Reclaiming overpaid Private Pension Tax 31 July 2017 at 8:19PM edited 31 July 2017 at 8:22PM in Pensions, annuities & retirement planning 9 replies 1.5K views

paulhereford

Good evening all.
I hope that you are well and can maybe help
My partners mother has been in receipt of a private pension as a beneficiary for 3 years since the death of her husband.
For the first 18 months she paid tax via a BR emergency tax code, paying in the region of £800 of tax during that period.
Her tax code was adjusted for tax year 2016-17 and she isn't now liable to pay any tax.
She thought that she had enlisted the services of an accountant to act on her behalf but it appears now having dug deeper for her that he hasn't lifted a finger to sort out the tax position during this period. The pension company changed her tax code after she contacted HMRC direct.

Question is: How do we go about Reclaiming the overpayment of tax for 2014-15, 2015-16?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

Paul

Asghar

paulhereford wrote: »

For the first 18 months she paid tax via a BR emergency tax code, paying in the region of £800 of tax during that period.
Her tax code was adjusted for tax year 2016-17 and she isn't now liable to pay any tax.

Question is: How do we go about Reclaiming the overpayment of tax for 2014-15, 2015-16?

Your're going to have to give more information for when the experts come along.
How much private pension was she getting each month and is it the same amount now. I presume that she is also getting a state pension.

If her tax code has been adjusted then maybe she has already had the over payments back by paying less tax in the subsequent years.

Linton

Talk to HMRC and look at https://www.gov.uk/claim-tax-refund/too-much-tax-taken-from-your-pay. They should have picked up the incorrect tax payment at tax year end. Are you sure that she isnt liable for any tax? If she gets a full state pension and an £800 BR tax charge implies £4K income she must be very close to the tax allowance. Does she get any other income?

Dazed_and_confused

It may be as simple as she had other income (job?) in the earlier years which she no longer has.

It's all guesswork until the op expands with a bit more information

paulhereford

Asghar wrote: »

Your're going to have to give more information for when the experts come along.
How much private pension was she getting each month and is it the same amount now. I presume that she is also getting a state pension.

If her tax code has been adjusted then maybe she has already had the over payments back by paying less tax in the subsequent years.

Thank you for taking the time to comment and a good point regarding the tax code adjustment and the possibility that she is paying less tax as a result. Yes, she is receiving a state pension and the private pension in addition.

The private pension amount has halved during this financial year as her late husband would have turned 70 during May of this year.

More questions than answers at the moment

paulhereford

Linton wrote: »

Talk to HMRC and look at https://www.gov.uk/claim-tax-refund/too-much-tax-taken-from-your-pay. They should have picked up the incorrect tax payment at tax year end. Are you sure that she isnt liable for any tax? If she gets a full state pension and an £800 BR tax charge implies £4K income she must be very close to the tax allowance. Does she get any other income?

Thank you Linton for your reply and for the HMRC links. Much appreciated.
It is all up in the air due to the accountant she thought was dealing with this hasn't and is now covering his tracks by being decidedly unhelpful, so my partner and I are now trying to unpick the mess but getting there slowly.

She doesn't receive any other income apart from the state pension which I think is at a reduced rate. I need to clarify that.

Duringbthis financial year the amount of private pension that she receives has halved due to her late husband turning 70 in May had he lived.

I agree that HMRC should have picked up on the incorrect tax code which they have done in as much as her tax code has now been changed but we have no correspondence relating to a tax refund or other decision made by HMRC that may be affecting tax she is paying now. This may have gone to the accountant and been sat upon. Maybe, possibly.

I am attempting to establish a chain of command regarding who to write to etc.

Thank you for your help

paulhereford

Dazed_and_confused wrote: »

It may be as simple as she had other income (job?) in the earlier years which she no longer has.

It's all guesswork until the op expands with a bit more information

Dazed and confused thank you. Your username sums up the situation to date perfectly lol.

I have dealt with HMRC on a number of issues in the past and have found them to be very helpful in my experience so as I piece more information together I am sure that things will become clearer and I can then contact the correct department with the correct forms and get a decision that will clear this up.

Thank you

xylophone

2013-14, 2014-15, 2015-16?

Have you calculated her total taxable income for these years?

https://www.moneysupermarket.com/money-made-easy/tax-allowances-2013-2014/

https://www.moneysupermarket.com/money-made-easy/tax-allowances-2014-15/

https://www.moneysupermarket.com/money-made-easy/tax-allowances-2015-16/

paulhereford

xylophone wrote: »

Have you calculated her total taxable income for these years?

https://www.moneysupermarket.com/money-made-easy/tax-allowances-2013-2014/

https://www.moneysupermarket.com/money-made-easy/tax-allowances-2014-15/

https://www.moneysupermarket.com/money-made-easy/tax-allowances-2015-16/

Thank you xylophone...no I haven't gone through that yet but will

Dazed_and_confused

As far as tax debts and repayments due go HMRC only adjust tax codes to collect tax owed from previous tax years.

In the circumstances the op describes any tax refund for a prior year would not be made via the tax code.

The adjustment to the 2016:17 tax code may have resolved that particular year but not the previous two.