Are you owed a tax refund as EIGHT MILLION handed £943 cash back
Are you owed a tax refund as EIGHT MILLION handed £943 cash back
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OVER eight million workers received hundreds of pounds in overpaid tax back in previous years, The Sun can reveal. A Freedom of Information (FOI) request by The Sun found HMRC refunded £8.3billion in overpaid tax during 2022/23. On average, each worker received £943.
![[British banknotes, coins, and an HM Revenue & Customs tax form.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/collection-modern-british-banknotes-surrounding-884698573.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
The main reason people end up overpaying is because they are in the wrong tax code. Anyone employed or paid via PAYE is given a tax code by their employer via HMRC and it is shown on your payslip. This code dictates how much income tax you pay on your earnings - so it's important to check if you're on the right one.
People are often put on the wrong tax codes if they change jobs. At the end of each tax year on April 5, HMRC sends letter out to tell people if they have overpaid or underpaid tax - these are known as P800 letters. But even those who are proactive and check their code before these letters are sent out may find themselves unable to get it sorted quickly, as the taxman is often overwhelmed with demand.
Around 2.32million repayments were issued to people who filed self-assessment tax returns over the same period totalling £5.2billion, our FOI request found. HMRC has been contacted for comment. Consumer rights expert Martyn James said: "The fact that HMRC can't say definitively how many people have overpaid tax tells you all you need to know about the complexity of the current tax regime.
