There could be mistakes in the millions of new tax code notices sent out to pensioners, according to the Low Incomes Tax Reform Group (LITRG).

In the worst cases, some people could find themselves paying £108 too much in tax a month, while others may not pay enough.

The errors have apparently been caused by HMRC bringing tax and national insurance records together for the first time. This means reconciling different sets of data about past and present employment, which may not match each other.

"We recognise that some of the data brought forward from previous systems may be inaccurate and we are taking every opportunity to correct that,” the HMRC said – while insisting that most of the coding notices were correct.

LITRG thinks the problem could affect hundreds of thousands of people.

According to LITRG, the following mistakes may be found in some pensioners' tax codes:

- Coding notices for pensioners who still have some employment, or income from non-state pensions, may not have included their state pension, which could lead to a big underpayment of tax.
- The married couple's allowance, where one pensioner is aged 76 or over, has not been included.
- Personal allowances have been incorrect or left out altogether.     -    The figure on the notice for "other income" is wrong. 

- An "0T" code has been given incorrectly, indicating no allowance should be given at all.
- Codes issued for the first time to claimants of incapacity benefit, and the newer employment and support allowance, have been added to codes issued for sources of income which have now stopped. 
- The blind person's allowance has been omitted.

HMRC has advised people to check with their tax office or ring 0845 3000 627, so any error c be corrected before 6 April 2010.
 

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