Can someone help me with a tax/pension question?

[Nofkinclue]

Hi. So last year I earned £43561 and paid £6158 income tax. I was on SPL for a bit and payroll were a bit rubbish. I pay 3% of my salary in a DC pension scheme so after putting some figures through an income calculator I was expecting a rebate as it says I should have only paid £5937 in tax. Logged on today and it says my tax calculation for 21/22 is correct. Bugger!
So I've gone back to a trusty income calculator and if I don't include 3% pension contributions it says I should have paid £6198 in tax. I am assuming then that there is something to do with my pension deductions?
Also, I now earn £55k and was hoping to pay more into my pension this year to avoid the high earner benefit tax; but I'm not sure now whether it will have any affect?
Does anybody have a clue about this stuff as i clearly do not?😖

For the first question it will depend how your scheme is set up.

If it’s a ‘relief at source’ scheme then you are taxed in full before pension contributions are deducted, then later a tax rebate is paid into your pension scheme.

If it’s a ‘net pay’ scheme then your pension contributions are deducted before your tax is calculated.

It sounds like yours might be a relief at source scheme in which case you should see the tax added to your pension scheme later. Your employer or pension administrators should be able to confirm this for you.

And yes you can pay pension contributions to take you below £50k and then you won’t have to pay the child benefit tax. This still applies even to relief at source schemes.