Last year I was owed £966 after completing my self assessment. Something wasn’t right with the portal and it took many hours on hold to finally get the money sent by BACS. Even the poor man on the phone couldn’t work out why the money never turned up each time I claimed via the portal.
Earlier in this year HMRC wrote to say I was being taken out of self assessment. This made sense as I stopped claiming child benefit in 2022 and this had been my only reason for completing the return.
I logged on today and comparing my income tax with the Martin Lewis calculator suggested I’d overpaid by £1,500. I self selected to voluntarily complete a tax return and it showed the Martin Lewis calculation was correct. I’m owed £1,500 from 24/25.
I have two questions please:
(1) do I have to wait until 31.01.26 to claim the refund? I did tick that I wanted it repaid and left my bank details on the online form. I’m confused because it was all so tricky last year I’m not sure what normal service / process is.
(2) clearly I intend to complete a return every year after being over charged twice but what would have happened if I hadn’t completed a return…? The overpayment is already 7 months old and no one has contacted me. Would HMRC systems ever recognised the overpayment or would they have kept the money?