Overview
- FOI analysis by LCP suggests roughly 800,000 higher and additional‑rate taxpayers failed to claim in 2023/24, leaving about £1.4bn unclaimed.
- Average missed amounts are estimated at £1,756 for higher‑rate and £2,195 for additional‑rate taxpayers, based on HMRC return data.
- Some 6.8 million people paid into pensions via relief at source in 2023/24, yet only about 316,000 recorded claims on tax returns despite more than a million likely eligible.
- Frozen tax thresholds have expanded the higher‑rate cohort by 42.6% since 2021, with an estimated 6.3 million now in the band and about 310,000 more in 2024/25.
- HMRC says extra relief can be claimed via self‑assessment, its online tool, a letter or a tax‑code change, with backdating possible for up to four years and penalties for late filing.