Urgent help please - IPA and pension contributions

AdvicePlease

I have had my IPA since September 2011 and despite the fact I have not paid a penny since then (due to numerous job changes) they refuse to cancel it and insist on re-assessing me every 3 months.

I have just changed jobs again and have resubmitted my income and expenditure statement, and for the first time the clerk from the RLTU has suddenly turned around and said my pension contributions are not allowable expenditure :mad:

I have always paid into a pension scheme since I have had my IPA, they have seen numerous payslips which show this, and they have never mentioned it before. Why is this suddenly an issue, and are they right? It seems mad that with the Government pushing for automatic enrolment into pension schemes, and offering all kinds of tax benefits for contributing to a pension scheme and reducing the burden on the state, it is not an allowable expense! And why has this changed?

fermi

Or used to allow you to continue making basic contributions on any voluntary scheme. But now.....

http://www.insolvencydirect.bis.gov.uk/technicalmanual/Ch25-36/Chapter31/part7/part4/part_4.htm#31.7.107

31.7.109 Contributions to a pension or SAYE scheme

The official receiver should examine closely any deductions at source from earnings and consider whether payments or over payments into a pension scheme should be disallowed, as this is not an essential outgoing required to meet the reasonable needs of the bankrupt. In most cases an individual can elect to stop or reduce their contributions to a personal pension for a period of time. Whilst the bankrupt may argue this will have the effect of reducing future income, the official receiver should explain that the cost of maintaining his/her future income should not be made at the expense of his/her creditors. In the same way where the employer operates a SAYE saving scheme (where a proportion of the bankrupt’s income is deducted at source to purchase shares in the employing company), this expenditure should be investigated and disallowed, to ensure that the full amount of income available is included in an income payments calculation.

AdvicePlease

Thanks Fermi - unbelievable - well, I am going to argue the point, they have allowed it before so they can continue to honour that arrangement now.

I am also sick of having to correct the basic calculations and mathematical skills of the RLTU clerk on numerous occasions every time my IPA is re-assessed but that is a rather different complaint....