Claiming Tax Back - examples

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Example 1 - saver claiming tax back

Hilda is 61 years old and is blind. She has some savings in a building society which pays about £50 interest a year. But tax of £10 is taken off this interest so Hilda only receives £40 a year. Hilda receives state pension and a personal pension but, when added together, they are less than the income tax personal allowance and blind persons allowance that Hilda is due. Hilda completes an R40 to claim this tax back. Hilda can also complete form R85 so that tax isn’t taken off her interest in the future.

Example 2 - saver claiming tax back for earlier years

Anna is 86 years old. She receives state pension of £120 a week and interest of about £80 a year on her savings. She also receives Pension Credit but this will not be taken into account as income.

Because Anna's income is less than her tax-free amount she is not a taxpayer, but because she did not know she could receive interest without tax taken off she has never completed an R85 and given it to her building society. This means she has paid tax on the interest she received. The building society interest Anna should have received is £100, but the building society took off £20 in tax and paid it to HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC). Anna's home help realised Anna should not be paying tax and rang the Registration Helpline to request a large print version of the form. The Registration Helpline also suggested Anna might be able to claim tax back for the past six years and sent Anna large print versions of the R40. Anna, with her home help's assistance, completed the forms and claimed back £140.

Example 3 - parent claiming tax back on behalf of a child

Didier opened a savings account for his young son Patrick because Patrick’s grandmother had recently died and left Patrick a large amount of money. Didier knew he couldn’t sign an R85 to stop tax being taken off the interest paid because Patrick was not eligible. But every year Didier or his wife complete an R40 and send it to HMRC who repay the tax taken off.