HMRC is urging Brits to keep an eye out as the final letters will be hitting doormats in the next two months and could reveal they are due a tax refund
HMRC has issued a warning to keep an eye out for a crucial letter that could mean you are due potentially thousands from the taxman. However, these tax rebates aren’t automatically distributed, meaning those who ignore the letter and the claiming guidelines will miss out.
The revenue department posted on X to say: “Received a letter saying you have a tax refund to claim? There could be an average of £473 waiting for you.”
The letter in question is the P800 Tax Calculation. These are sent to people that HMRC believes have either overpaid or underpaid tax.
Officials say the letters detail exactly what went wrong with your tax calculation and how to correct it. This could either be by reclaiming your excess tax from HMRC or settling the remainder of your tax liability.
Instructions on how to proceed are typically included in the correspondence and can also be found on the Gov.uk website. Alternatively, the letter might state that HMRC is sending you a cheque, meaning you won’t need to contact the authority to claim your rebate as you should receive the cheque automatically within 14 days of the date shown on your letter.
Earlier this summer, HMRC revealed that nearly one million people had yet to claim their tax rebate. Approximately four million P800s were expected to be sent out this summer, with the final remaining correspondence expected to arrive by November 30, 2025.
Only those who are employed or pensioners will be the recipients of these letters. Those registered for Self Assessment tax returns will see their tax liability automatically adjusted.
Tax refunds can be a substantial amount, potentially running into thousands of pounds, and these claims can be backdated up to four years. This means that individuals who received P800 letters as far back as 2021 might still be in a position to claim their cash.
As P800 letters continue to drop through letterboxes nationwide, experts have sounded the alarm about fraudsters looking to capitalise on the situation. Money Saving Expert has pointed out that scammers may try to impersonate HMRC members and offer these refunds via text, email, or phone call.
However, this is often the biggest giveaway that it’s a scam, as HMRC will always contact taxpayers by post if they are due a tax refund, not online, although the claim process can be completed digitally. HMRC say they will also never ask for a payment or randomly contact you to confirm banking details.
The Gov.uk website hosts an online checker tool where people can verify if they are owed a tax refund from previous years. Most tax refunds occur because people have overpaid income tax due to complications during the tax year such as changing jobs or having multiple sources of income.
This could encompass overpaying tax on pension, income from employment, redundancy payments, UK income for those living abroad, foreign income for those living in the UK, and interest from savings or payment protection insurance. One of the main reasons for paying the incorrect amount of tax is having the wrong tax code.
HMRC assigns each individual a tax code based on their earnings, which determines their personal allowance. This is the sum you can earn annually before you are obliged to pay income tax.
The most common code, 1257L, applies to individuals with a single income from employment or pension, indicating a personal allowance of £12,570.
Emergency tax codes, denoted by ‘W1’, ‘M1’, or ‘X’, may be assigned if you’ve changed jobs or switched from self-employment to working for an employer. While these tax codes are temporary, they do influence the amount of tax you pay while in effect.
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