Martin Lewis: money saving expert urges people to check their tax code after viewer receives £2,585 refund

Martin Lewis warned that people could be paying too much tax and urged everyone to check their tax code as he returned to his ITV show on Tuesday night.

Over three million people tuned in to watch Martin, 50, from Manchester, give his advice on how to save money amid the Cost of Living crisis. The Money Saving Expert was joined by co-host Angelica Bell for the first show of 2023, after taking a break over Christmas.

Kicking off the seventh episode of series 12, Angellica shared a tweet from a viewer called David who had written to the show, which read: “I want to thank you for reminding us to check our income tax codes. It turns out my wife has been on the wrong tax code for 4 years and she just got a check for £2,585."

Martin said that this was “a very important reminder.”

“if you’re an employee or you’re getting a pension you will have been sent a tax code - the standard one is 1257L. Now what you have to understand is even if you don’t know what the numbers mean...”

Martin explained: “It is your legal responsibility to ensure that it [tax code] is correct, it is not your employers it is not the tax office it is yours.

If the tax code is wrong and you are overpaying tax then like David’s wife you may receive a tax-refund but if you are underpaying you may owe money.

The award winning expert explained that there are easy to use tools online to check you have the correct tax code on the Gov.uk website.

HMRC normally updates your tax code when your income changes from information they are given by your employer. However, the information given may be incorrect so it is always best to check.

Martin urged everyone to check if their tax-code is correct in case you are owed a refund or to stop you having to pay a huge amount back if you are underpaying.

Viewers took to social media to praise the money expert for helping them to save money.

One wrote: “We really appreciate your viewing loyalty - great work by the team.”

Another commented: “Never miss! Thank you Martin. Wishing you a very Happy & healthy New Year!”

A third added: “Just goes to show how people have put their faith in you Martin, an honour, and a heavy burden too perhaps.”

And a fourth claimed : “I’ve saved a lot of money by watching your programme.”

For more information on Martin Lewis check out People World.