Money expert Martin Lewis has urged people to check their tax codes in January, in case they are due a possible refund.
Martin Lewis returned to our television screens on Tuesday night for a new episode of ITV's The Martin Lewis Money Show. The Daily Record reports that the financial guru discussed the likes of price cap predictions, social tariff broadband deals and monthly Direct Debit fuel bills.
Martin was quick to tell viewers to check that their tax code is correct, after fan David got in touch with the show to share that his wife had followed the expert's latest advice on the topic - and received a hefty refund of over £2,500 because of this.
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Co-presenter Angelica Bell, read out David’s email which said: “I want to thank you for reminding us to check our income tax codes. It turns out my wife has been on the wrong code for four years and she has just received a refund cheque for £2,585.”
Martin called it a "very important reminder" for those in work or receiving a pension to check their tax code is correct. The expert told viewers that it is their responsibility to check this code, not their employers or HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC).
However, he also warned that this works both ways - if you are paying too much tax, you'll get a refund, but if you aren't paying enough, you'll have to pay it back.
Martin said: “If you’re an employee or getting a pension you will be sent tax code. The standard one is 1257L.
“Now, what you have to understand, even if you don’t know what the number means, it is your legal responsibility to ensure that it is correct, it is not your employer’s, it is not the tax office, it’s yours.
“If it’s wrong you might be overpaying tax in which case you’ll get a refund which is great.
“Or you could be underpaying tax, in which case they’ll come and they say ‘you owe us money’ and when the tax office wants money you have to pay the tax office money.”
Martin added that there are online tools where you can check whether your tax code is correct, and how crucial it is to check this now, especially if you are self-employed and filing your Self Assessment tax return this month.
He said: “It is an important piece of work, get online, check your tax code is right, you might be owed money or it might stop you having to pay even more back in future.”
You can check if you may be due a tax refund using the free calculator on MoneySavingExpert.com.
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