08/03/2018
Taxpayers reclaim £493m from HMRC
HMRC has had to return nearly half-a-billion pounds to taxpayers since April 2015, claims analysis of government statistics.
Royal London reports the Revenue is overcharging on two areas of the tax system, and has had to refund £493 million as a result.
Savers using the new pension freedoms are among the hardest hit, as income tax on pension withdrawals is taken on an emergency tax basis.
Taxpayers have had to claim back £262 million since the pension freedoms were introduced in April 2015.
The freedoms allow over-55s to take their entire pension pot as a lump sum, with the first 25% tax-free and the rest taxed as if it were income.
The other area highlighted by the analysis was extra stamp duty charged on ‘second homes’, which turn out not to be second homes.
This applies to people who have completed the purchase of a house before selling their current home, incurring an extra 3% stamp duty charge on the transaction.
Since April 2016, a total of £231 million has been refunded to homeowners who were overtaxed in this way.
For further information, please contact Susan Andow on 023 8046 1214.
;