Getting Tax Back from HMRC (Working HolidayMaker)

Help!
Conflicting information seems to be the way of bureaucracy!

I was in the UK Jun/07 - Oct/08 on a working holidaymaker visa. I have paid income tax in both years, but have been told I should be eligible to receive most, if not all of it back. I have been told to fill in a form P85s (Leaving the UK on Completion of Assignment) but have also been told this is not correct, or that I should simply write a letter, attach my P45 and P60 and request a review of both years.

I am sure many people have gone through this, your advice or experiences with this would be helpful as I must attach the original documents so afraid to do it all wrong !
Thank you: )

Hi Nicole
I was just about to ask the same thing. I'm over here on an ancestry visa, have been here 3 years and I was told that I could claim back the income tax I paid in the year that I leave only..as I'm leaving this year to return home I've been trying to look into this as well. Let me know if you learn anything! Thanks x

If you moved your tax home to the UK, i.e. you ceased filing a T1 and were doing taxes the way everyone else does, you MUST file a P85 when you leave regardless of anything else. You don't get the tax back exactly, you get some of the NI contributions back because of the way the PAYE system works. But you are subject to UK income taxes on UK-source income, if you were in the UK when you earned it.