Mainly PAYE but ??Putting self-employed income into pension

d4n13773

Hello

I have just started a new full time job which pays £40k PAYE, but there is currently no pension scheme (auto-enrolment Jul 2016 i think, no idea what scheme)

I have a zero hours post with NHS (and pays into NHS pension scheme) probably earning about £1.5k pa (NET after tax @20% currently)

I have the opportunity to do some similar work on a self employed basis, but haven't yet decided if it will be "worth it"

I also write consultancy/expert reports on a self employed basis (likely to earn about £1.5k this year) and would like to further investigate freelance writing opportunities (working from home) though not sure if I would earn anything immediately

All these little bits of extra work could well push me into 40% tax bracket, I am doing them as a means of retaining diversity rather than an immediate need for cash - I was wondering if I could pay all or most of my additional earnings in to a pension scheme (either NEST or AVC to NHS pension) by doing so get 40% tax relief ?

Also hoping someone could point me in the direction of information as to what "working from home costs" I can reasonably offset and at what proportions please?


~~~My current employer is aware of the little extras I do and is happy about it!~~~
~~~& I have class one business insurance for my car~~~

Thanks for any advice anyone can give me x

d4n13773

Really disappointed nobody can offer any advice

xylophone

https://www.gov.uk/expenses-if-youre-self-employed/overview

https://www.gov.uk/tax-on-your-private-pension/pension-tax-relief


SIPP might suit. https://www.gov.uk/tax-on-your-private-pension/pension-tax-relief

http://monevator.com/compare-uk-cheapest-online-brokers/

http://monevator.com/low-cost-index-trackers/

The provider will claim basic rate relief - higher rate needs to be claimed from HMRC.

dave2

You're doing self employed work so will have to register with HMRC and complete self assessment tax return - through which you'll get the higher rate tax relief on the pension contribution. You can make a payment into your pension pot and usually the pension scheme claims basic rate tax straight into the pension, but some schemes you can just pay in the gross amount and reclaim basic rate tax on the tax return...

I suspect next year you might be a bit better off paying the extra pension in via the auto-enrolement company pension scheme. They might match contributions to some extent and/or might do a salary sacrifice scheme which would also save you on NIC.

I suspect the potential for claiming expenses for working from home to be pretty slim, e.g. you need to work 25h per month at home before you can claim £10 per month use of residence as office allowance. You might also be able to claim some mileage (earlier page on same link) but presumably very little business travel is required. There's a more general businesses expenses page but I suspect the simplified expenses I liked to earlier is probably more appropriate for you.

d4n13773

Thank you both for the advice.

Very much appreciated