UK Tax Mess - Tax Overpayment May Have Occurred
Im a UK tax payer.
My situation is rather complex.
In January 2025 I joined a firm and fortunate to receive a 20k sign on bonus- subject to a one year retention clause. I knew this would cause my tax code to change so I sectioned off this money, worked out what I owed HMRC and informed them my intention to pay my tax in a full sum payment to amend my tax code before the tax year 2025-2026 began. HMRC were extremely unhelpful and did not direct me to make this payment which caused me to change to an adjusted tax code for the subsequent tax year paying for unpaid income.
The company I worked for at the time was Australian but employed my through a remote contract provider. Based on strong performance I was awarded an additional 20k bonus last summer at the end of the company financial year, which was of course taxed at this adjusted rate. I was recruited by a different firm in October last year and changed roles. This incurred me to repay the post tax amount to my previous employer. As part of my new role sign on I asked for the same 20k to be awarded to me to compensate for this loss, which was awarded after a three month probation and to which I paid tax on the adjusted rate. My monthly salary in addition to these bonus payments have been taxed heavily which has restricted my financial situation over the past year. I have not been able to grow my savings as a consequence despite being conservative with my spending. Note I also pay undergraduate and postgraduate student debt which adds to the burden.
I have finally been put back to a standard tax code (1257L) after paying over 30k in income tax alone in the last tax year. I think i must be due an income tax rebate but given the complicated nature of payments and the difficulty in dealing with HMRC- it is very hard to find out how/to what extent I am owed a repayment.
If anyone has experienced a similar series of events or has any guidance on how best to deal with this i would be very grateful for assistance. I am a hard working young individual who is tired and angry at how this situation has/is playing out.