Income Tax Refund
Author
Discussion

PaulWoof

Original Poster:

1,763 posts

184 months

Thursday 1st July 2021
quotequote all
So I have for the first time found myself in the position of paying to much to her majesty's and I would like it back but struggling with how to go about it.

in the 20/21 financial year I had a casual job as well as a 9 week internship while at university. Total income equating to just over £13,000.

I am in Scotland and using a 20/21 tax calculator I should of paid just over £100 income tax and £400 NIC. Instead I have paid £2000 Income tax and £700 NIC. As it presumed my internship salary was my annual salary and put me on a high tax code.

I tried going through the rigmarole of HMRC's refund process towards the end of last year and after getting gateway id's and everything else it ended up getting no where.

My theory was it would sort itself out at financial year end when it totals how much income I had received vs tax paid but its now July and heard nothing. I didn't expect HMRC to be the quickest and the whole COVID everything's delayed thing. Should I still be waiting or is this something I have to chase up with them to get sorted out?

Flumpo

4,024 posts

102 months

Thursday 1st July 2021
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I received a letter out of the blue on Monday saying I was due a tax refund 20/21 and to log into my online account to arrange a transfer. If not they would eventually send me a cheque.

When I logged in i was able to input my account details and from Monday I got the money yesterday. So maybe it’s not particularly late from the end of the tax year. If you log on it will show if it thinks you are due a refund. Mine now shows this:



If you can’t log in give them a ring.

Edit: from memory I don’t think you can claim back overpaid NI payments. I seem to remember then telling me that once, but I find it’s quite dependant who you get on the phone.

All a bit odd for me though, as I normally get something back, but it’s when I submit a self assessment. Which I haven’t done yet.

Edited by Flumpo on Thursday 1st July 23:54


Edited by Flumpo on Thursday 1st July 23:56

PaulWoof

Original Poster:

1,763 posts

184 months

Friday 2nd July 2021
quotequote all
Thanks, I will try and dig out my login details for it, I remember it being a mess for some reason with the government gateway ID's.

I also read the same about NIC but reading the HMRC's website overpaid NIC can be claimed back as well apparently. But say if you weren't desperate for the money would it be worth leaving the overpaid NIC towards a contributing year for state pension etc. Being a relatively young whippersnapper I've never given it much thought or when I may even realistically meet whatever age it will be in the future.


Flumpo

4,024 posts

102 months

Friday 2nd July 2021
quotequote all
PaulWoof said:
Thanks, I will try and dig out my login details for it, I remember it being a mess for some reason with the government gateway ID's.

I also read the same about NIC but reading the HMRC's website overpaid NIC can be claimed back as well apparently. But say if you weren't desperate for the money would it be worth leaving the overpaid NIC towards a contributing year for state pension etc. Being a relatively young whippersnapper I've never given it much thought or when I may even realistically meet whatever age it will be in the future.
I think you need 35 ‘qualifying years’. So if you think you won’t make up that lost year between now and retirement it might be worth leaving it.

If you can find your gateway ID and you have an iPhone it will remember all of your log in details so your face/thumb is all you need to log in again.

If you can log in it will show you your qualifying years and how long you have to make them up.

Mine shows this:



Which I think means I have 16 qualifying years and i have to build up to 35 in the 32 years I have left.

It also shows (I think) if I never worked again, in 32 years time I would get £90 rather than the full amount if I got to 35 years.



I does give me the option to make a payment towards the 4 years I didn’t pay enough to count as ‘qualifying years’ but I don’t see the point as I will get to 35 easily. I think …

As I say they are pretty helpful on the phone.

lastofthev8s

209 posts

119 months

Friday 2nd July 2021
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Seeing your post re: NI Contributions Flumpo I’ve checked mine out of curiosity and found I have a year missing.

It states I have no contributions for the year / too late to do anything about it. I know it’s incorrect as was in full it’s a year 3/4’s through 8 years with the same company. Makes me wonder what went wrong with it as I’ll certainly have had the deductions from salary.


Fortunately I’ve 30 full years otherwise and 20 years left to contribute so it shouldn’t be an issue. I’d be annoyed if I was depending on that year to make the full contribution however.

To the OP, on that basis if it’s not a significant sun to you I’d be inclined to leave as is as things do go wrong.


PaulWoof

Original Poster:

1,763 posts

184 months

Friday 2nd July 2021
quotequote all
Thanks guys, I managed to log in, and managed to navigate to a homepage I never found before with all the details. It says the 20/21 year is still being calculated for me.

In regards to the NIC, Its no so much as I wouldnt like the money back but obviously the NIC is way over what it should of been so is there any benefit to it being left or could I still have "full contribution" with the lower/correct amount. Im not overly clued up on the NIC having always been a bobby basic PAYE single job before going to university so just presumed I pay what it says I need to pay.

RSTurboPaul

13,083 posts

287 months

Friday 2nd July 2021
quotequote all
lastofthev8s said:
Seeing your post re: NI Contributions Flumpo I’ve checked mine out of curiosity and found I have a year missing.

It states I have no contributions for the year / too late to do anything about it. I know it’s incorrect as was in full it’s a year 3/4’s through 8 years with the same company. Makes me wonder what went wrong with it as I’ll certainly have had the deductions from salary.


Fortunately I’ve 30 full years otherwise and 20 years left to contribute so it shouldn’t be an issue. I’d be annoyed if I was depending on that year to make the full contribution however.

To the OP, on that basis if it’s not a significant sun to you I’d be inclined to leave as is as things do go wrong.

Is there a way to get this information without the faff of doing a 'digital ID' thing on the website?

I earned only two paycheques last financial year so should not have paid any tax, but they took the usual tax rate... and a refund would be quite useful right now, lol.

It would also be good to know from them how I can 'top up' etc. and how much is needed, as I didn't go through the hassle of claiming benefits for that time not working / 'getting my stamp paid'.

Flumpo

4,024 posts

102 months

Friday 2nd July 2021
quotequote all
RSTurboPaul said:
lastofthev8s said:
Seeing your post re: NI Contributions Flumpo I’ve checked mine out of curiosity and found I have a year missing.

It states I have no contributions for the year / too late to do anything about it. I know it’s incorrect as was in full it’s a year 3/4’s through 8 years with the same company. Makes me wonder what went wrong with it as I’ll certainly have had the deductions from salary.


Fortunately I’ve 30 full years otherwise and 20 years left to contribute so it shouldn’t be an issue. I’d be annoyed if I was depending on that year to make the full contribution however.

To the OP, on that basis if it’s not a significant sun to you I’d be inclined to leave as is as things do go wrong.

Is there a way to get this information without the faff of doing a 'digital ID' thing on the website?

I earned only two paycheques last financial year so should not have paid any tax, but they took the usual tax rate... and a refund would be quite useful right now, lol.

It would also be good to know from them how I can 'top up' etc. and how much is needed, as I didn't go through the hassle of claiming benefits for that time not working / 'getting my stamp paid'.
If you have your NI number and all your details are up to date on their system then you should be able to set up a gateway ID and access the accounts above.

O remember it being a bit of a pain to set up years ago, but it has all my personal and business tax accounts in one place. The only thing you might not have that you might need is your Unique Tax Reference code. I can’t remember if they have to send you that in the post for some reason.

Unless they have some of your data wrong, then credit where it’s due, it’s pretty decent system. Once you can log in…

Eric Mc

125,609 posts

294 months

Friday 2nd July 2021
quotequote all
What is the OP talking about here? Is it an Income Tax refund (as per the thread title) or a National Insurance refund (which is what the discussion seems to be about).

If the latter, the thread title needs changing.

Flumpo

4,024 posts

102 months

Friday 2nd July 2021
quotequote all
Eric Mc said:
What is the OP talking about here? Is it an Income Tax refund (as per the thread title) or a National Insurance refund (which is what the discussion seems to be about).

If the latter, the thread title needs changing.
Seems unnecessarily pedantic, it’s quite clear he’s talking about an over payment in income tax and NI contributions.

he also doesn’t include in the title if he’s if he’s in the UK in or declare if he’s got current bank account.

While we are at it how do you know he is a he or even a man? He hasn’t put it in the title?



RSTurboPaul

13,083 posts

287 months

Friday 2nd July 2021
quotequote all
Flumpo said:
Eric Mc said:
What is the OP talking about here? Is it an Income Tax refund (as per the thread title) or a National Insurance refund (which is what the discussion seems to be about).

If the latter, the thread title needs changing.
Seems unnecessarily pedantic, it’s quite clear he’s talking about an over payment in income tax and NI contributions.

he also doesn’t include in the title if he’s if he’s in the UK in or declare if he’s got current bank account.

While we are at it how do you know he is a he or even a man? He hasn’t put it in the title?
PistonhHeads - Pedantry Matters wink

Flumpo

4,024 posts

102 months

Friday 2nd July 2021
quotequote all
RSTurboPaul said:
Flumpo said:
Eric Mc said:
What is the OP talking about here? Is it an Income Tax refund (as per the thread title) or a National Insurance refund (which is what the discussion seems to be about).

If the latter, the thread title needs changing.
Seems unnecessarily pedantic, it’s quite clear he’s talking about an over payment in income tax and NI contributions.

he also doesn’t include in the title if he’s if he’s in the UK in or declare if he’s got current bank account.

While we are at it how do you know he is a he or even a man? He hasn’t put it in the title?
PistonhHeads - Pedantry Matters wink
Yeah, it was about time this descended into an argument, I propose the op is actually committing tax fraud and blame either Boris or corbyn.

Eric Mc

125,609 posts

294 months

Friday 2nd July 2021
quotequote all
The reason I said what I said is that the calculation and recovery of overpaid NI is quite different to the recovery of overpaid tax.

Even though both are collected by HMRC, they are very different beasts with their own completely separate sets of allowances, thresholds, limits and recovery procedures.

Flumpo

4,024 posts

102 months

Friday 2nd July 2021
quotequote all
Eric Mc said:
The reason I said what I said is that the calculation and recovery of overpaid NI is quite different to the recovery of overpaid tax.

Even though both are collected by HMRC, they are very different beasts with their own completely separate sets of allowances, thresholds, limits and recovery procedures.
Which is obvious to everyone including the op in his original and subsequent discussions above.

Anyway, I’m not buying into your trolling, but well done, you’ve derailed what was a decent thread.

take-good-care-of-the-forest-dewey

7,862 posts

84 months

Friday 2nd July 2021
quotequote all
I'm always amazed at how those idiots in HMRC can simultaneously be threatening me with a court case AND offering me a large tax refund.

As for the government offshoring the whole UK tax office to a noisy office in Pakistan - disgraceful.

Eric Mc

125,609 posts

294 months

Friday 2nd July 2021
quotequote all
Flumpo said:
Which is obvious to everyone including the op in his original and subsequent discussions above.

Anyway, I’m not buying into your trolling, but well done, you’ve derailed what was a decent thread.
Those who feel derailed only do so because they are easily derailed. My point is still pertinent.

Calculating NI overpayments requires completely different knowledge and information compared to calculating tax overpayments. It's a whole specialist area of its own.

LC23

1,315 posts

254 months

Friday 2nd July 2021
quotequote all
I'll echo what Eric is saying that here. Tax on employment income is looked at as a whole once the year has ended. You can amalgamate the income and apply annual allowances and rate bands. It's not the same for NIC.

PaulWoof

Original Poster:

1,763 posts

184 months

Friday 2nd July 2021
quotequote all
so for NIC, Its not an automatic process? do you have to specifically action something to look at having it corrected etc?

From my p60 it shows a breakdown of what amount of income is at what rate of NIC level. So i would of thought it could be totalled similar to that of Income Tax.

Eric Mc

125,609 posts

294 months

Friday 2nd July 2021
quotequote all
Different thresholds.
Different bands
Different rates
Different reclaim process

And no, it's not automatic. You must contact them and state why you think you have overpaid and stating how much by.

RSTurboPaul

13,083 posts

287 months

Saturday 3rd July 2021
quotequote all
Flumpo said:
RSTurboPaul said:
lastofthev8s said:
Seeing your post re: NI Contributions Flumpo I’ve checked mine out of curiosity and found I have a year missing.

It states I have no contributions for the year / too late to do anything about it. I know it’s incorrect as was in full it’s a year 3/4’s through 8 years with the same company. Makes me wonder what went wrong with it as I’ll certainly have had the deductions from salary.


Fortunately I’ve 30 full years otherwise and 20 years left to contribute so it shouldn’t be an issue. I’d be annoyed if I was depending on that year to make the full contribution however.

To the OP, on that basis if it’s not a significant sun to you I’d be inclined to leave as is as things do go wrong.

Is there a way to get this information without the faff of doing a 'digital ID' thing on the website?

I earned only two paycheques last financial year so should not have paid any tax, but they took the usual tax rate... and a refund would be quite useful right now, lol.

It would also be good to know from them how I can 'top up' etc. and how much is needed, as I didn't go through the hassle of claiming benefits for that time not working / 'getting my stamp paid'.
If you have your NI number and all your details are up to date on their system then you should be able to set up a gateway ID and access the accounts above.

O remember it being a bit of a pain to set up years ago, but it has all my personal and business tax accounts in one place. The only thing you might not have that you might need is your Unique Tax Reference code. I can’t remember if they have to send you that in the post for some reason.

Unless they have some of your data wrong, then credit where it’s due, it’s pretty decent system. Once you can log in…
Thank you for the info on this!

I may just ring them TBH... lol