The tax department may write to you if you have paid the wrong amount of tax
HMRC has spelled out its guidelines regarding when tax refunds are issued. The clarification came after a taxpayer ran into trouble getting their money back. Government guidance explains that if you’ve paid too much or too little tax by the close of a tax year, HMRC will typically write to you about the sum owed.
The tax year runs from April 6 to April 5. When you’ve paid the incorrect amount of tax, HMRC may send you a tax calculation letter, also known as a P800, or a simple assessment letter. The guidance says: “This will tell you how to get a refund or pay tax you owe.” These letters will only be sent out if you’re in employment or drawing a pension, usually arriving between June and March of the next tax year.
For those registered for self assessment, you won’t be sent a letter. In these cases, your bill gets automatically changed if you’ve underpaid or overpaid tax.
A taxpayer reached out to HMRC after requesting their tax refund be posted as a cheque. They had forgotten to update their address and so the cheque had been sent to the wrong place.
They explained they had just updated their address after spotting the error, and enquired whether the refund would be dispatched to their new address or the previous one. HMRC informed the customer: “If you have updated your address today, it’s most likely the refund has been issued to your previous address.”
The person was taken aback by this response and asked how they could arrange for the cheque to be posted to the correct address. HMRC provided this advice: “You can contact our helpline to inform them of this and we can cancel the original cheque and issue a replacement cheque.
“Please be aware it can take longer to receive your refund due to this.” The customer then enquired about the helpline number to call, with HMRC replying that the number to ring is 0300 200 3300.
The organisation also advised the customer they could try to get in touch using the webchat tool on the Government website. HMRC said: “Please type ‘adviser’ and it should open a chat when an adviser is available.”
