How to claim Income Tax back

18 Jan 2010 Tell a Friend

If you have paid too much income tax on a PAYE (Pay As You Earn) scheme and you find this out within the same tax year, your employer will make the refund (also known as a ?tax rebate?) to you within your wages.  If the tax year has already ended, you will have to write to your employer?s Tax Office (you will find the details on your payslip) and explain why you think you have paid too much tax.  They may already have all the information that they need in order to process a refund, so it is worth giving them a call first to find out what documents they need from you.

You can also claim back PAYE overpayments from previous years, if you feel that you might have overpaid.  To do this, you need to write to your Tax Office (your details will all be at your current Employer?s Tax Office, so look on your payslip for details) explaining your employment history and why you may have overpaid. You need to include the original employment documents (your P45 and P60) for the whole time period you are enquiring about ? and you should always take copies before posting these types of documents, and send them via registered post if possible.  

The Tax Office will look into your query and send you the refund in the post in the form of a cheque if they feel that you have overpaid.  You have up until 31st January five years after the end of the tax year in which you made the overpayment to claim a tax rebate.  So for example, if you think you overpaid tax in the 2004-5 tax year, you have up until 31st January 2011 to claim back the overpaid tax.

The same applies if you feel you have paid too much through your self-assessment tax return.  You have 12 months from 31st January after the end of the tax year to write to the Tax Office and ask for this to be corrected (known as an ?amendment?).  The best thing to do is to send the Tax Office the relevant pages of your original return with the changes clearly marked.  Accompany this with a letter explaining the amendments, and also letting HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) know how you would like to receive a refund if there is one due - you can request a cheque or ask for a direct repayment to be made to your bank or building society account.  

Can?t find contact details for your Tax Office?  You can find a full list of contact details for UK Tax Offices on the HMRC website.