TAXPAYERS could be missing the chance to check if they are owed money by the government.
You could be entitled to cash back if you paid too much tax in previous years.
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HMRC tends to update its customers’ records within 12 months of the tax year ending in April, which means calculating whether people have over or underpaid.
And usually, a letter is posted through your letterbox informing you of any over or under paid tax and next steps.
But there are other options if you don’t want to wait for that letter and are keen to potentially bag the cash sooner.
Customers can sign up for a Personal Tax Account, where you can check your records and manage personal details with HMRC.
On the portal, you can also check if you are eligible for a repayment, including backdated working from home tax relief.
This is particularly useful for the working from home tax relief as you won’t receive a letter through the post about this.
There is also a useful separate webpage where taxpayers can make working from home claims.
One thing to note is that there is a time limit of four years on claiming back your working from home tax relief, like with marriage allowance.
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This is the same with other tax refunds as well.
Therefore, if you were overpaid tax in the 2018/19 year, you will have until April 5, 2023, to claim the tax back.
There is also a separate page for claiming other tax refunds.
And on top of that, for the particularly tech-savvy, there is a free app to help customers manage their own tax affairs.
And going online instead of waiting for a letter not only saves you time, it could stop you from being scammed as well.
How do you find out if you are owed a tax refund?
It shouldn’t take longer than a few minutes to find out whether you are owed tax by HMRC, by going on their website.
What part of the website you will have to go to will depend on what tax you are owed i.e. whether it’s from a pension or pay from a previous job.
This will also affect what documentation you need to process the claim. Some of the things you may need are:
- A P60 and/or P45 from your employer or pension provider
- Details of taxable state benefits received
- Bank statements
- Building society statements
- Details of rental income and expenses
Once you have processed all the documentation and the application is finished, you should receive your money within five working days, but this will depend on there being no issues.
Sometimes, the money comes sooner as well, but this depends on your bank.
You may also have been issued with a P800 which will tell you if you can claim your refund online.
Again, you’ll be sent the money within five working days once you have made a claim and the bank has processed the payment.
If you don’t claim it within 21 days, HMRC will send you a cheque in the post. You will get this within six weeks of the date of the P800.
If you can’t claim your refund online, your best option is to contact HMRC to ask for help.
