Avoid Tax Refund Companies

As we slip and slide our way to the end of another academic year, Student thoughts will be turning to employment through the summer and every year i have this conversation about paying tax and the companies who will try and get you to sign up so they can claim it back for you for a hefty fee.
Companies such as TaxReturned.co.uk, RIFT and taxrebates.co.uk‎ who will try and tell you that they can get you back any tax you paid but not tell you the extortionate fee they charge. Read about them here.
Some have a minimum charge (i have seen £90), and some take a percentage of the tax repayment obtained (i have seen 40% fees) and you will need to sign a deed of assignment which means that your refund will be paid to the tax refund organisation in the first instance, so they can take their fee before paying you the remainder.
How it works is that the refund organisation will request you send the P60 or P45 and then will literally, take the information out of the envelope you sent it in and place it in another and forward to HM Revenue & Customs earning a 40% or £90 fee for as much work as opening an envelope and closing another one with your details in it.
You may be happy to receive £600 tax back but not so much when you find out that the tax you paid was £1000 and you could have got it all back for the price of a stamp or a phone call.
HM Revenue & Customs even have a Personal Tax Account that you can set up to make it even easier and i have a link which gives a guide to how to do it here, but please, don't hand out easy money to the likes of RIFT or TaxReturned because it's yours, you earned it and don't let the shysters deprive you of it.