Very slightly wrong tax code

isntit

Hi - first post so excuse any etiquette errors!

Checking my tax code today I found I've been being taxed under 1095L when I should be 1100L, and at a similarly wrong rate every year since forever. I rang HMRC and they asked if I have medical insurance/benefits through work - when I said no, they changed my code going back several years.

However when I asked the guy if I was due a refund he said the amount would be "so small it's eaten up by the amount most of us underpay by every year anyway" and that I wouldn't be due a refund. He said the difference in my monthly pay going forward would be so small I wouldn't notice it.

Has anyone else had a similar experience/mistake made in their code - and did you not notice it and not receive a refund? Because I'd notice a difference of a tenner a month at the moment to be honest, and even a tenner refund would be welcome. Better than nothing anyway!

TadleyBaggie

HMRC are right, it's about 80p a month overpayment. You have been paying tax on an extra £50 per year, so at 20% that is £10 per year, not per month,

isntit

Thanks so much TadleyBaggie - no windfall for me then!

SamDude

I would still claim the £10 per year over 'several' years.
It might be a free meal or tank of petrol...

sheramber

But the tax tables are not totally accurate and sometimes the tax actually deducted is less than would be due in an assessment. Thos small underpayment is ignored unless an assessment needs to be raised . In that case any overpayment due would automatically be set off against the underpayment.

So not only no refund but possibly an underpayment to be collected.

e'g underpaid tab per tax tables £15.00
refund for adjustment to code £10.00
net tax underpaid now £5.00

Fried_Eggs

Had very similar problem: I've been taxed under 1079L instead of 1100L, so paying abouut £40 extra tax. HMRC also thought I had been receiving medical insurance from my employer since 2005, so have paid about extra £500 in tax over that time.

However it seems like I can reclaim back to 2012-13, e.g. 4 years. Really annoyed, but my employer doesn't know how it happened, neither does HMRC and neither have records going back that far.

Caz3121

have you not received a tax coding notification each year that showed the deduction due to medical benefit? If you have not received the coding notices, do HMRC have your current address?