Find out if you’re eligible for a refund
If you’ve received payments from your NHS employer whilst attending a Widening Access Training course (WAT), you might be entitled to a refund of the Income Tax and National Insurance contributions (NICs) you paid.
Payments made by employers to workers getting full-time instruction can be exempted from Income Tax and NICs if certain conditions are met.
Conditions
You may be eligible for a refund if you attended a qualifying WAT course and your employer deducted Income Tax and NICs from your pay during that period.
If you did a combination of paid work for an NHS Trust and attended a qualifying WAT course, you may also be eligible for a refund if your employer deducted Income Tax and NICs from all of your pay.
Getting a refund
Courses attended before 6 April 2013
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) will deal with your refund application if your employer deducted Income Tax and NICs while you attended a qualifying WAT course before 6 April 2013.
Your NHS Trust will submit a claim to HMRC on your behalf. HMRC has asked trusts to provide full details of eligible workers, and will process claims when they’re received. You should contact your Trust and ask if they’ve already sent a claim to HMRC on your behalf.
You don’t need to do anything more if the Trust confirms they’ve already submitted your claim.
If your NHS Trust hasn’t already sent a claim to HMRC, request they submit a claim on your behalf for courses starting on or before 5 April 2013.
Your NHS Trust may ask you for further information or evidence to support your application for refund.
Courses attended from 6 April 2013
If you attended a qualifying WAT course on or after the 6 April 2013 your refund claim will be dealt with by your NHS Trust.
If Income Tax and NICs were deducted incorrectly from your pay while you attended a qualifying WAT course, your NHS Trust will deal with your claim through their payroll system.
Possible effect on your benefits and state pension
If you get a refund of NICs you might find that your National Insurance record is deficient. This could affect your entitlement to state pension and benefits.
You can pay voluntary contributions to make up any shortfall.
Any changes to your income can also affect your entitlement to Tax Credits.
Source: HMRC