[UK] More than 8 million pensioners potentially owed money from HMRC tax error

In the UK, HMRC has apologised for an error that potentially affected up to 8.7 million pensioners and led it to collect £43.5 million more in tax than it should have last year, LBC reports.

According to the Sunday Times, the error was undetected for around 10 months until it was flagged by the Conservative MP and shadow secretary for transport Richard Holden.

Those impacted were overcharged an average of £5 each.

The error reportedly affected state pensioners who also pay income tax through self-assessment, or remain in employment and pay tax via their company's PAYE structure.

An HMRC spokesperson said, "We apologise to those affected by this error and are working at pace to fix the issue, although the impact is small with the difference in tax owed being around £5 in most cases."

The error is believed to have happened in the transition between tax years. HMRC has yet to confirm how it will make refunds.

Speaking to reporters, Sir Mel Stride - the UK shadow chancellor - said, "If HMRC has been charging millions of pensioners too much tax, then questions need to be answered, and the matter must be urgently put right.

"Ministers need to ascertain what has happened and what action is being taken to ensure these sorts of errors do not happen again."

Source: LBC

(Quotes via original reporting)

In the UK, HMRC has apologised for an error that potentially affected up to 8.7 million pensioners and led it to collect £43.5 million more in tax than it should have last year, LBC reports.

According to the Sunday Times, the error was undetected for around 10 months until it was flagged by the Conservative MP and shadow secretary for transport Richard Holden.

Those impacted were overcharged an average of £5 each.

The error reportedly affected state pensioners who also pay income tax through self-assessment, or remain in employment and pay tax via their company's PAYE structure.

An HMRC spokesperson said, "We apologise to those affected by this error and are working at pace to fix the issue, although the impact is small with the difference in tax owed being around £5 in most cases."

The error is believed to have happened in the transition between tax years. HMRC has yet to confirm how it will make refunds.

Speaking to reporters, Sir Mel Stride - the UK shadow chancellor - said, "If HMRC has been charging millions of pensioners too much tax, then questions need to be answered, and the matter must be urgently put right.

"Ministers need to ascertain what has happened and what action is being taken to ensure these sorts of errors do not happen again."

Source: LBC

(Quotes via original reporting)