UK PAYE Tax Refund Calculator

Compare the income tax paid across your jobs with the estimated income tax due for the whole tax year. This PAYE rebate estimate is designed for employment income, including part-year work and job changes.

Updated 2026-10-15 · 2026/27 HMRC rates

Estimated end-of-year income tax overpayment£1,257.00Annual estimate from your entries; HMRC decides any refund.

Whole-year employment income	£18,000
Personal Allowance used	£12,570
Estimated annual income tax	£1,086.00
Income tax paid / expected	£2,343.00

Include every job and all expected PAYE income tax for the same tax year. If you start from P60 taxable pay, net-pay pension deductions have already been removed: enter no extra deduction for those contributions. Salary sacrifice is already excluded from taxable pay. This estimate excludes NI refunds, savings, dividends, self-employment, benefits in kind and other reliefs. It does not calculate an in-year P50 repayment.

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Key facts

Tax paid and income must refer to the same tax year, from 6 April to 5 April.
A tax code controls payroll deductions; it does not determine your final entitlement to an allowance.
This is an annual income tax estimate. National Insurance is not reconciled here.

How this PAYE rebate estimate works

Estimated overpayment equals whole-year PAYE income tax deducted minus whole-year income tax liability. A positive result suggests too much income tax was deducted; a negative result suggests a shortfall. It is a comparison of annual totals, not a calculation of what payroll must refund this month.

Add all employment income received and still expected in the same tax year. Include bonuses and taxable employment payments. For an incomplete year, your remaining income and deductions matter: a refund estimate can change when you return to work. The calculator uses the standard statutory allowance and current regional bands, rather than assuming a payroll tax code proves your final tax entitlement.

Worked example: stopping work part-way through the year

Suppose your only employment income for the whole year is £18,000, no further earnings are expected, and PAYE income tax deducted totals £2,343. With no pension or other reliefs outside Scotland, the estimated tax bill is £1,086. The difference is £1,257. These are illustrative inputs, not a prediction of how much any employer will deduct.

NI deductions and student loan deductions are not included in this tax-paid figure. Adding them would overstate your income tax overpayment. Use the income tax line on your payslips or the tax-deducted figure on your P45 or P60.

Avoid counting pension relief twice

A P60 reports pay after net-pay pension deductions. If you use that taxable-pay figure, enter zero extra net-pay pension deduction here. Alternatively enter salary before that deduction and enter the pension separately. Both approaches should produce the same income tax estimate.

For relief-at-source pensions, enter the gross contribution including the provider’s basic-rate top-up. The engine extends tax bands and adjusts the allowance where appropriate. The provider’s basic-rate relief is paid into the pension, so it is not an additional cash PAYE refund. Salary sacrifice is already removed from taxable pay and should not be deducted again.

How to check or claim the refund

Use HMRC’s claim-a-refund service to find the appropriate route. A P800 reconciliation, a claim after stopping work and a Self Assessment refund are different processes. The official links below explain when each applies.

HMRC’s P50 guidance covers certain people who have stopped working, including conditions concerning new work, taxable benefits and occupational pensions. This calculator does not assess P50 eligibility or compute an in-year repayment. Its annual estimate also excludes savings, dividends, rental income, self-employment and benefits in kind; those can change the result.

Frequently asked questions

Is this an emergency tax refund calculator?

It can estimate annual overpayment if emergency PAYE deductions are included in your tax-paid total. It does not reproduce cumulative or week-1/month-1 payroll calculations.

Will I get the amount shown?

Only if the income, deductions, reliefs and tax-paid totals match your final position and no omitted income or adjustments change it. HMRC confirms any refund.

Sources

Figures are taken from official government publications and were last reviewed on 2026-10-15.

Reviewed by Kashif Nazir Khan on 2026-10-15 · software engineer and developer with an interest in accounting and taxation