Individuals who believe they have been overtaxed can claim the money back using one of three forms: P55, P53Z and P50Z.
HMRC does not provide a breakdown of how much was claimed by taxpayers using each form.
However, if divided equally between all 14,477 claimants, the £29m would equate to around £2,000 each.
Flexible access
The most commonly-used form was the P55, which was processed by HMRC 9,558 times during the three-month period.
It allows tax to be claimed back if the individual has:
- flexibly accessed their pension;
- only taken part of it and will not be taking regular payments; or,
- the pension body is unable to make a tax refund.
Lump sum
The P53Z form is used by individuals in receipt of serious ill health lump sums or where a pension flexibility payment has emptied the pot.
HMRC processed 3,614 of these forms between April and June 2018.
Stopped working
The final form, P50Z, is submitted when the taxpayer has:
- made a pension flexibility payment that used up the entire pension pot and received a P45 form from the previous employer who offered the scheme;
- been unemployed for four weeks or more;
- not claimed taxable benefits, such as jobseeker’s allowance and incapacity benefit;
- no expectations of going back to work;
- retired permanently but is not getting a pension from their old employer; or,
- returned to full-time study.
From 1 April to 30 June 2018, HMRC processed 1,305 of these forms.
