HMRC has clarified when tax refunds will be paid into bank accounts (Image: Getty)
HMRC has clarified the rules around when tax refunds are paid into people’s bank accounts.
This was in response to a customer who was due an amount but which had yet to arrive despite several weeks passing.
They contacted over social media to ask: “It’s now been over 5 weeks since I requested self-assessment tax repayment. Site says aim is 2 weeks but can take up to 4?”
The person said they had phoned up and been told they would get a response by March 8 but “doesn’t say if I will be refunded by then”. They said they had also been told over the phone that it could take up to 12 weeks for their refund to arrive.
responded to suggest a reason for why the payment may be taking longer than the customer expected: “The refund will be going through additional security checks which can take 6 to 8 weeks.
“Check the status of the refund after this timescale and if it has not updated, contact the department again for a further update.”
The customer then asked if this 6 to 8 week period is from the date they put in the request, or referring to an additional wait time. They added: “I wish it was made clearer online as it’s very frustrating when I’ve given all the info asked for.”
replied: “That will be total from when requested, so if it’s already been 5 weeks, keep an eye on this for the next couple of weeks.
“If no update, contact the helpline or webchat so they can check for any further updates on record.” If you think you are owed a tax refund, you can check .
You can also claim a tax refund through your personal tax account, which you can also set up .
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The personal tax account is a very useful tool, allowing you to check your tax code, your income tax estimate for the current year and how much you are on track to receive.
It’s worth checking if you have any gaps in your National Insurance (NI) record that you can pay to fill in to increase your .
At present, you can top up your NI contributions as far back as the 2006/2007 tax year, whereas usually you can only do so up to six years ago.
But you can only pay contributions over this extended period until the end of the current tax year in April, meaning you only have two months left to do so.
The full new is currently £221.20 a week, going up to £230.25 a week from April. You typically need 35 years of contributions to get the full amount.