If you've just stopped working, you may be able to claim back some of the Income Tax you've paid. This could be because you go back to your country, returned to studying or because you've become unemployed.

A tax year runs from 6 April to 5 April. If you stop working part way through a tax year, you might have paid too much tax for that year.

This can happen if you were paying tax through PAYE (Pay As You Earn) as an employee and:

- You were only employed for part of the tax year - and didn't get any taxable state benefits for the rest of the tax year after you stopped working
- Your employer was using the wrong tax code
- You're a student and only worked in the holidays but didn't complete a form P38(S) Student Employees
- You were made redundant and couldn't get another job

If you were employed before you stopped work, and if you've paid too much tax you will be able to claim a repayment of the amount that you've overpaid.

How to claim a refund if you were employed:

If you were employed before you stopped work, you'll have paid tax through PAYE. If you think you've paid too much tax through PAYE, the way to claim a repayment depends on your circumstances.

If you're claiming Jobseeker's Allowance or taxable Incapacity Benefit, you won't be able to claim a tax refund straight away. This is because these benefits are taxable and affect any refund that you can claim.

If you think you've paid too much tax, you'll need to claim a tax refund if any of the following applies:

* you have been unemployed for at least four weeks
* you are leaving the UK within the tax year or arrived in the UK within the tax year
* you have been on the wrong tax code

You can claim a tax refund by filling our Tax refund pack when you have stopped working. Send this to Sos Taxes office, together with form P45, Parts 1, 2 and 3.

Once we receive your papers we will send you an email to confirm that we received your documents and to confirm your employment history.

If you have more questions you can contact our tax advisors at: info@sos-taxes.com