Pensions and tax

[nowiknowmynoodles]

Does anyone have any clue about tax implications of pension schemes?
If you are in a pension scheme where you get taxed at contributions over 40k is there any reason to bother putting over this amount in. My company doubles my contribution up to a max of 6 percent but doing this at the max would leave me with a huge tax bill so I am considering capping lower but unsure if I might be doing the wrong thing. Help if you can please ?

How old are you, how far off retirement are you, and how much have you already accrued in pension funds compared to how much you need in retirement? I'm never a fan of paying more tax than necessary but employer contributions are attractive "free" money.

If your total pension contributions for the year are going to use up all your £40k Annual Allowance, you could think about making ISA contributions next (if not already fully using that £20k allowance). Will be made from net income but on the other hand you can supplement your retirement income without paying income tax on withdrawals which can be very useful if close to breaching Basic Rate threshold from pension sources.

Bear in mind that you can carry forward unused allowance from the previous 3 years, so if you have put in less than £40k in any of those years you can add the unused bit (I.e. £40k less whatever you did pay) to the £40k allowance for this year.

Unless you are a medic then scheme pays is your friend here. Have you enquired about that?

Also I always follow the money. Unless you are near the life time allowance it usually makes sense to take the payments, but get the pension to pay the tax.