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How do I contact HMRC about a tax refund?

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UKPublished 6 October 2026 · Written by BuyMeWhiskey Editorial Team · How we check facts

HMRC can issue tax refunds in different ways, including through PAYE, bank payment or cheque, depending on the tax and circumstances. Check the underlying HMRC record before treating an unexpected payment as correct or responding to a message that asks for banking details.

Next question: How much tax will I have to pay in the UK? →

Check your Personal Tax Account or Business Tax Account first, then use the official HMRC contact route for the tax concerned.

Contact HMRC through GOV.UK

Run your own numbers: UK take-home pay calculator 2026/27.

How HMRC refunds work

A refund normally follows a tax calculation showing that too much tax was paid or a claim that reduced the amount due. The payment itself is not the evidence; the tax record is. Check the tax year, tax type, reference and amount before posting the money to an accounting or personal account.

PAYE can be corrected by a tax-code change or a refund through payroll. Self Assessment refunds follow the return and HMRC’s processing rules. A company should match a refund to the company tax account, not to a director’s personal finances.

If HMRC sends a cheque

A cheque made payable to a company should stay in the company’s banking and accounting system. If the business cannot match it to VAT, PAYE, Corporation Tax or another account, ask HMRC to identify the reason through an official channel.

Do not use contact details from an unexpected text or email. Sign in directly to GOV.UK instead.

PAYE coding notices

HMRC can issue PAYE coding information when it changes the tax code an employer or pension provider should use. A coding notice is an instruction about tax collection, not by itself a demand for money.

If HMRC has the wrong expected income or benefit figure, correct the information held by HMRC. That is usually more effective than making an unrelated payment to “fix” the tax code.

Getting through to HMRC

The correct route depends on the tax. GOV.UK provides online, telephone and postal options for different services. Have your reference and supporting documents ready, and use online services where the page directs you to them.

If the issue has become a service complaint, follow HMRC’s complaint process and explain the timeline clearly.

Keep a refund audit trail

Keep the return or tax calculation, refund notice, bank statement and any correspondence. For a company, retain the accounting entry and the tax ledger that shows what the payment relates to.

This matters if a refund is later corrected or reversed. A clean trail also makes a professional review much faster.

Watch for refund impersonation

HMRC impersonation scams commonly create urgency and ask for passwords, one-time codes or card information. A genuine refund can be checked against a tax record, so a message that cannot be independently verified should be treated as suspicious.

Identify which kind of HMRC refund you are dealing with

“HMRC refund” covers several different situations. An employee may see a refund after HMRC recalculates PAYE, a Self Assessment taxpayer may receive money after a return has been processed, and an employer may have a credit on its PAYE account. The correct route depends on whose tax record contains the credit. A company refund should not be assumed to belong to the director personally, and an employee refund should not be treated as a payment into a business account without a matching tax record.

For PAYE, the HMRC record may show a changed tax code or a calculation confirming that too much tax was withheld. GOV.UK says that when a P800 tells you to claim online, you can use the bank-transfer route or request a cheque, and HMRC also provides access through the Personal Tax Account or app in relevant cases. Where HMRC itself says a cheque will be sent, the taxpayer generally does not need to make a second claim.

An unexpected cheque deserves a record check

A payment that looks plausible is not enough evidence that it is genuine. Match the taxpayer name, tax year, reference and amount to the underlying HMRC record before banking or forwarding anything. An email asking you to send bank details, pay a release charge or transfer a refund to another person should be treated separately from a genuine HMRC refund process.

For a company, the clean accounting trail is the business tax account, the refund correspondence and the bank entry. For an individual, the relevant trail may be the P800, PAYE record or Self Assessment account. Using the correct record is what prevents an otherwise ordinary refund from becoming an accounting or fraud problem.

Worked example

Illustrative example: Brooksdale Ltd receives a cheque for £1,850 apparently from HMRC. The accountant checks the company tax records and finds a matching refund.

Cheque amount: £1,850.
Record matched to the company tax account: £1,850.

The refund amount in this worked example is a hypothetical planning figure. The control is to match the payment to the correct HMRC account before banking or spending it.

The matching exercise is the important control in this example: a cheque amount is useful only when it agrees with the tax record for the same taxpayer and period.

The arithmetic does not decide whether HMRC owes a refund; the tax record does. The useful comparison is between the amount of tax that should have been collected and the amount actually paid. A refund calculation can therefore be sensible even when the final payment date depends on HMRC processing and the repayment method chosen.

How do I know an HMRC refund is genuine?#

Check your HMRC account, tax calculation or return and match the payment to the relevant tax year and tax type. Do not use a link or phone number supplied in an unexpected message when you can reach GOV.UK independently. An employee PAYE refund and a company PAYE credit belong to different taxpayer records, so they should not be mixed.

Does HMRC still issue PAYE coding notices?#

HMRC can issue revised PAYE coding information when its records change. HMRC can send PAYE coding information when it changes the code an employer or pension provider should use. The notice should be checked against the income and benefits HMRC expects. A P800 can tell you how HMRC expects an income-tax refund to be claimed or paid.

How do I contact HMRC about a delayed refund?#

Use the GOV.UK contact route for the relevant tax service and keep the reference number ready. If the matter has become a complaint, use HMRC’s formal complaints process rather than repeatedly submitting the same query. The Personal Tax Account and HMRC app can be useful starting points for an individual checking a PAYE calculation.

Can HMRC send a refund by cheque?#

Yes, a cheque can be a payment method depending on the case. A cheque should be treated as belonging to the named payee and matched to the underlying tax account before it is used. A genuine company refund should be matched to the company’s tax account before it is posted in the books.

Can a company cash an HMRC cheque?#

A cheque payable to the company should be handled through the company’s business bank and accounts. If the company cannot identify the tax account, confirm the payment with HMRC before banking it. An unsolicited request for bank details is not a substitute for checking the underlying HMRC record.

What is a PAYE coding notice?#

It tells an employer or pension provider which tax code HMRC wants used for PAYE. It reflects information HMRC holds about income, benefits and allowances, so inaccurate figures should be corrected. If the refund amount is disputed, identify the tax year and the figures HMRC used before challenging the calculation.

Can I pay a company to speed up an HMRC refund?#

Be cautious of anyone promising priority handling or a guaranteed refund for an upfront fee. Use HMRC’s own services first and verify any adviser independently. HMRC’s published process distinguishes automatic cheques from refunds that require the taxpayer to make a claim.

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Next question →How much tax will I have to pay in the UK?

Sources

Figures were checked against these sources before publication. If a rule changes, we update the page and show the new date.

General information, not personal financial advice. Rules depend on your circumstances; check the official source or speak to a regulated adviser before acting.