Pictured above: John Rouse

A Warwickshire legal expert is urging people to check their tax codings - or risk being left out of pocket. 

The suggestion follows HM Revenue and Customs' announcement last month that millions of tax payments had been miscalculated. 

John Rouse, of Wright Hassall's Wills Trust and Tax Department, said: "Any change in circumstances could result in incorrect tax codings so it is important to ensure all your documents are in order.

"If you are a higher rate tax payer who has made pension contributions you may be entitled to income tax rebates and if you are a married couple you may be able to switch assets to reduce your income tax liability.

"Your tax codings also need to be changed if you retire and if you turn 65 or 75 during a tax year, depending on your level of income, you will need to ensure you receive your higher age related personal allowance."

HMRC's announcement could affect up to 15 million people and it is estimated 2.4million people underpaid income tax during the past two tax years due to errors in their Pay As You Earn (PAYE) tax code. 

About 900,000 taxpayers will not have to pay anything after the Government raised the write-off threshold from £50 to £300. But that leaves 1.4m people owing around £2bn, which means up to 250,000 could be asked for £2,000 or more.

Rouse added: "It is human nature to assume that everything is correct in their affairs particularly when they are not personally responsible for returns, but that is not the case and it can be an expensive assumption."

For more information about Wright Hassall, please visit their website here: www.wrighthassall.co.uk