Pension Freedoms and tax problems

Thousands of people may have paid too much tax on pension withdrawals according to research from AJ Bell.  The problem is that most pension schemes do not have tax codes for their members, so tax the initial withdrawal is taxed on a 'month one' basis.  This effectively assumes that the withdrawal will be repeated every month.  For example, someone making a withdrawal of £20,000 would be assumed to be making a total withdrawal of £240,000 in the tax year.  Overpaid tax needs to be reclaimed either through a tax return or by completing the appropriate HMRC form.  It would appear that some people are unaware that they have paid too much tax, which is the problem the research has highlighted.