Pension and claiming tax relief

[Fannymadams]

Hi can anyone help me with a question about tax relief please.

I’ve got a small personal pension and pay in £100 a month, am currently getting £25 a month in tax relief.

I want to increase the amount by £200 a month - but I’m not sure if I have to claim relief with an SA form. I’m earning £52,500 so am only slightly over the higher tax threshold.

I also pay in 5% to a workplace pension and am taxed at source, so it’s just the personal pension I’m unsure about.

Do I need to fill in an SA form to claim relief on my contributions- and would it be 40% on the £200 I’ll be paying in? I’m confused about the amounts tbh.

thanks

Your allowance is 60k in the tax year so that should be fine. My pension is with Hargreaves (a SIPP) and they would automatically claim the tax relief for you. Not sure how it works elsewhere but you should be able to avoid using self assessment

Are you using salary sacrifice for your workplace pension?

Ah you’ll get 40pc relief on only those contributions in the higher rate income band. Not a higher rate tax payer so not sure - but yes you may need to use sa to get the 40pc relief and not the basic rate

Thanks. Yes I’m using salary sacrifice for workplace pension.

Maybe the HMRC income tax helpline is worth a call, if I can get through!

Why not call your pension provider first?
Probably easier to get through and they should know.

After contributing 5% into your workplace scheme, your gross income reduces to £49,875.
Assuming that you have a standard personal allowance, you pay 20% tax only.
Therefore if you up your contributions to £200 into your personal pension, the pension provider will obtain £50 on your behalf from HMRC.
No further tax relief via SA is due.

If you're able to increase your workplace contributions by salary sacrifice then it probably makes more sense to do the extra contributions this way as you'll save on NI contributions