How to Reclaim Overpaid Tax for Your Business

Overpaying tax isn’t uncommon for UK businesses, especially when dealing with complex tax systems or rapid business changes. The good news? In many cases, you can reclaim what you’ve overpaid, but only if you know where to look and how to act.

In this guide, we’ll explore how UK businesses can identify and reclaim overpaid tax across corporation tax, VAT, PAYE, and other common areas. We’ll also explain how to prevent overpayments in the future.

Common Types of Overpaid Business Tax

Several types of business tax are prone to overpayments. These include:

1. Corporation Tax

Overpayments may occur if your company:

• Submits incorrect figures on the Company Tax Return (CT600)
• Overestimates profits or doesn’t deduct all allowable expenses
• Pays an instalment too early or over the required amount

You can reclaim corporation tax through an amended tax return or by contacting HMRC directly.

More on reclaiming corporation tax – GOV.UK

2. VAT (Value Added Tax)

VAT overpayments are common due to:

• Incorrectly treating exempt items as standard-rated
• Reclaiming less input VAT than allowed
• Miscalculations in your VAT return

If you’ve submitted a VAT return and later realise it was wrong, you can adjust it in your next return (if under the threshold) or write to HMRC for larger corrections.

Correcting VAT errors – GOV.UK

3. PAYE and National Insurance

PAYE overpayments can happen if:

• You submit duplicate payroll data to HMRC
• You pay for staff that left or were never onboarded
• Employment Allowance wasn’t applied correctly

You can reclaim PAYE overpayments via your payroll software or using HMRC’s Employer Payment Summary (EPS).

Claim a PAYE refund – GOV.UK

4. CIS (Construction Industry Scheme)

For contractors and subcontractors in construction, deductions made through CIS can sometimes be excessive or duplicated. If you’re a limited company subcontractor, you may reclaim CIS deductions via your corporation tax return or through a separate claim process with HMRC.

Reclaiming CIS deductions – GOV.UK