HMRC confirms date for when tax refund payments will arrive in bank accounts

HMRC has clarified its rules around how it issues tax refunds. The tax authority explained some key dates for getting the funds paid into your account.

The update came after a taxpayer contacted the authority to ask how they could enter their bank details to be paid an income tax refund. Originally posting on October 8, they told HMRC: "I was told I can do that on the personal tax account page, but can't find any way."

HMRC first asked them which tax year they had overpaid the tax and if they had received a letter inviting them to claim online. The person responded that the overpayment was for the 2006/2007 tax year and that they had been sent a cheque in the post, to their current address, which is in Japan.

They claimed they couldn't cash in the cheque where they live so they wanted the funds to be paid into their personal tax account or into their Wise bank account. Wise is an international bank account provider, allowing customers to hold more than one currency in a single account.

HMRC then told the person they could write to the department with the details of their foreign bank. The taxpayer was told they would need to include in the letter details including the name of the bank, their account name and number, the sort code / IBAN / SWIFT / BIC / BSB code / routing number as appropriate.

The person went on to ask if they would need to send back the cheque. HMRC said this would not be necessary as they only needed to present the cheque to their bank so the amount could be credited to their account.

Writing again today (November 5), the person said they had in fact sent the cheque back and that HMRC had seemingly received this on October 14. They said they had seen a message online that said 'completed'.

They went on to ask when the money would be paid into their account. HMRC responded to confirm: "Usually this should be actioned within 8 weeks from the date we received the request."

If the request had been received on October 14, following the 8-week rule, this would mean the amount would arrive in the person's bank account by December 9. If HRMC received such a request on November 5, this means you would get the amount by December 31.