A P800 tax calculation is the form HMRC uses to tell you you've paid the wrong amount of tax. If you haven't paid all the tax you owe, HMRC will take action to get it from you. If you've overpaid, you can get a tax rebate.
P800 Refund
A P800 will sometimes show that you've paid too much tax and are due a tax rebate. If so, you might be able to claim back the tax online via the HMRC website. That's usually the fastest way to get your money, and you'll probably have it in under a week. If you don't do this within 45 days, though, HMRC will just send you a cheque. You should have it within 60 days of the date on your P800.
If you don't get the option of claiming online, they’ll send you a cheque. You don’t need to lift a finger, and the cheque should arrive within 2 weeks of the date on your P800. If your tax refund covers more than 1 year, they’ll send everything you’re owed together in one cheque.
HMRC can only pay you back for overpayments they know about, of course. If you’ve got work expenses that qualify for a tax rebate, you’ll need to claim for them yourself. You can do this online at the HMRC website, or get a professional tax expert to take care of it for you.
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P800 Tax Rebates
A P800 can show if you've paid too much tax and that you're due a tax rebate. You might be able to claim tax back online via their website. That's usually the fastest way to get your money, you'll probably have it in under a week. If you don't do this within 45 days, though, HMRC will just send you a cheque. You should have it within 60 days of the date on your P800.
If you don't get the option of claiming online, they’ll send you a cheque. You don’t need to do anything, the cheque should arrive within 2 weeks of the date on your P800. If your tax refund covers more than 1 year, they’ll send everything you’re owed together in one cheque.
HMRC can only pay you back for overpayments they know about. If you’ve got work expenses that qualify for a tax rebate, you’ll need to claim for them yourself. RIFT can help you claim back your tax and ensure you get all the money you are owed. We've claimed back over £180 million in tax refunds from HMRC since 1999 so you're in good hands.
Start for free >P800
HMRC will send out P800s after the end of the tax year (the 5th April). However, since the taxman's wheels tend to turn pretty slowly, you'll usually get your P800 around September if you're due a tax refund or October if you owe some extra tax.
What is a P800?
When you're claiming a tax rebate for things like travel to temporary workplaces, you might receive a few P800s. You can claim tax rebates for up to 4 years, so you could find yourself dealing with up to 4 forms. The main thing to understand is that each form includes the calculations from the previous years. Don't go adding up the numbers in each and expecting a huge refund. The P800 from the final year of your refund claim should give you the real total. Don't throw the previous forms away, though. You might need to check through them if you think the calculations are wrong.
P800 Refund
Occasionally, you might find yourself with a P800 that looks wrong. The first thing to do is go through it carefully to track down the problem. Check the details against your P60, P45 and/or P11D forms. Look closely at the figures to make sure HMRC hasn't used any estimates in the calculations. If you still think it looks wrong, get on the phone to HMRC as soon as possible or talk to a tax expert.
If HMRC doesn’t have all the information it needs to work out the tax you owe, it sometimes uses estimated figures. You’ll need some documents to double-check their homework, like:
If you’re getting any taxable state benefits, you’ll also want to compare HMRC’s figures with your own records. There’s a chance that some of those types of income will be lumped together as a single, combined total. If the number doesn’t look right, you should be able to get a full breakdown from HMRC or by checking your Personal Tax Account.
When you’ve arranged to pay through the PAYE system for any otherwise untaxed income you’ve got (like rent, for instance, if you’re letting out property), you might find HMRC has used estimated figures to calculate your tax. This can mean your PAYE tax code changes, and might not change back when you stop getting that income. Check the numbers HMRC has been working from, and kick up a fuss if they’re wrong.
At the same time, it’s worth putting some thought into anything HMRC might have missed. The taxman can only work with the information he has after all, and might not be up to date on things like:
While you’re at it, check that you’re getting the proper benefit of things like the Marriage Allowance or Blind Person’s Allowance, if you and/or your spouse qualify for them. Equally, though, you have to keep in mind any allowances HMRC has included in their calculation that you might not qualify for any more. Again, some of these might have led to a change in your tax code at some point, so check everything’s been recorded correctly.
One more tricky little wrinkle that might seem to mess up your P800 calculation is if you’re paid weekly. Basically, the way the calendar shakes out, some years might see you being paid 53 times instead of 52. Depending on your employer, that extra week’s pay might still factor your standard Personal Allowance into it, meaning you get a week’s tax relief that you technically didn’t qualify for over the year. Check your P60 to see if there’s a “week 53 indicator” listed.
P800 Refund
The P800 form is pretty straightforward. It shows the total income you've had for the year and the tax you've paid on it. It will also list some essential extra information, like your tax-free Personal Allowance and any allowable expenses you've shelled out. At the bottom, it will tell you how much tax you either owe or are owed back.
P800 Explained
Firstly, don't panic. Check through the calculation to make sure you understand it. If you do owe tax, HMRC will either collect it through your PAYE tax code or ask you to pay directly. Either way, they'll let you know what they're doing and what they expect from you.
P800 Tax Refund
No, it really doesn’t. HMRC will only send you a P800 when they KNOW you’ve paid the wrong amount of tax. You might still be owed tax back for work expenses that vary from year to year, like travel to temporary workplaces. The taxman won’t know about those unless you specifically tell him. That’s why you need to keep records and claim your tax rebate each year – particularly if you work in a job involving a lot of time on the road. Construction and Armed Forces work, for example, can take a lot of mileage. If you’re not claiming back the tax you’re owed, you’re probably paying hundreds of pounds too much each year to the taxman!
Tax Refund & Pensions
It’s easy to end up paying too much PAYE tax on your pension, whether it’s a personal, company or State one. Your taxable income might have come down, for instance, or you might be on the wrong tax code. If you’ve got two or more pensions, or other money coming in, that can mess things up, too. Even the benefits you’re entitled to can change the amount of tax you owe, so be sure to talk to RIFT if you’ve recently retired.
RIFT Guarantee
When you claim your tax refund with RIFT, our unique RIFT Guarantee means that you don't have to worry about the taxman reclaiming any of your money. So long as you give us full and accurate information, if HMRC disagrees with the amount that we’ve claimed and ask for the money back, we’ll pay it. It won’t cost you a penny.
RIFT Guarantee
Wondering if you can claim a tax refund or need to submit a tax return? Use our online tools to find out if you're owed money by HMRC.
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