Hundreds of thousands of UK taxpayers are owed money by HMRC each year — and most don’t know which refund applies to them. On 2 June 2026, HMRC published a single collection page bringing together every tax refund route across more than 20 taxes and duties.
The HMRC tax refund types in 2026 covered by the new page, in brief:
- 21 categories of tax and duty now sit in one place — from Income Tax and PAYE through to Stamp Duty Land Tax and pensions.
- ICAEW figures suggest more than 730,000 PAYE refunds went unclaimed last year, with an average refund worth around £855.
- Around 178,180 HMRC tax rebate cheques went uncashed in the 2024 to 2025 tax year — together worth £144 million, or roughly £800 per person — according to FOI figures obtained by The i Paper.
- Refund claims can be backdated up to four years — currently back to the 2022 to 2023 tax year.
- HMRC no longer issues most PAYE refunds automatically. Taxpayers generally have to claim.
Why HMRC built one refund hub
Refund information on GOV.UK has long been scattered. A pensioner chasing back tax on a lump sum sat in one corner of the site; a subcontractor reclaiming CIS deductions sat in another.
Everything now sits in one place, filed under Money → Dealing with HMRC → Paying HMRC.
ICAEW flagged the publication in its tax news roundup for the week ending 10 June 2026. The new page consolidates HMRC’s existing refund and repayment guidance into a single location, organised by tax type and aimed at both taxpayers and their agents.
It’s a welcome simplification. There’s a catch: the page is still written in HMRC’s technical style, with niche business duties listed alongside the refunds most ordinary people are actually owed.
What the HMRC refund collection page covers
The page lists every type of tax refund available in the UK tax system. Refund routes sit under 21 headings, ranging from mainstream ones used by employees through to niche claims like overseas Construction Industry Scheme refunds and foreign entertainer withholding.
The Construction Industry Scheme gets three sections (UK, overseas, and subcontractor deductions). Pensions, pension death benefits, and pension schemes have their own headings. Savings and investments, Stamp Duty Land Tax, importing, and other property taxes round out the list.
That’s a lot to wade through. For most employed taxpayers, only a handful of those routes are likely to apply.
That’s where this guide focuses: PAYE refunds, Self Assessment refunds, pension lump sum refunds, savings and investments refunds, National Insurance refunds, and — for tradespeople working under the Construction Industry Scheme — CIS subcontractor refunds.
The HMRC tax refund types most people miss in 2026
PAYE refunds top the list. These cover employees and pensioners who’ve had too much tax deducted at source — often through a wrong tax code, an emergency code on a new job, or stopping work partway through the tax year. The refund is normally triggered by a P800 calculation letter from HMRC.
Employment expenses come next. Uniform, tools, professional subscriptions, mileage and working-from-home costs can be claimed via form P87 or through Self Assessment, and the claim can be backdated up to four years.
Pension lump sum tax overpayments catch out a lot of people. When someone takes a pension flexibly for the first time, HMRC’s system often applies an emergency tax code. The result is over-deduction, refunded via forms P53, P53Z, P55 or P50Z depending on the circumstances.
Savings interest is another quiet earner. People who pay tax on savings but sit within the Personal Savings Allowance — or below it as a non-taxpayer — may be due that tax back through form R40.
National Insurance overpayments are common for anyone who’s had multiple jobs in the same year. Marriage Allowance — worth up to £252 a year and back datable — is regularly missed.
CIS subcontractors can reclaim deductions through CIS40 or, for partnerships, CIS41. Those leaving the UK partway through a tax year can claim via form P85.
How to claim — and what to expect
Refund timescales vary by route and depend on the type of claim and HMRC’s own published processing windows at the time. As a general guide, PAYE refunds typically land in two to three weeks once HMRC has the claim, many sooner. Self Assessment online refunds are normally processed within one to two weeks if the return is clean, though the actual payment can take up to 12 weeks to issue.
Some 2025 cases ran longer. Industrial action at HMRC from 23 December 2024 to 6 June 2025, combined with staff shortages and tighter fraud-prevention checks, left certain PAYE and CIS refunds waiting more than four months.
Cheques are the slow lane. They expire six months after the issue date and tend to be lost or ignored — which is why so many uncashed payments end up returning to HMRC. Bank transfer through the Personal Tax Account or HMRC app is the fastest and safest route, with online refunds normally arriving within around five working days.
If you think one of these refund types might apply to you, here’s how to claim an HMRC refund quickly.
Steps to take now
- Sign in to your Personal Tax Account or the HMRC app and check for any pending P800 calculation or refund offer.
- Identify which refund route fits your situation — PAYE, pension, savings, leaving the UK, CIS, National Insurance, or employment expenses.
- Use the correct online form on GOV.UK (P50, P85, R40, P53, P55, P87, CIS40 and others).
- Choose bank transfer over cheque so the money arrives quickly and can’t get lost in the post.
- Track the claim through the Personal Tax Account, bearing in mind the status display can lag behind reality.
Watch out for refund scams. HMRC does not send links to claim refunds by text or email.
Genuine refund routes are accessed by the taxpayer through GOV.UK, the HMRC app, or the Personal Tax Account. You don’t need to pay a third-party claims company to get money that’s already yours.
Could you be owed a rebate?
Tax codes change. Jobs change. Pension withdrawals trigger emergency tax.
Working-from-home and uniform claims sit unclaimed for years. The new collection page makes it easier to find the right form across all the HMRC tax refund types, but knowing whether you’re owed in the first place still takes a bit of digging.
If you’re not sure where to start, a quick check of your last four tax years against the categories above is the simplest way to claim tax back from HMRC. In some cases our tax rebate calculator can give you a rough estimate of what you could be owed before you submit anything to HMRC.
Key Takeaways
- HMRC’s new collection page (2 June 2026) brings every tax refund you can claim into one place for the first time.
- The biggest missed refunds tend to be PAYE overpayments, pension lump sum tax, employment expenses, savings tax, and Marriage Allowance.
- Most refund claims can be backdated up to four years — currently back to the 2022 to 2023 tax year.
- HMRC no longer auto-pays most PAYE refunds — you generally need to claim what’s yours.
- Bank transfer through the Personal Tax Account or HMRC app is faster and safer than waiting for a paper cheque.
- HMRC never texts or emails refund links. If you get one, it’s a scam.
