Millions of pensioners could be owed money after HMRC tax error
More than eight million people could be owed money after Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs' mistake
HMRC has apologised after admitting an error that led to it collecting £43.5 million more than it should have done in tax last year.
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Around 8.7 million pensioners could have been affected by the error, which His Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has said it is working to fix.
According to reports, those affected have been overcharged by an average of £5 each.
The error went undetected for around 10 months before being flagged by the Tory MP and shadow secretary for transport Richard Holden, according to the Sunday Times.
Those affected are state pensioners who also pay income tax through self-assessment, or remain in employment and pay tax traditionally through their company's PAYE structure.
An HMRC spokesperson said: "We apologise to those affected by this error and are working at pace to fix the issue, although the impact is small with the difference in tax owed being around £5 in most cases."
It has not yet said how it could make refunds to reimburse those out of pocket.
HMRC has been contacted by LBC for further comment.
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It is believed the error occurred in the transition between tax years when pensioners might have been charged the wrong amount.
Sir Mel Stride, the shadow chancellor, told reporters: "If HMRC has been charging millions of pensioners too much tax then questions need to be answered, and the matter must be urgently put right.
"Ministers need to ascertain what has happened and what action is being taken to ensure these sorts of errors do not happen again."