Requesting P45 and P60

[danroll]

how would i go about claiming emergency tax back from previous jobs i have held. i have paid emergency tax on quite a few different jobs dating back as far as 2000. unfortunatley i do not have the appropriate documentation.
legally speaking, is there a certain amount of time an employer needs to keep my P60's on record and also, how are my rights affected if i have left the company

I reckon i'm due a small fortune here so any help will be greatly appreciated.

[jedimistress]

You can claim back as far as 6 years in some instances. I'd also expect your employers to have your PAYE records for the last 6 years.

You would send all the documentation to HMRC and ask them to review it and issue any repayment of tax (if due).

[annie0000]

You may not necessarily need to get anything from your former employers. I would go firts to HMRC and explain that you feel you have overpaid tax and ask for a review. They will probably ask you to complete some info on dates etc as far as you can and you will have to explain any gaps. However, all your employers should have submitted the appropriate data to HMRC, so they will already be aware of what income/tax has been declared on your behalf. I will call them on Monday to get the ball rolling - it is not usually a quick process!!

I did get back overpaid tax some 4 years after I had paid it, but it took about 18 months to get it sorted as I had a gap when I was neither working nor claiming benefits. They were reluctant to believe that I would not claim benefits that I was entitled to. lol

[BenDToy]

Also I wouldn't get my hopes up too high if I were you. I am fair;y sure that so called "emergency tax" is just the standard allowance. If you are entitled to other allowances they will reduce your bill, but there are less and less of these eg married allowance, and MIRAS have now disappeared. So any small fortune may turn out to be very small indeed. I don't want to dash your hopes, but just don't spend the money yet! Good luck with it anway.