£22m in overpaid pensions tax reclaimed in Quarter 1

HMRC data shows that pensioners recovered more than £22m in Q1, having been overcharged in emergency tax. The issue stems from a system which treats a one-off withdrawal as though it were the first of a series of monthly withdrawals. Helen Morrissey, senior pensions and retirement analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: “Pension freedoms have been in place for several years now and the issue of overpaid tax has always been a problem, yet we continue to see thousands of people overpaying by hundreds of millions of pounds every year.” Figures show that in the 2021/22 tax year, HMRC refunded more than £142m in overpaid tax, while the total refunded since pensions freedoms were introduced in 2015 now stands at more than £858m.

The Independent

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