New deadlines for claiming overpaid tax
The deadlines for making claims to recover overpaid tax are changing and the new limits relating to the 2004-05 and 2005-06 tax years are very close indeed so quick action will be necessary if a claim is to be made in time.
The new time limit gives taxpayers only 4 years from the end of the tax year in which the overpayment of tax occurred to make the claim.
Here are the new deadline dates:
Tax Year Deadline
2003-04 31 January 2010
2004-05 31 March 2010
2005-06 5 April 2010
2006-07 5 April 2011
2007-08 5 April 2012
2008-09 5 April 2013
The other side of the coin is that from 1 April 2010 HMRC can only raise discovery assessments for up to 4 years, unless there has been careless or deliberate understatement. However, they can still go back 6 years for ‘careless’ behaviour and 20 years for ‘deliberate’ behaviour.

