I've been earning >50k for a number of years and claiming child benefit but have never done a self-assessment tax return!

[JohnnyBGood]

I thought if your salary minus (pension + childcare vouchers) is less than 50k (which mine always is) then you didn't have to submit one ... but it seems I was wrong!

Is it too late to do one for the year up to 5 April 2018?

As it's your DH that is the higher earner it should be him that calls. They would only be able to give you very general information.

Thanks Tattie

I’m beyond cross!

if you need to register you also require special access number which takes few days to arrive, best to request it asap

I've just submitted mine and it told me not to deduct my company pension contribution.

I called HMRC to confirm this and they said that was true because I'm PAYE so my pension contribution is deducted before tax which means that I can't deduct it in the Self Assessment.

@YogaDrone that is correct but it's not relevant to the OP. She just needs to calculate her adjusted net income to see if she needs to repay some of her child benefit.

YogaDrone the pension deduction is only for personal pensions not occupational pensions.

Thanks Both.

Yes, it's personal pensions, not occupational pensions, which was my misunderstanding.

@YogaDrone that’s very different to my understanding.

When I spoke with HMRC earlier in this tax year, they said I could deduct my work pension - I’ve just gone back onto the calculator for the tax charge and it says to enter ‘salary before tax (with pension contributions deducted)’, it doesn’t say only deduct a personal pension or anything like that. However when you scroll down to allowable deductions, that is when it distinguishes and says only include personal pension contributions.

When I do this, my salary before tax deducting my pension contributions (ie my workplace pension), I don’t have to pay the tax charge according to the calculator. I don’t have any benefits or pay into a personal pension so I don’t add any other deductions.

This is my first year in the higher earning bracket so at the very least I think I have time, as I’d have to do this for the 2018/19 tax year and the only option I can find online for the calculator is up to the 2017/18 tax year. Nonetheless if I’m wrong I can pay the tax charge if it’s just based on my whole income and doesn’t deduct the workplace pension, as I’m only just above the threshold so it’s not a lot (have to check fines though!) but I don’t think I have to, I’ve spoken to HMRC a couple of times about this and I was told to use my salary after my workplace pension deductions, like on the calculator. Surely that’s the case then?

It will depend on whether you have had tax relief at source on your pension contributions. Look at your P60 for the year. Is the taxable gross more than £50k? If so, you need to do a tax return. (Tax adviser here.)

Btw @YogaDrone just to be clear, not laying this at you! Just baffled by conflicting information we all seem to get!

Thanks @poppet31, I haven’t had a P60 yet at this salary as this is my first year, so presumably once I get my P60 in a couple of months I can work it out, and then sort the charge if I need to.

Me too bedunkalilt. This is the first time for several years that I've completed SA because pre-2017/18 my earnings were just below threshold. In fact I did complete one the first year of the new CB rules just in case I had misunderstood anything and HMRC confirmed I wouldn't have to complete again unless my salary increased or P11D changed substantially.

Thanks Poppet31 that is clearer. On my P60 I have a section called "Pay & Income Tax Details" and then "Total Pay" and "Total Tax". My "Total Pay" is the figure I used in the SA and is definitely pre-pension contribution and over threshold.