Pillar Guide · Updated June 2026

UK P800 Tax Refund 2026/27: How HMRC Calculates and Pays Overpaid PAYE Tax

A P800 is HMRC's end-of-year reconciliation for people taxed through PAYE. After the tax year ends, HMRC compares the tax deducted from your wages or pension with the tax you actually owed. If too much came out - often because of a wrong tax code or leaving work mid-year - the P800 shows a refund. This guide explains what triggers a P800, how to claim online for a fast bank transfer, timescales, the difference between a P800 and a Simple Assessment, and how to avoid refund scams.

Last updated: 10 June 2026Last reviewed: 10 June 2026How we verify

Key P800 facts -- 2026/27

What it is: end-of-year PAYE tax reconciliation
Issued: typically June to November after the tax year
Online claim: bank transfer in about 5 working days
Automatic cheque: up to 6 weeks if you do not claim online
Personal Allowance: GBP 12,570 for 2026/27
Claim window: up to 4 tax years after the year of overpayment
Cost to claim: nothing - HMRC never charges a fee

What a P800 Is

A P800 tax calculation is HMRC's annual check on PAYE taxpayers. After the tax year ends on 5 April, HMRC pulls together your pay, pension, taxable benefits and the tax deducted, and compares it with the tax due given your Personal Allowance of GBP 12,570 and the relevant tax bands.

If the deductions were too high, the P800 shows a repayment. If they were too low, it shows an underpayment, usually collected through next year's tax code. P800s go to people whose tax affairs are dealt with through PAYE - not to anyone already in Self Assessment, whose position is settled on their return.

HMRC issues P800s in batches, generally between June and November. You cannot force an early P800 by phoning - the reconciliation runs once HMRC has all the year-end PAYE data from employers and pension providers.

What Triggers a Refund

PAYE works by spreading your GBP 12,570 Personal Allowance evenly across the year. Anything that disrupts that even pattern can leave you owed tax. Common triggers:

Being on an emergency or incorrect tax code for part of the year.
Changing jobs with an overlap, so two employers each applied an allowance.
Leaving work part-way through the year, leaving allowance unused.
Retiring or moving onto a pension mid-year.
Redundancy where too much tax was taken on the payment.
A large one-off bonus taxed at a higher marginal rate than your annual position warranted.

Leaving work mid-year is the classic case: if you earn below GBP 12,570 in total for the year but had tax deducted while working, you are likely due most or all of it back.

How to Claim Your Refund

Read the P800 carefully. It will say either that HMRC will pay you automatically, or that you need to claim online. The fastest route is your Personal Tax Account on gov.uk:

Log in (or set up) your Personal Tax Account with your Government Gateway ID.
Confirm the refund and enter your bank account details.
The money is paid by bank transfer, usually within about five working days.

You never pay a fee to claim a P800 refund. Third-party "tax refund" companies will take a cut of money you can claim yourself for free directly from HMRC.

Timescales and Cheques

Claim online and the refund typically lands in about five working days. If you do not claim within the window stated on the P800, HMRC sends a cheque automatically - allow up to six weeks for it to arrive by post.

Cheques expire after a set period, so bank yours promptly. If a refund is much slower than expected, contact HMRC: larger refunds, or cases where bank details have recently changed, can be held briefly for a security check.

P800 vs Simple Assessment

A P800 usually means a refund or a small underpayment that can be coded out. A Simple Assessment (form PA302) is different - it is a formal demand for tax that cannot be collected through your code, such as a larger underpayment or tax on a State Pension that exceeds your Personal Allowance.

You must pay a Simple Assessment by 31 January following the tax year, or within three months if it was issued late. You can query it within 60 days if you think it is wrong. Unlike a refund P800, a Simple Assessment is an amount you owe, not money coming back.

If Your P800 Is Wrong

Check the P800 against your P60, P45, any P11D for benefits, and records of savings interest, pension income and other taxable income. Look for missing jobs, double-counted income or a wrong tax code.

If it does not add up, contact HMRC to ask for a correction. Where an underpayment arose because HMRC failed to act on information it already held, you may be able to ask for the tax to be written off under Extra-Statutory Concession A19. Keep notes of dates and who you spoke to.

Avoiding Refund Scams

Tax-refund scams are common because "you are owed money" is persuasive. Genuine HMRC P800 communications come by post or via your secure Personal Tax Account. HMRC does not text, email or phone you with a clickable link to claim a refund, and never asks for card details, bank login credentials or a fee.

Treat urgency ("claim within 24 hours"), non-gov.uk web addresses and requests for banking credentials as red flags. If unsure, ignore the link, go straight to gov.uk and log in to your Personal Tax Account, and report suspicious messages to HMRC.

Worked Examples

Example 1 - leaving work mid-year. Sam worked April to September 2025, earning GBP 14,000, then stopped work. PAYE assumed the salary would continue all year, so it taxed him as if he would earn around GBP 28,000.

Actual annual income: GBP 14,000
Personal Allowance: GBP 12,570
Taxable income: GBP 1,430 x 20% = GBP 286 tax actually due
Tax deducted while working (approx.): GBP 1,540
P800 refund due: approx. GBP 1,254

HMRC issues a P800 after the year end; Sam claims online and receives the refund by bank transfer in about five working days.

Example 2 - overlapping jobs. Aisha changed employer in November 2025. For one month both payrolls ran, and both applied the full Personal Allowance, so too little tax was deducted overall - the opposite case.

Combined annual income: GBP 45,000
Personal Allowance applied twice in the overlap month: allowance over-given
Result: an underpayment of approx. GBP 250 shown on the P800
Collected via her 2026/27 tax code, not a lump sum

Aisha checks the figures against both P45/P60 documents, agrees them, and lets HMRC recover the small amount through her code over the following year.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a P800 tax calculation?

A P800 is an end-of-year tax calculation that HMRC sends after the tax year ends (after 5 April) to people taxed mainly through PAYE. It reconciles the tax actually deducted from your wages or pension against the tax you should have paid for the year. If too much was deducted, the P800 shows a refund; if too little, it shows underpaid tax to collect. P800s are not issued to people in Self Assessment - their figures are reconciled through their tax return instead. HMRC typically issues P800s between June and November following the tax year.

What triggers a P800 refund?

Common triggers include: being on an emergency or wrong tax code for part of the year; changing jobs and having two employments overlap; finishing work part-way through the year so your Personal Allowance was not fully used; stopping work to claim a pension; redundancy where tax was over-deducted; or having too much tax taken on a one-off payment. Because PAYE spreads your Personal Allowance evenly across the year, anything that interrupts that pattern - especially leaving work mid-year - often leaves you owed money that the P800 reconciliation picks up.

How do I claim a P800 refund?

If your P800 says you can claim online, the fastest route is your Personal Tax Account on gov.uk, where you confirm your bank details and the refund is paid by bank transfer, usually within about five working days. If you do not claim online within 21 days (or 45 days in some cases), HMRC automatically sends a cheque by post, which takes longer - allow up to six weeks. You never need to pay a fee to claim a P800 refund, and HMRC never asks for card or bank details by text, email or phone to process one.

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How long does a P800 refund take?

If you claim online through your Personal Tax Account, the refund usually reaches your bank account within about five working days. If you wait and let HMRC issue a cheque automatically, it can take up to six weeks from the date of the P800 for the cheque to arrive. Cheques are valid for a limited period and must be banked before they expire. If a refund is taking much longer than expected, contact HMRC - occasionally refunds are held for a security check, particularly larger amounts or where bank details have recently changed.

What is the difference between a P800 and a Simple Assessment?

Both are HMRC end-of-year reconciliations for people outside Self Assessment, but a P800 typically shows a refund or a small underpayment that can be coded out, whereas a Simple Assessment (form PA302) is used where you owe tax that cannot be collected through your tax code - for example a larger underpayment, or tax on the State Pension that exceeds your Personal Allowance. A Simple Assessment is a formal demand: you must pay the amount shown by 31 January following the tax year, or within three months if issued later. You can query a Simple Assessment within 60 days if you think it is wrong.

What if I think my P800 is wrong?

You do not have to accept a P800 at face value. Check it against your P60, P45 and any P11D for benefits, plus records of savings interest, pension income and other taxable income. If the figures do not match - for example a job is missing, your tax code was wrong, or income is double-counted - contact HMRC to ask for a correction. If your P800 shows you owe tax and you believe the underpayment arose because HMRC failed to use information it held, you may be able to ask for the tax to be written off under Extra-Statutory Concession A19. Keep notes of any calls.

Do I have to do anything to get a P800 refund, or is it automatic?

It depends on what the P800 says. If it states HMRC will pay you automatically, no action is needed and a refund follows. If it says you must claim online, you need to log in to your Personal Tax Account and confirm your details to get the fast bank transfer; otherwise a cheque is posted automatically after the claim window. You cannot speed up a P800 by phoning before it is issued - HMRC runs the reconciliation in batches after the tax year ends. If you have not received an expected P800 by the end of November, you can check your figures and contact HMRC.

How can I tell a P800 refund scam from the real thing?

Genuine HMRC P800 communications come by post, or appear in your secure Personal Tax Account; HMRC does not text, email or phone you with a clickable link to "claim your tax refund" and does not ask for card details, bank login credentials or a fee. Scam messages create urgency ("claim within 24 hours"), use a web address that is not gov.uk, or ask you to confirm personal and banking details on a copycat page. If in doubt, do not click links - go directly to gov.uk and log in to your Personal Tax Account, or report the message to HMRC phishing reporting.

How far back can I claim a tax refund?

You can claim overpaid tax for up to four tax years after the end of the tax year in which the overpayment arose. For example, a refund for the 2021/22 tax year (which ended 5 April 2022) can generally be claimed up to 5 April 2026. Beyond four years the claim is normally out of time. If you think you overpaid in earlier years - perhaps through repeated emergency tax codes or unclaimed allowances such as the Marriage Allowance - it is worth checking each open year, because separate P800s or repayment claims may apply to each.

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About the author

Emma Clarke

UK Tax Writer

Emma Clarke has been writing about UK personal tax since 2018, with a particular focus on Self Assessment, PAYE coding and the practical mechanics of how HMRC actually applies the rules to ordinary salaries. Her work concentrates on translating the dense language of HMRC manuals and Finance Act schedules into worked examples that show, pound by pound, how income tax and National Insurance reduce a gross salary to the figure that lands in a UK bank account. Emma covers the full PAYE lifecycle: tax codes (1257L, BR, K codes, emergency codes), the Marriage Allowance, the High Income Child Benefit Charge, salary sacrifice arrangements and their effect on pensionable pay, the Apprenticeship Levy, and the differences between the rUK and Scottish income-tax regimes. She is particularly interested in the edge cases that catch PAYE employees out — the £100,000 personal-allowance taper, the 60% effective marginal rate it creates, and the interaction between student-loan plans and pension contributions. Every figure in Emma's articles is verified against the current HMRC rates pages and worked through a Self Assessment calculation by hand before publication. She writes to CalcHub's editorial standards: primary-source citations, plain English, no promotional language, and clear "this is general information, not financial advice" disclaimers where appropriate.

Personal-finance writer since 2018
UK tax specialism — PAYE, Self Assessment, National Insurance
Writes to CalcHub editorial standards (primary-source citation, annual review)

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Last updated: 10 June 2026How we verify

Disclaimer: This guide reflects the UK P800 process for 2026/27as of June 2026. Refund figures depend on your individual income and tax code. This is general information, not financial advice, and you should never pay a fee to claim a P800. See gov.uk tax overpayments and underpayments for HMRC's current published guidance.