Overpaid tax during last quarter due to DWP error, can't get refund until summer 2022?

clarabow99

Hi all,

I hope someone can advise if I can get help from somewhere else because this is causing me financial problems and stress.

• I claimed Jobseekers allowance for a few weeks in between jobs last Winter.  
• I told DWP in December 2021 that I started a weekly paid temp job on 6/12/21 so they cancelled my claim and I received no allowance since then.  My tax code on starting was 1257L.
• Last week i noticed my tax code had changed and discovered it had been wrong since 14/2/22.
• DWP told me they hadn't closed my claim properly, human error, so HMRC thought I had 2 sources of income, even though they could see that no payments were made to me since last year - I asked them to look and they confirmed it.
• DWP said that they'd rectify it and provided me a P45 and to claim a rebate from HMRC.
  
• I was on 1257L up until 14/2/22 so my tax payments were correct and I had no income from DWP since end November 2021.
  
• 'Something' changed somewhere and my tax code was set to D0 which is emergency tax, so from 14/2/22 until now I've been taxed on ALL my pay and that will continue until 6/4/22.
  
• I phoned HMRC about it and they say that because it's 5 weeks within year end that they cannot change my tax code, but it will reset to 1257L from 6/4/22.  
  
• My employer won't accept a new P45 as I'm more than 5 weeks into the job so they can't refund me.
  
• HMRC told me that I need to claim a tax rebate from them for 2021/22 as my employer can't refund, it's a new tax code with my employer for 22/23.
• HMRC told me that I cannot get my overpaid tax back for 2021/22 until summer 2022 because they need to get all the financials from banks, building societies, employers, benefits etc and they's generally how long it takes.
  
• I told HMRC that an error was made by DWP which has resulted in me being financially worse off.  They did not care.  Just said that's how it is and nothing can be done.
  

Has anyone else experienced this and IS there something that can be done? 
We're talking a few hundred pounds here which is a lot of money for me right now.
Thanks in advance for any help - even if just to confirm that HMRC rule the world and the minions just have to suck it up. 

McKneff

They cannot calculate your tax rebate until the end of the tax year as they will not have definite figures till then . Other things can happen, you could lose your job, become ill, get another extra job which will have an impact. 
You will just have to be patient I'm afraid