Paying into pension to avoid higher tax band

[kindalright]

I'm not sure how but I've managed to get into the higher tax band for the first time (mixture of SE and employed work).

Is there a way of paying a lump sum into my pension to avoid paying the higher rate tax (it's only a few thousand £ over and I'm very unlikely to get into this tax band again so keen to avoid if if I can!)

I've got a crappy 'nest' pension with a few quid in it as I've only been paying into it since it became compulsory and I don't usually earn very much. I'm reluctant to pay into a pension because I think it's a big of a waste if you don't get employer contributions but if I'm being taxed at 40% I might as well?

You definitely should. 40% tax saving (plus investment growth) vs maybe 3-4% interest in the bank.

Call up your pension provider (either your own personal pension or the one used at work) and ask how to make a one-off payment. 20% will get automatically added to your pension and you'll need to complete a tax return to claim back the other 20%.

Mine just gave me the banking details, told me to use my policy number as the payment ref and I made a bank transfer online. I also had to email them to confirm the payment, state it was an additional personal contribution along with how I wanted to invest the funds (in my case just "in proportion to the existing investments").

Yes you can do this, but if you have gone over the threshold for the 2022/23 tax year you need to be very quick now as the payment would need to be made by 5 April 2023!