Overpaid Taxes: Everything you need to know about it!

Every year, thousands of people overpay taxes in the UK. And we're not talking about pocket change! If you think this may be your case, continue to read to find out what you can do about this!

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Overpaid taxes for PAYE employees

Did you know that, if are a PAYE employee, you may have overpaid taxes? There are many reasons why you may have overpaid taxes and could be due a tax refund, such as:

Not claiming back tax relief on your job expenses;
If your employer was using the wrong tax code;
If you started a new job and had an emergency tax code for some time;
If you are a UK non-resident for tax purposes;
If you are a student and you only worked during your holidays;
If you only had a job for part of the tax year;
If you stopped working and had no taxable earnings for the rest of the tax year;
If you changed from full-time to part-time, for example.

What about if I overpaid taxes on my pension income?

You might have overpaid taxes on your pension income as well:

If your pension provider was using the incorrect tax code;
If your taxable income has been reduced;
If the amount of state pension in your tax code was incorrect;
If you had more than one source of PAYE income (e.g. more than one pension);
If you overpaid taxes on a pension lump-sum payment.

In these situations, HMRC might repay you automatically within 4 weeks. But if you have overpaid taxes and didn’t receive a P800 tax calculation from HMRC, you can claim a tax repayment!

Is there a time limit for claiming overpaid taxes?

The normal time limit for claiming overpaid taxes is 4 years from the end of the relevant tax year:

Tax year 2017/18 (year that ended on 5 April 2018): claim overpaid taxes by 5 April 2022
Tax year 2018/19 (year that ended on 5 April 2019): claim overpaid taxes by 5 April 2023
Tax year 2019/20 (year that ended on 5 April 2020): claim overpaid taxes by 5 April 2024
Tax year 2020/21 (year that ended on 5 April 2021): claim overpaid taxes by 5 April 2025
Tax year 2021/22 (year that will end on 5 April 2022): claim overpaid taxes by 5 April 2026

Unfortunately, if you don’t claim your overpaid taxes within the time limit, you will not be able to claim any refund that may be due.

So how can you claim your overpaid taxes?

1. If you don’t have any job expenses: Contact HMRC! They will figure out what are the best options for your specific case.

2. If you have job expenses: We are here to help you! To claim any overpaid taxes, all you need is to upload your P60 and complete the expenses form on our app!