If you’re one of the thousands of backpackers that have temporarily worked in the UK, you could be owed a tax refund.
There are so many reasons for why you may have been paying too much tax. If your employment didn’t stretch for the entire length of the UK tax year (6th April – 5th April the following year), you were working more than one job, or your employer used the wrong PAYE code for you – it’s worth finding out what you may be owed.
You can also claim back on any work expenses you may have had while you worked in the UK. These can range from tools and equipment to phone/internet bills and travel (besides usual commute), but there are conditions to be met. For example, you can only claim on expenses that you paid for yourself and that your employer didn’t reimburse you for. Your expenses must also not be for personal use – professional only people!
It’s important that you keep a record of your expenses to claim tax back on what you’ve paid. Keep any receipts and bank statements in a folder for safekeeping so you can find them easily when the time comes.
You can apply for tax back from four previous tax years, so you can still make a claim for the tax year 2010-2011. You can use a tax back company like taxback.co.uk to apply for your tax back on your behalf, looking after your application from start to finish until you get what you’re owed!
If you’ve been working temporarily in the UK, contact us now to see if you’re owed a tax refund!