How to claim higher rate tax relief on pension contributions

camxg1977

Hello, I am doing my self assessment just now but have no idea how to activate the option to claim higher rate tax relief on pension contributions.  I presume it is by choosing yes or no to one of the questions in the setup, or by submitting a supplementary form.  Any help would be most welcome.

Dazed_and_C0nfused

For the avoidance of doubt which method do you use to get money into your pension?

Net pay

Relief at source

Salary sacrifice 

Marcon

camxg1977 said:

Hello, I am doing my self assessment just now but have no idea how to activate the option to claim higher rate tax relief on pension contributions.  I presume it is by choosing yes or no to one of the questions in the setup, or by submitting a supplementary form.  Any help would be most welcome.

If you are talking about personal contributions made to a relief at source scheme (typically a SIPP or other defined contribution arrangement), then you simply include the figures in the relevant section of your tax return.

Look for the section headed 'Tax reliefs', and then 'Paying into registered pension schemes and overseas pension schemes'.

There is nothing to activate, nothing to do with the setup and no need for a supplementary form. Edit - apologies, I was looking at the paper version!

camxg1977

Hello All, It is relief at source.  I can't see the 'Tax reliefs' nor 'Paying into registered pension schemes and overseas pension schemes' sections I am afraid.

Dazed_and_C0nfused

You need to tailor your return correctly.

If you work through the questions you really can't go wrong

Marcon

camxg1977 said:

Hello All, It is relief at source.  I can't see the 'Tax reliefs' nor 'Paying into registered pension schemes and overseas pension schemes' sections I am afraid.

If you work through the 'tailor your return' section you'll get to:

In the tax year 6 April 2021 to 5 April 2022:

Did you make contributions towards a personal pension or retirement annuity? This does not include payments you make to your employer's pension scheme, which are deducted from your pay:

If you tick the box marked yes, that will then active the necessary page for you to complete (you may need to go through the 'check your progress' loop to see the relevant page).

camxg1977

I have now managed to activate the setup option that allows access to the tax relief options.  My next question is that the form asks for the pension contribution and the basic rate of tax, but only seems to accept one figure (presumably the pension contribution).  Can I just enter the pension contribution and assume the rate of tax is available to the reviewer from the other data entered?

Dazed_and_C0nfused

camxg1977 said:

I have now managed to activate the setup option that allows access to the tax relief options.  My next question is that the form asks for the pension contribution and the basic rate of tax, but only seems to accept one figure (presumably the pension contribution).  Can I just enter the pension contribution and assume the rate of tax is available to the reviewer from the other data entered?

Have you read the help notes available?

The paper version states this,

Personal contributions that had tax relief in the scheme

Box 1: Payments to registered pension schemes operating relief at source

Under the relief at source system, your pension provider claims basic rate tax relief (of 20%) on your personal contributions and adds that to your pension pot.

Put the total amount in box 1. The total amount is your personal contributions paid to the scheme, plus the basic rate tax relief. Include any one-off contributions you made in the year and provide the details of any one-off contributions in the Any other information section on page TR 7.

One-off payments are payments made in the year to 5 April 2022 that you do not intend to repeat in the year 5 April 2023. If you think the information you are adding will affect your 6 April 2022 to 5 April 2023 PAYE tax code, there is guidance about how to let HMRC know about the change on GOV.UK.

Use the pension certificate or receipt you get from the administrator to fill in box 1 or work out the figure by dividing the amount you actually paid by 80 and multiplying the result by 100.

Strummer22

camxg1977 said:

I have now managed to activate the setup option that allows access to the tax relief options.  My next question is that the form asks for the pension contribution and the basic rate of tax, but only seems to accept one figure (presumably the pension contribution).  Can I just enter the pension contribution and assume the rate of tax is available to the reviewer from the other data entered?

Just responding here because I had the same question. @Dazed_and_C0nfused's response is correct, but the online version is written differently. In the online form, HMRC do indeed ask for "the pension contribution and the basic rate of tax". Of course, HMRC knows that the basic rate of tax is 20% (19% in Scotland, although Scots still get 20% tax relief), so that's not what they're asking for. What they actually mean, although its as clear as mud, is "the pension contribution plus the tax relief already applied on that contribution". 

If you pay £100 into your pension, you receive tax relief of £25. It's not £20 because, for a basic rate tax payer to get that £125 into their pension, they need to contribute 80% and the tax man 20%, and 20% of £125 is £25. So for every £100 you paid into your pension, you need to put £125 as your answer to this question.