UK Tax FAQs

For PAYE/Standard Workers

PAYE standard workers in the UK pay 22% tax on earnings over £2231 and 40% on any earnings over £34,600. Under the PAYE (Pay as Your Earn) system, this tax will be deducted from your earnings by your employer.

Taxback.com can minimise your tax obligations and maximise your legal UK tax refund.

• Our customers get an average UK tax rebate of £963.

Our tax experts ensure all our returns are 100% compliant with UK tax law. They also check for any allowances or benefits you could get to make sure we apply for your maximum legal refund possible.

Apply now or try our FREE online refund calculator to see how much cash you could be owed.

When can I get my tax back?

The UK tax year is from April 6th until April 5th of the following year and you have up to six years to claim any overpaid UK tax. The 2008 tax year started on April 6th 2008.

2008 UK tax refunds: If you work in the UK during the 2008 tax year we can file your tax return once the tax year ends on April 6th 2009. If you're only working in the UK temporarily and leave before the tax year ends in April 2009, we will be able to apply for your tax refund straight away. Download our UK PAYE TaxPack and make sure you keep all your documents so we can get your tax back as fast as possible when the time comes.

2002 - 2007 UK tax refunds: If you've worked in the UK between 2002 and April 5th 2008 (when the 2007 tax year ended), we can apply to get your tax back now so apply for your UK tax refund today.

Use our FREE online tax refund calculator to see how much tax you could get back.

How much money will I get back?

Taxback.com will get you back as much overpaid UK tax as is legally possible. That amount depends on factors like:

• Your earnings
• Your expenses
• Whether you worked the whole tax year
• If you had more than one job at a time or changed jobs
• Whether you have children
• If your circumstances changed, eg: you became self-employed
• If you took a break during or between employments

Our PAYE customers get an average tax refund of £963 from the UK.

Try our FREE tax refund estimator to see how much cash you could get back.

How does taxback.com work?

Here's how our easy three-step service works:

1. Register online or use our FREE tax refund calculator and then download the UK tax forms.
2. Send us your documents and signed forms. We'll estimate your refund and give you an online tax tracking account. If you're missing any documents we can get replacements for you.
3. Chill out while we file your tax return and get you the maximum possible legal refund.

What are the advantages of using taxback.com?

Thousands of people choose our service because:

• We get you the maximum legal refund
• FREE online refund estimations
• Every customer gets a Personal Online Tracking Account – you can follow your tax return every step of the way
• All our tax returns are legal and compliant with UK tax law.
• Document retrieval service
• 24-hour customer support and tax refund help
• Free phone, free fax, free online tax help with our live chat!
• No language barriers - our services are available in: Bulgarian, Chinese, Chinese-Taiwanese, Croatian, Czech, Dutch, English, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Latvian, Lithuanian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Slovak, Spanish, Thai, Turkish, and Ukrainian.
• Money sent worldwide and in your local currency. You can get your refund in: Australian Dollars, Brazilian Reals, Bulgarian Lev, Canadian Dollars, Czech Koruna, Euro, Hong Kong Dollar, Indonesian Rupiah, Japanese Yen, Latvian Lat, Lithuanian Litas, Moldovan Lei, New Zealand Dollars, Norwegian Krona, Pakistan Rupee, Peruvian Nuevo Soles, Philippine Peso, Polish Zloty, Romanian Lei, Russian Rubles, Singaporean Dollar, Slovak Koruna, South African Rands, South Korean Won, Swedish Krona, Thai Baht, Turkish Lira, UK Pounds, Ukrainian Hryvna, US Dollars.

Can I get tax credits?

Tax credits are payments from the government to help with everyday costs. A tax credit isn't tax and it isn't deducted from your tax bill – it's money that you receive regularly and you can get it even if you don't pay tax.

The tax credit payments you receive are based on your current personal circumstances and your income during the tax year.

If you're responsible for at least one child or young person who normally lives with you, you may be eligible for Child Tax Credit. If you work, but earn low wages, you may be eligible for Working Tax Credit. The amount of tax credits you receive depends on things like your income, how many children or qualifying young people live with you, and if any child or young person is disabled.

Taxback.com can assist EU members to claim tax credits in the UK. For this service we charge £50 and to apply for your tax credits we'll need:

• Your National Insurance Number
• Your UK bank account
• Original child birth certificates
• Your P60 or if you're self-employed your tax return

It usually takes about six to eight weeks for this application to be processed. Apply online for your tax credits today.

Can I get Child Benefits?

Child Benefit is a monthly tax-free payment made to anyone bringing up a child or young person. To qualify for Child Benefit you do not need to be the parent of the child or young person but you must be responsible for them. If the child does not live with you, you can only get Child Benefit if:

• You pay money to bring up the child
• The amount you pay is the same as or more than the weekly rate of Child Benefit
• The person the child is living with is not getting Child Benefit for them.

If you've recently arrived in the UK you can qualify for Child Benefit if you and the child or children you are responsible for usually live in the UK. This means that your main home is in the UK or you have chosen to live and settle in the UK for the time being.

Child Benefit for the 2007-2008 tax year is £18.10 per week for the eldest child and £12.10 per week for each additional child.

Taxback.com can assist EU members to claim Child Benefit in the UK. We charge £50 for this service and it usually takes about four to six weeks.

To claim child benefits for you we'll need:

• Your National Insurance Number
• Your UK bank account
• Original Child Birth Certificates

Apply for your Child Benefit in the UK today.

How long will it take to receive my UK tax refund? Where's my refund?

As soon as we have it, you'll have it, because we contact you immediately when we receive your refund from the tax office to organise the easiest way to get it to you.

You can watch the step-by-step progress of your application on your online account. It'll go something like this:

When we receive your documents it takes us just 1-3 working days to get your UK tax return ready. This includes:

• Receiving and checking the documents
• Estimating your refund
• Completing your forms
• Sending them to the tax office

Once at the tax office your application takes about 8-12 weeks to process, depending on how busy they are. Our tax team will keep chasing the tax office to see how your application is progressing.

As soon as the tax office sends us your refund, we'll contact you to sort out the best way to get your cash straight to you.

The total estimated time for your UK tax rebate is 8-12 weeks.

How do I know what's happening with my tax return?

You can follow the progress of your UK tax return on your online tracking account. This allows you to see every step of your application. As soon as we have your refund we'll contact you to sort out the best way to get your money straight to you.

Rather talk to a human being? We have staff available to talk to you in 21 taxback.com offices in 18 different countries. Click here to find your local office number or use our Live Chat.

How much will it cost?

First of all, our FREE Online Tax Estimation costs you nothing - just a few minutes to fill it out. We'll email your refund estimation straight to your personal email with no obligation to use our service.

When you send us your documents and signed forms, we'll evaluate your refund and what additional services you need such as document retrieval. Then we'll let you know how much it will cost to file your return for you.

For UK tax refunds we charge from 11% + VAT of the refund received, subject to a minimum processing fee of £50.

Why the minimum fee?

This fee covers all the things that make filing your application with us so easy, such as:

• Customer support 24/7 by phone and Live Chat
• Online tracking service – in seven languages
• Free phone and free fax
• Local staff to meet you and guide you through the process in 18 offices worldwide
• Tax technicians
• Researchers to identify new legal developments to maximise your refunds
• Quality team

What is a P45?

To claim your UK tax rebate, we need your P45 or your P60. A P45 is the official tax form that you get from your employer when you finish working for them. It outlines your earnings and the amount of taxes that you paid for that employer. If you leave your job to start another one, you'll need to give your P45 to your next employer so make sure you keep a copy for yourself.

If you've misplaced your P45 or you never received it, our document retrieval team can obtain one for you.

What is a P60?

We need your P60 or your P45 from each of your employers to claim your UK tax refund. A P60 is the tax certificate you receive from your employer at the end of each tax year in April. It shows all your earnings and tax you paid in that tax year.

If you've misplaced your P60 or you never received it, our document retrieval team can obtain one for you.

I lost my documents/I never got my documents – what do I do?

We know it's easy to lose documents or to not even receive them in the first place. That's why we have a dedicated document retrieval team who deal with employers all over the world and can organise replacement documents for you.

You'll find a declaration form authorising us to do this in your UK TaxPack, or if you no longer have it, click here to download another one.

What is a National Insurance Number (NIN)?

Your National Insurance Number (NIN) is the unique number allocated to you by the Department for Work and Pension in the UK. It allows you to work, pay taxes and access public services in the UK.

If you're new to the UK, you'll need to get an NIN. Your NIN will be used as a reference number for the benefits and tax credits system in the UK and is used for making tax and National Insurance deductions from your earnings.

To get a National Insurance Number in the UK you need to apply at your local JobCentre Plus Office and it can take months. Taxback.com can organise an NIN for you and reduce the application process to weeks. For NIN applications we charge a fee of £40. Apply online for your National Insurance Number today.

I'm new to the UK - how do I open a bank account?

Banks in the UK require proof of address, a letter of employment or a utility bill in your name in order for you to open an account with them. This can be very difficult if you've just arrived in the country and are still finding your feet.

Taxback.com has partnerships with three of the biggest banks in the UK – Barclays, USBC and Lloyds – and we can help you open an account. All we need is proof of ID and a correspondence address.

We charge £35 for this service. Apply online for your UK bank account today.

I don't have a UK driver's licence - can I drive in the UK?

If you're new to the UK, getting a UK driving licence is a good idea as many employers request a drivers' licence to employ candidates and it is also a generally accepted form of ID.

If you have a valid European Community licence, or a licence from Northern Ireland, Gibraltar, Australia, Barbados, British Virgin Islands, Canada, Falkland Islands, Hong Kong, Japan, Malta, Monaco, New Zealand, Republic of Cyprus, Republic of Korea, Singapore, South Africa, Switzerland, Zimbabwe, Jersey, Guernsey or the Isle of Man, you can drive for up to 12 months in the UK - provided your full licence remains valid.

If you want to drive in the UK after those first 12 months you'll need to exchange your licence for a UK licence before the 12 months is up.

We can help you exchange your licence for a full UK one, or help you obtain a provisional UK driving licence if you don't have a full licence in your home country. We charge £75 for this service.

Apply online for your UK Driver's Licence today.

Can I apply for my UK tax refund myself?

Every tax office in the world is set up to accept applications directly from taxpayers so yes, you can file your return yourself. The reality is though once you submit it, there's no updating process and no feedback until you get a yes or a no, which is frustrating and very worrying.

Preparing your UK tax return will involve getting all the tax forms and trying to put all the information together properly – and it's not as easy as it looks.

At the end of the day ask yourself -
Would I wire my own house?
The reality is no, I wouldn't. I'd use an electrician.
It's a technical professional piece of work, so I'd get a technical professional to do the job properly. I don't want to risk my house blowing up!

It's the same with tax. Our taxback.com customers rely on us as technical professionals to file their UK returns and get their tax back. Last year we filed nearly 10,000 UK tax refund claims. Our customers tell us they knew trying to file it themselves would lead to stress and a possible loss of money in refunds.

Filing your return yourself won't make your house explode, but it can result in lots of stress and leave you out of pocket if you miss out on refunds you're owed.

It's easier for you to let us put our 12 years of experience filing tax returns to good use by doing all the work for you. It makes sense to use an expert.

Use our FREE online refund calculator to see how much tax you could get back.

Can you guarantee that I'll receive the refund amount you estimated for me?

No, but we do guarantee to get you the most money back that we legally can.

Our estimate is based on your documents and our experience in filing thousands of tax returns every week since 1996. Naturally, the UK tax authority has the final decision in your tax refund based on their systems and tax codes.

When our tax technicians prepare and file your return, they check for any benefits you could get and ensure we apply for the maximum tax rebate possible.

What's the difference between filing my tax return and getting my tax refund?

We file your UK tax return in order to organise your tax refund.

A tax return is the annual submission of tax forms documenting your earnings, taxes paid, deductable expenses and benefits that you send to the tax office for review. They review it according to the information submitted by your employer and the current laws that apply to your case.

If you get a tax refund, this means the tax office review found you have overpaid UK tax and are due some back.

Our estimate of your refund is based on our prediction of what the tax office will decide when they review your tax return - providing they have the same information as us.

Use our FREE online refund estimator to see how much tax you could get back.

I've worked abroad in other countries- can you help me to claim refunds from these countries?

Absolutely! We've been organising tax refunds for people working all over the world since 1996. If you've worked in any of the following countries click on them to apply for your refund!

Australia tax refund	Austria tax refund	Belgium tax refund
Canada tax refund	Denmark tax refund	Germany tax refund
Gibraltar tax refund	Guernsey tax refund	Holland tax refund
Ireland tax refund	Japan tax refund	Luxembourg tax refund
New Zealand tax refund	Norway tax refund	US tax refund

Our research team is constantly developing tax return services for new markets so if you've worked in a country not mentioned above, email our team on newtaxes@taxback.com to see what we can do for you.