Claim back Income Tax when you’ve stopped working

You may be able to claim back Income Tax now if you’ve recently stopped working, for example if you:

• have been unemployed for 4 weeks or more and are not claiming taxable state benefits
• have retired and do not get a pension from your old employer
• do not expect to go back to work
• have returned to full-time study

Find out more about Income Tax rates and Personal Allowances.

Check how high your income is as you may need to do a Self Assessment tax return instead.

Before you start

1. Check that you have had your final pay from your employer before you can apply for a refund.

2. Check if you get other taxable income or benefits before the end of the tax year — this also includes a works pension from your old employer.

3. Check if you get a works pension — your pension provider can make any repayment due to you.

4. Check if you have Parts 2 and 3 of your P45 — if not tell us why.

You do not need to claim on P50 if you:

If you’ve left employment and received your last pay before 5 April (the previous tax year) use form 38 to claim a refund.

Claim online

The quickest way to claim is online. To use the online service, you need a Government Gateway user ID and password. If you do not have a user ID you can create one when you use the service.

Claim now

If you need to print and post your claim

You can:

1. Start your claim online.

2. Print the form.

3. Sign the declaration.

4. Post to HMRC.

What happens next

Once we have received your completed claim, we will confirm if you are owed a refund or contact you if we need more information.

It may take 14 days to get a reply, you should not contact us during that period to check on progress.

If you do not have a bank or building society account, tell us the name and address of someone who does, so we can make the payment to them.

We will send a payable order to you or your nominee.

Find out when you can expect to receive a reply from HMRC to a query or request you’ve made.

Information you’ll need to claim

You’ll need to tell us if you have had any income since leaving your last employment.

You’ll need your:

• National Insurance Number
• employer PAYE reference number — if you have it
• parts 2 and 3 of your p45 — if not tell us why
• self-employment profits made in this tax year — if there are any

Your P45 shows how much tax you’ve paid on your salary so far in the tax year (6 April to 5 April).

You’ll also need to confirm if you’ve had any:

• pensions from a former employer
• public service pensions
• forces pensions
• personal pension annuities
• small pensions paid as lump sums (trivial commutation)
• State Pension
• taxable benefits from 6 April in the current tax year

You should also check if you’ve had any income from:

• property
• trusts
• commissions
• tips
• foreign income
• profits paid out on UK life insurance policies
• any other source you have not entered on the form