Introduction to this document

Letter to chase a tax repayment

Repayments arising from online filing of self assessment tax returns may be stopped for a variety of reasons, and HMRC staff have to look at them before they can be released. Contacting HMRC should help to speed up your repayment.

Write or phone?

Telephone contact is often the quickest way to get things done, as you might get a response straight away. If you do phone, it’s a good idea to make a note of the name of the person you speak to.

However, you may prefer to send a Letter to Chase a Tax Repayment. If you do, always show your tax office reference. Keep a copy of your letter and any other papers sent in case the original goes astray. If you write to your tax office, you might wait some weeks for a reply; you can check by when you are likely to receive a reply by using HMRC’s Where’s My Reply? and selecting Self Assessment at http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/tools/progress-tool/.