Diverting £50k of salary into pension fund to claim welfare benefits

jamesd

Gracchus_Babeuf wrote: »

This seems like a lot of BS to me. I don't believe the OP could get away with this as I'm sure it would be contested by the authorities once the cotton on to what he is doing.

There's a small problem with that view: it's been checked with the HMRC tax credits helpline as well as the rules for working out what people are entitled to. The authorities, when made aware, say it's entirely acceptable. All anyone in any doubt needs to do is pick up the phone and ask them themselves.

System

Of course it's acceptable. The reason that pension payments are deducted from assessable income is because the government wanted to encourage people to save towards pensions. If they had wanted to put a limit on it they should have framed the regulations accordingly.

FLAPJACK

Maybe he's Jimmy Carr.....another one with morals........

atush

Et Tu, K2? ;-)

FLAPJACK

Oh!! I stand corrected.....overnight he found some!

Sterlingtimes

For those with such deep-seated morals there is always the option of making an extra cheque out to the Revenue and Customs. Pesumably, morals are always for someone who is better off than oneself.

atush

Pesumably (sic), morals are always for someone who is better off than oneself.

Seems a very poor outlook on life to have. Morals are for any and everyone. but each person has their own I guess.

ukjoel

Fascinating thread.

In March I committed a large chunk of salary sacrifice to pension in order to reduce the risk of losing child benefit (3 kids under 5) and was a shade over the higher rate tax band.

I had to commit to a sacrifical sum 2 days before the govt announced the cut off would be 50k -60k (and we all thought it would be high rate tax point.)


Due to this, the pension pot is £15k the better this year but things are tight. (Had to go 15k due to potential bonuses kicking in)

I just ran the benefits tax calc based on projected income and it looks like we are in line for £4k this year that I hadnt expected.

My sincerest thanks to all involved in this post. While I appreciate some people may say I am morally wrong I will still be calling the tax credit line tomorrow and filling in a form.

System

ukjoel wrote: »

some people may say I am morally wrong .

Not me.
Morals don't come into taxation and benefits. We used to have morals, but the day the government took over responsibility for directing the country's financial affairs and telling us what was right, they took on the moral responsibility too.
They set the rules, we follow them. If they don't like the consequences, then change them. And think a bit harder next time.

gadgetmind

ukjoel wrote: »

While I appreciate some people may say I am morally wrong I will still be calling the tax credit line tomorrow and filling in a form.

Not me either: tax is not a window into the soul.

Anyway unlike many of the chief moaners, you will still be a net contributor to society rather than a net taker.