Hundreds of thousands of Brits are owed money by HMRC after failing to claim tax refunds.
The Government department confirmed on social media this week that as many as 700,000 taxpayers have failed to act to recoup money owed to them.
On average, each refund is worth £473.
The money relates to money that should have been claimed back last year, with HMRC writing to taxpayers earlier this summer to remind them of the rebate.
Reiterating the message this week, HMRC said on social media: “Remember getting a letter about a tax refund but didn’t do anything about it?
“Last year, almost 700,000 people didn’t claim back the money they’re owed. Download the HMRC app to check.”
HMRC sends out P800 Tax Calculation letters whenever it believes someone has paid either too much or too little tax.
The calculation relates specifically to those in employment or drawing on a pension.
The issue usually emerges when an individual’s tax code is incorrect due to not being updated when circumstances change.
One of the most common occurrences is when the number of jobs held by a person changes during the tax year.
Anyone impacted can claim back money for up to four years.
Anyone who is entitled to a refund will receive their money within five working days if they submit the request online. They will receive the money in six weeks if they ask HMRC to send the refund via a cheque.
P800 Tax Calculation letters do not apply to anyone submitting Self-Assessment tax returns.
Those who are self-employed who have paid the wrong amount of tax are dealt with separately by having their bills automatically adjusted.
While P800 Tax Calculation letters are a regular occurrence in which HMRC proactively informs Brits if they are paying the wrong tax, earlier this year it emerged millions of pensioners have been over-taxed for years.
It was revealed in June that the taxman has been routinely overcharging retirees on their state pension for at least a decade.
Despite becoming aware of the issue two years ago, HMRC only admitted to having overcharged as many as 8.7 million pensioners when the problem was reported by the media.
