Martin Lewis shares £9,400 HMRC ‘one telephone name’ tax refund tip for UK households
Money Saving Expert has shared an alert over people being on the wrong tax code, with some households reclaiming thousands from HMRC.
One UK household was handed £9,400 after ‘one phone call’ to HMRC
Some UK households are being handed as much as £9,400 after one phone call to HMRC, it has emerged. Money Saving Expert (MSE), the site founded by BBC and ITV star Martin Lewis, has shared an alert over people being on the wrong tax code.
Mr Lewis said he had received a message from one taxpayer who clawed back thousands from the taxman. They told the personal finance experts: “I was on the wrong tax code – just claimed £9,400 back with one phone call.”
MSE added in the caption: “A new tax year means it’s a good time to check your tax code. If it’s wrong, you could be due £1,000s back!
“Millions are wrong each year and it’s YOUR responsibility to check.” In an accompanying graphic, MSE said: “What does your tax code mean?’
“A box underneath illustrates the following two points. 1: 1257: Add a 0 and that’s how much you can earn tax-free this year,” reports Birmingham Live.
“Point 2: The most common letter is L, which means you’ve got bog-standard tax affairs.”
Another MSE reader wrote in and said: “Thank you – you recently stressed the importance of checking your tax code. After I was made redundant, I got my P45 and phoned HMRC.
“I said: ‘Can you check this for me?’ After they checked a couple of things they said: ‘We owe you £11,486 – how would you like it paid?’ The cheque arrived 10 days later.
“I had just trusted the amount of money HMRC had taken off my redundancy pay – then my instinct kicked in after your warnings. This success has allowed us to clear our debts and plan for the future.”
Another wrote: “Thank you for your advice to check your tax code, I did and discovered I was being taxed on every penny I earned, without any allowance. I’d previously been self-employed, but stopped trading three years ago and my tax code hadn’t been updated with my employer.
“It took an hour on the phone to HMRC, but I’ve now been refunded £9,400. Thank you so much Martin and all Money Saving Experts.”
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