The consumer rights website explained how you may have paid income tax that you don’t actually owe – but there are ways to claim your money back
Martin Lewis’ MoneySavingExpert.com website has issued a warning to anyone who has just finished a summer or temporary job.
The consumer rights website explained how you may have paid income tax that you don’t actually owe. Most people who have just one job are on the tax code 1257L which means you can earn £12,570 in the current 2025/26 tax before you start paying tax.
This is known as your personal allowance. However, millions of people end up being accidentally placed on emergency tax codes every year – such as 1257L W1, 1257L M1 or 1257L X.
MSE explains that this happens when a new employer doesn’t have enough information about your previous employment history. MSE said: “With these emergency codes, tax is calculated just on that week’s or month’s pay in isolation, so you don’t get the full benefit of your yearly tax-free personal allowance.
“For example, if you stopped working after only a few weeks or months, you may have earned well below £12,570 but still been taxed – in which case you could be due a refund.”
You could be owed a refund if your summer job was your only paid employment since April 6, 2025 and you won’t work again between now and April 5, 2026.
If you’re still working, or you may work again this tax year, MSE recommends checking your tax code is correct by looking at your payslip or through your GOV.UK personal tax account.
If you are on an emergency code, then you may be paying too much tax. You will get back the overpaid tax you’ve paid and your tax code will be updated.
Previous research from Canada Life shows an estimated total of £5.8billion was overpaid to HMRC, with the average overpaying coming in at £689.
You can contact HMRC and ask them to investigate by calling 0300 200 3300, or by speaking to them online via their live chat service.
If you have been overpaying tax for some time, you can claim back up to four additional years. This means you can go back as far as the 2021/22 tax year.
But even if you think you have been overpaying for longer than this, it could still be worth getting in touch with HMRC to investigate.
There is no guarantee that they will pay you back beyond the four years, but they may do under certain circumstances – for example, if it was their fault that you overpaid tax.