In this section:

Understanding your tax refund

If you've received an Income Tax repayment it will either be following a claim you've made or because we've received new information about your taxable income or entitlement to allowances. The refund may come through your tax code or as a payment and could relate to the current tax year or earlier years.

On this page:

Why you've received an Income Tax repayment
If you've paid too much tax through your employment or company pension
If you've overpaid tax through Self Assessment
What to do if you think your refund is wrong
More useful links

Why you've received an Income Tax repayment

An Income Tax repayment is a refund of tax that you've overpaid. So, if you've paid too much tax for example through your job or pension this year or in previous years we will send you a repayment. You'll get the repayment either by cheque in the post, by bank transfer or through your wages.

We can refund you overpaid tax going back six years.

When might you have overpaid tax?

You might have overpaid tax if:

your employer used the wrong tax code
you started a new job and had an emergency tax code for a while
you only worked for part of the year
you had more than one job at the same time
you didn't tell us right away about changes to benefits you got through your work
your circumstances changed - perhaps you were made redundant or became self employed and therefore your income reduced
other income like investments or rental income reduced but you didn't tell us
you made a mistake on your tax return
we made a mistake with your tax

All of these things and more can mean you paid too much tax.

If you've paid too much tax through your employment or company pension

Your Tax Office gives you a tax code that tells your employer or pension provider how much tax to take off your wages or pension before you get paid. If you've paid too much tax this year we may send you a new tax code and your employer or pension provider will pay you your refund with your wages or pension. If you've paid too much tax in earlier years we work out how much we owe you and send you a refund in the post or by bank transfer.

Learn more about tax codes

Get details of how you pay tax through your employment

If you've become unemployed, stopped work to return to studying or retired you may also receive a tax refund from us.

Learn more about when you might get a refund when you stop work

If you've overpaid tax through Self Assessment

If you've overpaid tax though Self Assessment you can ask for a refund or leave the overpayment in your Self Assessment account to set against future tax bills.

You can ask us to pay your refund to you, your agent or nominee or a nominated charity.

You can check the amount of the overpayment in your Self Assessment tax calculation, Statement of Account, or online Self Assessment Account.

Your refund will include any interest due on the amount overpaid.

Understand your Self Assessment tax calculation

Understand your Self Assessment Statement of Account

More about Self Assessment repayment claims

What to do if you think your refund is wrong

If you think your refund is wrong it's important to get in touch with us quickly so that we can put things right.