Tax on pension

davein6300

My private pension matured last March and although I sorted out the paperwork and annuities well before the policy matured the payments started weeks late. My birthdate was the beginning of March and I would have assumed the first payment would come in the 2018/19 tax year. Having recently received the P60 tax certificate for 2019/20  the pension provider has included the March 2019 payment in that tax year (2019/20) meaning I have paid hundreds of pounds in tax on this March 2019 payment. I did not use all my 12500 allowance in the 2018/19 tax year and would not have paid this tax on the first payment. The company pay the pension on the 2nd of each month.
I assume that if the pension income was 'earnt' in the 2018/19 tax year (ie March 2019) then it should be taxed in that tax year and not the following tax year 
Does anyone know if I am correct in assuming this.

xylophone

and I would have assumed the first payment would come in the 2018/19 tax year. 

But was it actually due payable in that tax year?
https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/self-assessment-manual/sam121160

davein6300

Thanks for that information, its been very helpful.

Thrugelmir

Tax year starts on the 6th April and finishes on the 5th. The payment made on the 2nd fell in the 19/20 tax year. 

Marcon

You've made several assumptions, but what did your paperwork actually say about the start date for the annuity?