40% taxpayer - claiming back tax on contributions

miketaff1408

Ok. I am prepared for the flak and the cries of "idiot!" but.....

Have just realised I have, for the last however many years that I have been a higher rate taxpayer (10yrs???) that I have not been claiming back the extra 20% tax relief from the HMRC on my workplace group pension scheme contributions

In my naivety, I assumed that the 40% relief was obtained at source, not just 20%.

I have been doing a little self employed locum work on the side for the last three years and have had to fill in a self assessment.

I know I can claim back for a few years??????

The problem is, I have already filled in my tax return for the tax year 2011-2012 and submitted and paid my tax. Is it too late to do anything now, or do I have to wait until the tax return for 2012-2013???? (my accounting dates match the tax year.)

Feel free to sling some insults and laughter my way (as long as you can add maybe a little bit of advice as well)

CLAPTON

do your group pension payments come out of pre tax or post tax income?

miketaff1408

CLAPTON wrote: »

do your group pension payments come out of pre tax or post tax income?

My employee contributions are/were deducted from my pay, AFTER income tax has been deducted.

Was only aware of this from reading my new employers group penson guide (which I joined 3 months ago) which stated the above and informed me that as a higher rate taxpayer I would have to claim back the other 20% from Mr Taxman.

I have just checked my previous penison from my last employer, and the payments on that were deducted from pay AFTER income tax as well.

What a plonker eh?????

miketaff1408

Hang on, hang on.........

Have just been looking at the previous documentation for my previous group pension scheme (which I was in for about three years up until Oct 2011) and it is a little contradictory.......

I was in an AS*A the grocers pension plan via Prudential. Most of the documentation is Prudential, and it is within their documentation on Stakeholder pension guide that they mention the contributions being made from post-tax pay.

I have just found a single sheet of paper that is a 'note from asda'

It mentions their 'pension saver' and that "instead of making contributions in the usual way by a deduction from your net pay, your gross salary is reduced by an amount equal to your chosen contribution rate."

So I guess I have been lucky and have not lost out by my own stupidity at least for this pension then!

My current pension payment is deffo made after payment of tax, but as I only started that in May, I can claim that back from my 2012-13 SA.

As for the pension payments going back the 8 years or so prior to joining AS*A in 2009......who knows???? The pension was transferred to the ASDA scheme, and I no longer have any paperwork. Contributions were nearly £600 a month, so I am guessing I may or may not have lost out on a lot of money to the HMRC through my own stupidity!!!!

jamesd

The AS*A may also mention "smart pension" or "salary sacrifice". You've been lucky and you were getting that tax relief automatically by not paying the tax in the first place. You were also saving some NI.

Before that, do you even has payslips? Sometimes a salary sacrifice scheme will show a pre-sacrifice pay or scheme salary level on the payslip. If you see either of those then the previous one was also likely to be salary sacrifice. You might give that past employer a call and see what they have to say, they might know the answer.