Tax Year 20/21 How many weeks of State Pension ?

John_Pierpoint

This time last year, I had my knuckles rapped by HMRC because I had some bank statements missing, so I found a monthly state pension payment and multiplied by 12.

In previous years I had methodically found all the payments and added them up between 06aprxxxx and 05aprilxxxy inclusive.

Naughty me, cash accounting might be OK for normal tax accounting BUT I should have calculated how much I SHOULD have received from ths Social Security people, regardless of when it arrived. 

So this year I am trying to do it their way. [I would like to say "OK if you already know what my state pension is; why don't you fill in this bit for me" but I resisted that temptation].

All I have is a letter dated 15/02/2020 ABOUT THE GENERAL INCREASES IN BENEFITS ..........from 11 APR 20 ....................[Calculation] ...............The amount each week is £199.99......

Do I multiply this figure by 52 or 53 ?

[Deleted User]

Gods to hear from you again: I would never multiply by 53!

Does this help from the notes?

Box 8 State Pension

Use the letter ‘About the general increase in benefits’ that the Pension Service sent you to find your weekly State Pension amount.

Add up the amount you were entitled to receive from 6 April 2020 to 5 April 2021 and put the total in box 8. Do not include any amount you received for Attendance Allowance.

If your State Pension changed during the year or you only received it for part of the year, multiply each amount by the number of weeks that you were entitled to receive it. Add up your

amounts carefully.

JGB1955

I would just go for 13 x whatever you get paid in May.... although that may well be (should be) 52 X your 'new' weekly pension payment... shouldn't it?

chrisbur

52 is what I use.
The state pension is not paid monthly it is paid every four weeks so you always get at least 13 payments in a year.
On average there would be 14 payments in the year about once every 22 years.  I believe that they ignore this.

jimmo

I have a Civil Service pension and HMRC adjust the code for that to take account of my State Pension. I don't complete SA Returns but if I did I would use the figure that HMRC used for my code.
Also my Personal Tax Account HMRC have stated my SP for the current year is XXXX, the same amount as is in my code.
That figure is not HMRC's estimate, it is the Pension Services' figure. .
PAYE76030 - PAYE Manual - HMRC internal manual - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

John_Pierpoint

Thanks everyone.

I will multiply by 52.

Back in the last century, when you could phone the tax man and get to talk to someone who understood the system, I raised this point. [I had taken over the task of doing my mum's tax return, after she had discovered that storming into her local tax office and saying "Look young man, I am an old pensioner and I cannot cope with this nonsense" no longer worked.  

Back then I was told "......yes we just multiply by 52" . However now that everything is "computerised", I was thinking I might be up against another ".....the computer says" type of response.  

molerat

jimmo said:

I have a Civil Service pension and HMRC adjust the code for that to take account of my State Pension. I don't complete SA Returns but if I did I would use the figure that HMRC used for my code.
Also my Personal Tax Account HMRC have stated my SP for the current year is XXXX, the same amount as is in my code.
That figure is not HMRC's estimate, it is the Pension Services' figure. .
PAYE76030 - PAYE Manual - HMRC internal manual - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

The 51 + 1 figure is what HMRC deduct from my code.

They put 52 x on the income summary page.

So who knows what is correct !

[Deleted User]

molerat said:

jimmo said:

I have a Civil Service pension and HMRC adjust the code for that to take account of my State Pension. I don't complete SA Returns but if I did I would use the figure that HMRC used for my code.
Also my Personal Tax Account HMRC have stated my SP for the current year is XXXX, the same amount as is in my code.
That figure is not HMRC's estimate, it is the Pension Services' figure. .
PAYE76030 - PAYE Manual - HMRC internal manual - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

The 51 + 1 figure is what HMRC deduct from my code.

That’s what it used to be when I was in HMRC - wasn’t sure how relevant that was now. Usually the increase took place on the second Friday in April so - 1 week at old rate and 51 at the new rate.

SiliconChip

John_Pierpoint said:

 

I will multiply by 52.

Surely the multiplier depends on two variables: the day of the week that your pension is paid, and the number of days in the year. So most years 52 will be the correct number, but sometimes it will be 53. If you always use 52 then occasionally your return will fail to include 1 week's payment.

John_Pierpoint

Hi Gang, I thought I would share with you the official guidance from the "i" button on the interactive tax return for 20/21 - "Tax does not have to be taxing". [I have highlighted one of the paragraphs in bold black and that is my excuse - I have no idea if this is a "bonus" year or not]

Help about: UK Pension and other state benefits 03 - State Pension - the amount due for the year, not the weekly amount

Enter the amount due for the year, not the weekly amount. Do not include any amount you enter in the pension lump sum box on the next page.

You're taxed on the 'full amount' of State Pension you were entitled to for the year to 5 April 2021, which is the total of your weekly entitlements. Because the State Pension can be paid weekly, 4 weekly or quarterly in arrears, your total State Pension entitlement is unlikely to be the same as the actual payments you received in the year to 5 April 2021.

To find out your weekly State Pension entitlement, you can use the 'About the general increases in benefits' letter that the Pension Service sent you before the start of the 2020 to 2021 financial year. This letter tells you your weekly State Pension entitlement from 10 April 2020.

However, if the amount of State Pension you receive has changed between 10 April 2020 and 5 April 2021, for example, due to a change in your circumstances, then The Pension Service will have sent you a letter telling you what your new weekly entitlement is. You can use this new 'entitlement letter' to find out your weekly entitlement for the remainder of the year. Both these letters also include a breakdown of the components of your State Pension.

If you do not have the appropriate letters, you can contact the Pension Service on Telephone: 0345 606 0265, Textphone: 0345 606 0285 and ask for a BR735 'Statement of Pension' form for the period 6 April 2020 to 5 April 2021.

If you receive State Pension for the full year to 5 April 2021, to calculate the total amount you were entitled to for the year, multiply your weekly entitlement by 52. If your weekly entitlement changed during the year you'll need to multiply each amount by the number of weeks for which it was received up to a maximum of 52 weeks.

If you received State Pension for part of the year, you'll need to count the number of weeks from the date your State Pension began to 5 April 2021 and multiply this by your weekly entitlement to calculate your total entitlement for this tax year.

Quick guide to calculate the total of your weekly entitlements for a full year, if you were paid:

• weekly - add up the 52 weekly amounts as shown on your bank statement or building society passbook, if you were paid by direct debit
• 4 weekly - multiply your four-weekly amount by 13
• quarterly - multiply the quarterly amount by 4

As well as your basic pension, the entry should include:

• any graduated pension
• the age addition if you're over 80
• increases paid by the Department for Work and Pensions to uprate a guaranteed minimum pension
• any addition for a dependent adult
• any extra pension paid because you deferred or temporarily gave up your State Pension
• if you're married, or in a civil partnership, any State Pension payable to you because of your spouse's or civil partner's National Insurance contributions

Because they are not taxable the figure should not include:

• any addition for a dependent child
• annual Christmas bonus
• Winter Fuel Payment

John_Pierpoint

Just for the record, I did it wrong!

I should have dug about in the chaos of my 20/21 (lockdown) file, in order two to work out my payment for the first week after the 05april21 at the old rate. Then multiplied the new weekly increased pension by only 51. Then add the two together.

This is now explained by the instructions for the 22/23 self assessment tax return.

So grateful nation, I have paid double tax on a week of the generous increase I was awarded in April 2021 (Fortunately the second “Kent” version of the virus did not cause quite the same chaos, though it did cancel Xmas 21).

How long will it be until the Home office silo manages to align itself with the Treasury one ?

Don’t hold your breath.

https://www.moorepay.co.uk/blog/why-does-the-uk-tax-year-run-from-april-to-april/f