Unexpected tax refunds

carebear1976

Hi

Wonder if anyone offer any advice? In the last week, I have received 3 letters from HMRC notifying me of tax refunds I am due for 2005-6, 2007-8 and 2009-10, totalling about £4k. The third one actually had a cheque enclosed. All of this was unsolicited and completely unexpected.

While this was a lovely surprise, I would hate to bank the money and then find that they get back in touch with me months or even years down the line to say that they've made a mistake and they want the money back (given the first refund relates to 5 years ago it seems that the passage of time doesn't guarantee they have closed off their tax files for those periods).

Has anyone else had recent experience of refunds for this long ago or can anyone advise on whether there is any "statute of limitations" on when they could ask for it back i.e. how long do I have to leave it before its definitely mine.

As the letters have no detail of how they've calculated the refunds I can't even do any sort of sense check. The only things I can think of are that the first one is a result of my having worked overseas for part of the 05-06 tax year and I was on maternity leave for parts of the 07-08 and 09-10 tax years (but I assumed my tax deductions would have been taken care of through my normal payroll deductions/tax code for the latter two periods in any case).

Sorry if stupid questions, but I'm a bit of a natural born worrier when it comes to this stuff!:o

Mikeyorks

carebear1976 wrote: »

As the letters have no detail of how they've calculated the refunds I can't even do any sort of sense check.

The 'letters' are P800s? And contain the full detail of income for each year / your personal allowance and - critically - the tax due on that versus the tax you paid?

If you check the income earned / tax paid from your P60s back to the relevant P800s ....... then you've completed a valid check.

The year 05/06 is still 'active'. But I think you're wrong about one of the P800 reconciliations containing a cheque? The cheques are printed at a separate site for both security and practicality (needs a special printer) .... and usually arrive simply with a cover containing your name / address.

edgarina

Probably not the case but is there a slim chance its a scam. For the last two years I have had e-mails supposedly from HMRC which were entirely convincing including the links regarding how I cliam my refund, the amounts were about right. I replied to the first one and got scammed. Luckily the bank came to the rescue.

Could the check be a fake that needs 'clearing' somehow via the transfer of bank details or one that would for some reason get held up (might now be cancelled), while in the mean time you pass on bank info to get the rest of your money.

Probably terribly paranoid but just thought I would mention it.

Sofie

Hi Carebear
I got two refunds, one in December and one in February, amounting to just over £3,500. I, like you, didn't know I was due anything but after I got the first refund, I contacted HMRC to ask them to look at previous years which they did. It seems that when i started a new job in 2006, I was put on the wrong tax code so I was completely oblivious to paying too much tax.

Has your tax gone down recently?

Mike Yorks, helped with my dumb questions:)

I hope your refunds are genuine:)

carebear1976

Mikeyorks

You are of course right.:o I now see that there was another sheet in the P800 envelope (was stuck to the cover one which just said the refund was due to overpayment of tax). The third letter didn't contain a P800 but just a cheque (and it seems genuine enough Sofie).

I haven't yet had a P800 for the 2008-9 tax year (for which I have had the cheque), but I have a feeling it will actually show the overpayments rolled forward for the other two tax years I mentioned. Upshot being that my refund is only about £1.5k and not £4k as I originally thought. Never mind - it's certainly better than nothing at all!

Carebear x

Mikeyorks

Sofie wrote: »

I hope your refunds are genuine:)

They're genuine. Just ignore post #3 ...... all HMRC scams are via Email.

Mikeyorks

carebear1976 wrote: »

I haven't yet had a P800 for the 2008-9 tax year (for which I have had the cheque), but I have a feeling it will actually show the overpayments rolled forward for the other two tax years I mentioned.

If they're aggregated .... and the final year shows the summary overpayment for all years - they would normally have to all be in the same envelope. And the final value would have a printed '16' in the right hand margin?

If not ...... I think (hope) that if you very carefully check each year .... then the overall overpayment may be greater? Let us know!

carebear1976

Mikeyorks wrote: »

If they're aggregated .... and the final year shows the summary overpayment for all years - they would normally have to all be in the same envelope. And the final value would have a printed '16' in the right hand margin?

If not ...... I think (hope) that if you very carefully check each year .... then the overall overpayment may be greater? Let us know!

Thanks again Mikeyorks - I will let you know what the final outcome is!

The 2 P800s I've received so far were in different envelopes and the 2005-6 refund has a 16 next to it but then that same figure appears as an adjustment on the 2007-8 P800. So the 2007-8 final amount seems to be an aggregate (unfortunately lower than the 2005-6 one:() but that had a 16 next to it too.

I still haven't had the 2009-10 P800 but the cheque was another hundred pounds lower than the 2007-8 P800, so I'll just need to wait and see what comes next in the post.....

Mind you, I'm wondering if its gone astray as thats over a week since I received the three letters above.:think:

Sofie

They say to allow two weeks from receipt of the P800s so it'll on the way I'm sure.

123budget

I have just received an e mail saying:
Following an upgrade of our computer systems and review of our records we have investigated your payments and latest tax returns over the last seven years our calculations show that you have made over payments of GBP 178.25

Due to the high volume of refunds due you must complete the online application, the telephone help line is unable to assist with this application. In oder to process your refund you will need to complete the application form attached to this email.Your refund may take up to 6 weeks to process please make sure you complete the form correctly.

Has anyone else received these types of e mails? - I have obviously not filled in the form they attached to the e mail which is asking for bank details as well as mothers maiden name and driving licence/passport number and phone number.
I am quite sure it is probably a scam, but the amount given would seem realistic and not over the top.

glider3560

123budget wrote: »

I have just received an e mail saying:
Following an upgrade of our computer systems and review of our records we have investigated your payments and latest tax returns over the last seven years our calculations show that you have made over payments of GBP 178.25

Due to the high volume of refunds due you must complete the online application, the telephone help line is unable to assist with this application. In oder to process your refund you will need to complete the application form attached to this email.Your refund may take up to 6 weeks to process please make sure you complete the form correctly.

Has anyone else received these types of e mails? - I have obviously not filled in the form they attached to the e mail which is asking for bank details as well as mothers maiden name and driving licence/passport number and phone number.
I am quite sure it is probably a scam, but the amount given would seem realistic and not over the top.

Scam. HMRC will never issue a refund by email. An obvious clue is GBP: the sender obviously doesn't have a £ sign on their keyboard as they are abroad!