Delays for P55 tax refund from HMRC

Fishingtime55

Fishingtime55 said:

Hi , I put a claim in with a p55 back in June ,it is now showing completed in the form tracker but still heard nothing ,4 months now .

you are chased to save for retirement but they don’t seem so quick to give back!

Update , now received calculation for refund ,dated 15 august but letter dated 20th october

leosayer

More frustration:

My wife submitted P55 on 26th August 2025 and the website is telling her "You should have received a reply by 31 October 2025" yet when she phones, it tells her to expect a reply by 25th January 2026.

For my P55 submitted on 15th September 2025, the website says "You can expect a reply by 20 November 2025".

vincit_veritas

leosayer said:

More frustration:

My wife submitted P55 on 26th August 2025 and the website is telling her "You should have received a reply by 31 October 2025" yet when she phones, it tells her to expect a reply by 25th January 2026.

For my P55 submitted on 15th September 2025, the website says "You can expect a reply by 20 November 2025".

I submitted my P55 on 27th August, should have received a reply by last week and so phoned them on Monday November 3rd.  I was told my refund was on hold because they needed more information about my savings interest: although I had indicated in the P55 that my savings interest would fall well within my £1000 allowance, their estimate showed in my online tax account as £3500. 
Apparently, they had details of over a dozen closed accounts dating back several years which they thought might still be generating interest. The banks and building societies do not notify them when accounts are closed. 
 I phoned again on November 5th and gave the closing date of each closed account.  I then tried to give the details of each account that is actually open, but gave up in despair because the "advisor" seemed confused.
I phoned again today hoping to give these details of my open accounts, but ended up having to go through all the closing dates information again as this information had not in fact been entered on my record. 
Another 90 minutes of my life I won't get back. 
Along with the £11pcm of lost interest from my P55 refund.

leosayer

leosayer said:

More frustration:

My wife submitted P55 on 26th August 2025 and the website is telling her "You should have received a reply by 31 October 2025" yet when she phones, it tells her to expect a reply by 25th January 2026.

For my P55 submitted on 15th September 2025, the website says "You can expect a reply by 20 November 2025".

Replying to my own post to say that my wife received her refund today - so it took around 2.5 months.

leosayer

leosayer said:

leosayer said:

More frustration:

My wife submitted P55 on 26th August 2025 and the website is telling her "You should have received a reply by 31 October 2025" yet when she phones, it tells her to expect a reply by 25th January 2026.

For my P55 submitted on 15th September 2025, the website says "You can expect a reply by 20 November 2025".

Replying to my own post to say that my wife received her refund today - so it took around 2.5 months.

I received my refund today... So that took just over 2 months.

Nini6319

I submitted P55 on 5th July and went on Gateway website, which indicated that my assessment form was received but no indication as to when I will be refunded for overpayment of taxes from my pension. I tried contacting HMRC customer service which was a long wait and they informed me to call tax office 0300 number because there were no information yo say when I will be paid, I call tax office they had no information and I was referred to call self assessment team, only to be informed that I will received information 12 weeks after the 19th of July, no information as yo when I will receive a refund. Forty five minutes of my time wasted without an answer. The system is broken. We now have a new Labour leader and hopefully this will make a difference. If not, what is the point in voting Labour in the next election, if they have pensioners waiting months on end for a tax refund, without any explanation!

sheramber

The explanation is a backlog of work due to paying off staff to save money.

I returned a firm with details of interest received fir 25/26 in April.

Gov.uk stated do not enquire before October.

I received my refund this week.

dobbers

Just to confirm the delays this summer are much worse than usual.

On 10th September 2025 I submitted a P55 form and the refund was paid on 21st October 2025 so total time of 41 days.

On 12th March 2026 I submitted a P55 form and the refund was paid on 15th April 2026 so total time of 34 days.

On 7th July 2026 I submitted a P55 form and nothing seen yet so checked the HMRC site today. It tells me they are currently processing claims up to 3rd June 2026 and I should not expect a reply until 27th September 2026. As of today it is already 52 days and if they paid me on 27th September 2026 it will be 82 days.