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  "path": "/2026/06/15/hmrc-may-owe-millions-people-money-tax-error-28787408/",
  "publishedAt": "2026-06-15T15:04:19.000Z",
  "site": "https://metro.co.uk",
  "tags": [
    "News",
    "UK",
    "HMRC",
    "Pensions",
    "summer",
    "News Updates",
    "Breaking News",
    "Add Metro as a Preferred Source on Google\nAdd as preferred source"
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  "textContent": "Millions could be affected (Picture: Shutterstock / Ascannio)\n\nUp to 8.7million pensioners may have paid too much tax last year.\n\nHMRC pocketed millions more than it was meant to due to the error, which saw pensioners pay about £5 extra each.\n\nHMRC knows the error went undetected for about 10 months, prompting fears it could have been going on for years.\n\nAccording to the Sunday Times, the issue was flagged in August last year by Tory MP Richard Holden, but was not officially reported to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) until October.\n\nHMRC hopes to resolve the issue this summer. The department is now looking to learn how many people are affected, but it is not issuing automatic refunds at present.\n\n##  Sign up for all of the latest stories\n\nStart your day informed with Metro's **News Updates** newsletter or get **Breaking News** alerts the moment it happens.\n\nAffected pensioners are thought to be owed £5 on average (Picture: Shutterstock / Pixel-Shot)\n\nA spokesperson said: ‘We apologise to those affected by this calculation error and are working to fix the issue, although the impact is small with the difference in tax owed being around £5 in most cases.’\n\n## How did this happen?\n\nThe state pension – which rises annually in April in line with the highest figure of inflation, average earnings or 2.5% – is paid gross, but recipients still have to pay income tax on it.\n\nAccording to HMRC guidance, the amount of tax a pensioner owes should be calculated based on 51 weeks of the current tax year’s pension rate and one week of the previous year, to account for the time between the start of the first tax year on April 5 and the first payment after that.\n\nBut HMRC calculates income using 52 weeks of state pension payments at the higher rate using DWP data.\n\nHMRC has been called upon to fix the error (Picture: Shutterstock / fizkes)\n\nThis means that after the new state pension for 2025/26 of £230.25 a week was instated – up from £221.20 in 2024/25 – income would have been recorded as £9.05 a week higher than it actually was.\n\nRecords show those affected paid, on average, an extra £5 in tax.\n\nCritics have urged the department to reveal exactly how long the problem will take to fix.\n\nSir Mel Stride, the shadow chancellor, said: ‘If HMRC have been charging millions of pensioners too much tax then questions need to be answered, and the matter must be urgently put right.\n\n‘Ministers need to ascertain what has happened and what action is being taken to ensure these sorts of errors do not happen again.’\n\nDan Tomlinson, the minister responsible for HMRC, previously said ‘most pensioners pay the right amount of tax in real time.’\n\nBut he added: ‘HMRC has become aware that for a subset of individuals in receipt of the state pension, a calculation error means that their tax is calculated based on 52 weeks at the new rate.\n\n‘The difference in tax owed is approximately £5. Affected individuals can call HMRC to amend any incorrect figures of state pension.’\n\nThose who have been affected should contact HMRC for a refund. They will continue to pay tax as normal.\n\nComment now Comments \nAdd Metro as a Preferred Source on Google\nAdd as preferred source\n",
  "title": "HMRC may owe millions of people money after tax error"
}