Tax Refund When Leaving UK – How to Claim What You’re Owed

How to Claim Your Tax Refund When Leaving UK Permanently

Claiming a tax refund when leaving the UK is one of the most common queries we receive at CoreAdviz. Whether you’re an overseas consultant, a contractor on a short-term project, or an employee relocating permanently, you may be entitled to reclaim overpaid PAYE tax and National Insurance before you go.

In some of the cases, employers itself can help you to take refund of PAYE tax and NI (if deducted on source) using tax code update and automated RTI submission. However, if you have to do it yourself then its an easy way to browse on gov.uk website for help.

 Who is eligible?

It is important to get your tax calculated right when you leave UK for good in between of tax year and going to be settled outside of UK. You can use P85 form online to claim tax relief or a repayment of tax if you:

• Have lived in UK and worked for UK company payroll
• Left the UK and mayn’t be coming back or,
• You’re going to work abroad full-time for at least 1 full tax year*

*Tax year: means from 6 April to 5 April the next year

 Who is not eligible?

 P85 form is not applicable;

• UK is your usual resident country and going abroad for short term assignment or holiday
• You usually sill in Self-assessment tax return and been asked to fill in for leaving tax year (for example: rental income or any other income)

What you need?

To fill this P85 form, you need

• P45 form ‘Details of employee leaving work’ (given by your employer or your Jobcentre)
• Last month payslip
• most recent address in the UK
• personal details – NI number, DOB, Nationality, Date of leaving UK, period you stayed, Resident Statutory Residence Test (SRT*).

(*for the meaning of term ‘resident’ , ‘home’ and ‘full-time work’, look for guidance note.)

How to fill this P85 form?

You can fill this P85 form in following alternate ways:

• Complete your P85 form on GOV.UK to claim your tax refund when leaving the UK
• If filling yourself and need more help with this form, phone HMRC helpline or chat using Personal Tax account
• In case you need help of expert Accountants and Tax consultants, you can speak to a tax adviser about your tax refund when leaving the UK

Check your National Insurance situation in case you have overpaid or claiming refund

You can request a statement of your National Insurance (NI) account from HMRC:

• You can do this online here,  specifying the years you would like your statement to cover. This statement will detail all the NI payments or credits on your account and tell you if there are gaps with regards to your ‘qualifying years’ towards a state pension

Or,

• You can apply to HMRCaccount to check your National Insurance record

and

• claim a refund if you think you’ve overpaid.

How Long Does a Tax Refund Take After Leaving the UK?

Once HMRC receives your P85 form, a tax refund when leaving the UK typically takes 4 to 8 weeks to process. Refunds are usually paid directly to your UK bank account or sent by cheque to your overseas address. If you want to speed up the process, a registered tax adviser can submit and follow up on your behalf.