Income tax and bonuses

george4064

I have a few questions about income tax in general as well when bonuses are paid.

1. What would be the best best way to check where I currently am in the income tax brackets? I sacrifice some of my gross salary to things like pension AVCs, SIP and other things so my taxable income is lower than my actual gross annual salary.

2. I'm due to receive a bonus next year which will push me into the higher tax bracket, I want to stick a lot of this into my pension so I don't get stung badly with 40% income tax. I will be paying this into a SIPP, which form(s) do I need to complete to claim this back? Do I need to know my figures exactly in order to reclaim the 40% tax I've paid or will HMRC do this for me as long as I submit tax reclaim form with the amount I contributed?

With normal bonuses I normally get the option to salary sacrifice it at source, but this is a different type of bonus so haven't been given that option. This is why I'm going down the SIPP route.

Thanks in advance.

Dazed_and_confused

1. What would be the best best way to check where I currently am in the income tax brackets? I sacrifice some of my gross salary to things like pension AVCs, SIP and other things so my taxable income is lower than my actual gross annual salary.

Detail all your taxable income and any expenses/allowances you are claiming. Or take a look at gov.uk

2. I'm due to receive a bonus next year which will push me into the higher tax bracket, I want to stick a lot of this into my pension so I don't get stung badly with 40% income tax. I will be paying this into a SIPP, which form(s) do I need to complete to claim this back? Do I need to know my figures exactly in order to reclaim the 40% tax I've paid or will HMRC do this for me as long as I submit tax reclaim form with the amount I contributed?

You cannot just claim the 40% tax paid back. Do you already file a Self Assessment return? If not there is no form to complete you just notify HMRC of the relevant details. A "relief at source" pension contribution simply increases the amount of your basic rate tax band. Which in turn can reduce the amount of higher rate (and additional rate if Scottish resident for tax purposes) tax payable.