HMRC urges 1 million people to claim tax refund - how to check you are owed

Nearly one million people who are owed tax refunds have not yet claimed their money, according to HMRC. The Government body issued a reminder to Brits on X.com who have overpaid tax and have still not cashed their cheques in.

Brits may have overpaid tax on incomes such as pay from a job, pensions, or a redundancy payment. They could have also overpaid tax on interest from savings, job expenses, or foreign income. The Government website has a tax checker tool, which Brits can use to check their eligibility for a refund.

Pensioners and employed people who have overpaid usually receive a P800 tax calculation letter or a Simple Assessment letter, to let them know how much money they are due.

However, this money is not automatically refunded, and Brits need to claim the refund to receive it.

This can usually be checked through your HMRC account on the gov.uk website, which requires a government gateway ID to log in, or by calling HMRC, which will ask for your National Insurance number.

If you opt to check your status online, head to the 'messages' section, where there should be letters from previous years stating whether you were owed a tax refund or whether you underpaid.

If you are due a refund, a button will appear telling you to 'claim your refund'. If you successfully claim, the money should take about five working days to arrive. You could also claim this through the HMRC app, or by contacting HMRC.

Those who are self-employed or have other income will need to submit a self-assessment tax return, showing evidence of their income and expenses.