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I've been overpaying tax for 5 years!!

Hi.

I've just found out that I've been on emergency tax for a year and that I've overpaid tax for the 4 years before that (though not through emergency tax).
The other 4 years I was earning less than 10K a year and on the government website it says that there is a personal allowance before tax of about 10K. So I should never have been taxed.

I've also learnt that you can claim back up to 4 years of overpaid tax.

So how do I do it because 2 of my previous employers don't even exist anymore and I don't have my P60s. I've still got all my wage slips and details of the employers.

I found a form on the government website but it's massively long and complicated - I don't understand what it's asking and I've tried ringing them 3 times today but it's an automated system and it never puts me through to anyone, it just says they're to busy to take my call.

Help?!
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_allowance

That link will show you what the personal allowance was for the last few years. A few years ago it was below £10k so even if you earned less than the £10k you claimed you still might have been taxed correctly.

You're on the wrong tax code now so you need to phone HMRC and get it changed going forward. But you might not be entitled to tax back from previous years. But they will confirm all that on the phone as they should have your figures.
Original post by Mega0448
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_allowance

That link will show you what the personal allowance was for the last few years. A few years ago it was below £10k so even if you earned less than the £10k you claimed you still might have been taxed correctly.

You're on the wrong tax code now so you need to phone HMRC and get it changed going forward. But you might not be entitled to tax back from previous years. But they will confirm all that on the phone as they should have your figures.


Whilst the figures look correct in this case, never rely on Wikipedia for this sort of thing. :wink: The link that you'll want is here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/rates-and-allowances-income-tax/income-tax-rates-and-allowances-current-and-past

Original post by AllegedLegends
Hi.

I've just found out that I've been on emergency tax for a year and that I've overpaid tax for the 4 years before that (though not through emergency tax).
The other 4 years I was earning less than 10K a year and on the government website it says that there is a personal allowance before tax of about 10K. So I should never have been taxed.

I've also learnt that you can claim back up to 4 years of overpaid tax.

So how do I do it because 2 of my previous employers don't even exist anymore and I don't have my P60s. I've still got all my wage slips and details of the employers.

I found a form on the government website but it's massively long and complicated - I don't understand what it's asking and I've tried ringing them 3 times today but it's an automated system and it never puts me through to anyone, it just says they're to busy to take my call.

Help?!

First, do refer to the prior year levels of personal allowance, as these have increased significantly of late. These are:

Y/e 5 April 2012 - £7,475
Y/e 5 April 2013 - £8,105
Y/e 5 April 2014 - £9,440
Y/e 5 April 2015 - £10,000

You can expect to pay income tax at 20% on income above these levels; there's also national insurance to consider, at different rates.

Now, if you still think that you've overpaid in prior years, ordinarily you can go back up to four years, so you're still in time for claiming a refund from the year ended 5 April 2012 onwards. Commonly, these will be processed automatically by HMRC following the end of each tax year, so check that you've not previously received any refund that may appear due, but then as a first step I'd suggest a call with HMRC to initiate the claim; if they need any paperwork, they'll advise this on the call.

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