How to claim back overpaid PAYE tax
PAYE (Pay As You Earn) is the system your employer uses to deduct income tax and National Insurance from your salary. When the system works perfectly, you pay exactly the right amount. In practice, many people overpay - and are entitled to a refund.
Why does PAYE overpayment happen?
Your employer calculates tax on a cumulative basis - they look at how much you have earned so far this tax year and work out the correct tax to date, adjusting each month. This normally produces the right result. But it breaks down when:
- You start a new job without a P45. Without the P45, your new employer does not know your earnings to date and puts you on an emergency code - often 1257L W1 or 0T - which taxes you as if you earn that salary the whole year, potentially overtaxing you heavily in early months.
- You stop working before 5 April. If you leave employment and do not start another job, the tax calculated earlier in the year assumed you would earn a full year's salary. With lower actual annual earnings, you overpaid.
- You work only part of the year - e.g., your first job starts in October. HMRC gives your full Personal Allowance but your earnings only cover part of the year, so less was taxable than the calculation assumed.
- Your tax code was wrong for any number of reasons (see our tax code guide).
Signs you were on emergency tax
Your tax code shows W1 or M1 (or X at the end)
Your payslip shows tax code 0T or BR for your main job
You paid unusually high tax in your first month at a new job
You moved to a new employer without providing a P45
Your cumulative tax column resets to zero instead of increasing monthly
Step-by-step: how to claim
Work out what you should have paid
Use our salary calculator with your gross pay for the year and the correct tax code (1257L for most people). Compare the expected income tax figure against what your P60 or payslips show you actually paid.
Gather your documents
You will need your P60 (end-of-year summary from your employer), payslips for any months you think were wrong, and your P45 if you changed jobs. If you left employment mid-year, HMRC may need additional information about your income.
Log in to your Personal Tax Account
Go to gov.uk and sign in to your Personal Tax Account using Government Gateway or GOV.UK One Login. Navigate to 'Check your tax for a previous year' - HMRC will show its own calculation and let you claim any refund.
Submit your claim or accept the P800
If HMRC already knows about the overpayment it will have sent a P800 letter. Click 'Claim your refund' and choose bank transfer (5 working days) or cheque (5 weeks). If HMRC has not yet identified it, submit a claim and allow 2–4 weeks for processing.
Receive your refund
Bank transfers typically arrive within 5 working days. HMRC will send a confirmation letter. Keep this for your records alongside your P60 and any correspondence.
Check your numbers first
Enter your gross salary and tax code into our calculator to see what you should have paid. Compare it to your P60 total.
Open salary calculatorTime limits for claiming
You have 4 years from the end of the tax year in which you overpaid to make a claim. The tax year ends on 5 April each year, so:
- Claims for 2020/21 must be submitted by 5 April 2025 ✗ (now closed)
- Claims for 2021/22 must be submitted by 5 April 2026
- Claims for 2022/23 must be submitted by 5 April 2027
- Claims for 2023/24 must be submitted by 5 April 2028
- Claims for 2024/25 must be submitted by 5 April 2029
If you have never checked previous years, it is worth reviewing up to four years of P60s - the total refund could run into thousands of pounds.
What you need to claim online
Government Gateway user ID and password (or GOV.UK One Login)
Your National Insurance number
P60 from each employer for the relevant tax year
P45 if you left employment during the year
Bank account details for the refund payment
Payslips if your P60 figures seem incorrect
Can you claim by post?
Yes. If you cannot access your Personal Tax Account, you can write to HMRC at:
Pay As You Earn and Self AssessmentHM Revenue and Customs
BX9 1AS
United Kingdom
Include your National Insurance number, the tax year you are claiming for, your P60 or payslip details, and your bank account number and sort code for the repayment. Postal claims typically take 6–8 weeks.