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A finance expert claims to have found a simple trick which could spare pensioners paying emergency tax when withdrawing cash from their pensions. HM Revenue & Custom's latest figures show that between January and March this year almost 14,000 people had to reclaim tax after accessing their pension flexibly. More than £44.1million was repaid in just three months, according to wealth management company, Quilter.

While the number of reclaim forms is down by some 9% compared with the same period last year, the total amount repaid has hardly changed. Quilter's Retirement Specialist, Adam Cole, said the "real shift" is not how many people are affected, but the size of repayments. He said the average is slightly over £3,160.

Mr Cole said: "That suggests fewer people may be caught by emergency tax, but when it happens the sums involved are larger, leaving retirees out of pocket while they wait for HMRC to return their own money."

Overtaxing pension withdrawals came after the introduction of pension freedoms in 2015.

The changes meant people could withdraw cash from their pension from 55, but when they did so they would be automatically charged emergency tax at 40%. This happens even if they were basic rate taxpayers.

Tom Selby, director of public policy at investment platform, AJ Bell, said improvements to the Government's tax code process meant people would be moved more speedily from an emergency code to one that sees them pay the right amount of tax.

He cautioned that the improvement would not help people who make a one-off withdrawal, as they would continue to pay more tax than they should.

Mr Selby told the Express in April last year that savers who want to make a single withdrawal in a tax year can avoid being overtaxed by first withdrawing a notional sum.

He said some pension providers may accept a £1 withdrawal while others could ask for a larger amount.

The public policy expert said taking a notional, one-off withdrawal first should mean HMRC can than apply the right tax code to the second, larger withdrawal.

AJ Bell's man said pension savers would need to check with their pension provider before taking the plunge.

He added: "Alternatively, you can fill out one of three HMRC forms and you should receive your tax back within 30 days.

"If you don't do this, the Revenue says it will put you back in the correct tax position at the end of the tax year."

Meanwhile, Mr Cole acknowledged HMRC has improved the speed with which it repays, but the latest figures show errors are still being fixed rather than prevented.

He added: "Until pension taxation better reflects how people actually access their money in retirement, thousands of savers will continue to face unnecessary complexity and cashflow disruption."