partner must pay income tax at the basic rate, which means their income is between £12,571 and £50,270. The fastest way to apply for the allowance is online and you get an email confirming your application in 24 hours – and your refund may take up to two months. How to make a claim If you think your tax code is wrong, you should contact HMRC to get it updated. You can do this via your HMRC online account, or you can contact the tax office by phone – however it tends to experience delays. If you have overpaid tax in your current job, it should be refunded to you in your payslip from your employer. HMRC may also send you a P800 letter to inform you that you are owed a tax refund. These tend to be sent out between June and March every year – and will arrive the tax year you have overpaid. It will tell you if you can claim the refund back online. If you are owed a refund, you can make a claim on the HMRC website, and you should be refunded within five working days. Comment now