Guidelines OnTax Refunds and Over-Payments

How You Can Get Your Money Back

15:31 30 March 2013

Sometimes you have overpaid the government, whether it was for National Insurance or other reasons. This article will discuss how you can get some of your money back if this has happened to you due to employment and self-employment.

 

Overpayment can happen if you have ever changed jobs in the same year. It can also happen if you work more than one job in the same tax year for the entire year, or part of the year. There are many other situations that can lead to this same scenario, such as termination pay if you were fired or laid off from a position.

 

You should contact the HM Revenue and Customs office by telephone or letter and explain why you think you overpaid in taxes. If they require information from you they will be upfront about what information they need from you at that time.

 

If they deem, after investigation and your conversation, that you are correct in your belief they will give you the money into your next paycheck. The current tax year deadline for getting an overpayment refunded to you is on 5th April 2016.

 

This means that you have three years to make sure you have filed it with them and to receive your money. 

 

If you are trying to claim the money back from a previous tax year you should know there is a deadline to claim your money, but the same rule applies as above. You have up until three years after the current tax year when the overpayment was made to follow the proper procedures for requesting your funds back. You will also have to file a P800 Tax Calculation sheet.

 

Getting the money back from an overpaid self-assessment for the self-employed is done in one of two different ways. 

 

• One of the ways is to put the funds into your self-assessment account to go towards your next tax year. 

 

• The second way is through a direct deposit into your checking account or building society account.  The time limits for claiming this are different from the time limits mentioned previously.  

 

You have an additional year to file for your overpayment. So if you are claiming for 2012 you have until 5th April 2016.