Pension Contribution help for WTC's

art200380

I want to apply for WTC's and CTC's and have a query regarding pension contributions. I am not interested in a debate regarding the morals of this. If I use the following example;

Gross Pay for 2016/17 is £30k but I want to pay £15k in to my pension during the tax year. This will reduce my income to £15k for the purposes of calculating the WTC and CTC.

Could I make the pension contribution direct to my pension provider as late as 31/3/17? Do I send the pension provider a cheque for 80% of the £15k contribution on the basis that they will recover the balance from HMRC?

Thanks in advance.

mgdavid

art200380 wrote: »

......

Could I make the pension contribution direct to my pension provider as late as 31/3/17? Do I send the pension provider a cheque for 80% of the £15k contribution on the basis that they will recover the balance from HMRC?

Thanks in advance.

It will vary co to co.
Phone your provider and ask them what their processing time is, together with any customer-facing SLA.
Also ask them if it's quicker / more reliable to do an online bank transfer - I would expect it to be.

zagfles

HL usually stay open till midnight on 5th April!

jamesd

It needs to reach them by midnight on Wednesday 5 April. Online systems would probably let you cut it closer but that's not wise. Better to do it say two weeks before the deadline in case of glitches. It's a very busy time of year and their ability to sort out problems will be limited by that.

You're right about how much to pay in. They will add 25% to whatever they get from you to give you the 20% relief.