How to claim the higher rate tax back on pension contributions?

retiringtoosoon

Dazed_and_C0nfused said:

I don't think you'll find it easy to get tax relief on that.

It's very unusual to make a personal contribution without getting basic rate tax relief.  Do you have a statement covering the next couple of months when, with a lot of providers, the basic rate tax relief would have been added?

HMRC don't seem to see what you've apparently done as a valid option.

https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/pensions-tax-manual/ptm044230

I did question it at the time to Standard Life (old pension Er DC pension scheme) and had this response



Been trying to get HMRC to recognise it since



Also to further answer your questions about later statements. No - this was the last transaction on the account before the pension was transfered away to my new employers scheme (note date of contribution statement being June 2022)

molerat

There was another post recently and I believe they did get it sorted eventually but it was an uphill struggle convincing HMRC.

Dazed_and_C0nfused

retiringtoosoon said:

Dazed_and_C0nfused said:

I don't think you'll find it easy to get tax relief on that.

It's very unusual to make a personal contribution without getting basic rate tax relief.  Do you have a statement covering the next couple of months when, with a lot of providers, the basic rate tax relief would have been added?

HMRC don't seem to see what you've apparently done as a valid option.

https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/pensions-tax-manual/ptm044230

I did question it at the time to Standard Life (old pension Er DC pension scheme) and had this response



Been trying to get HMRC to recognise it since

If it's a qualifying payment eligible for tax relief which you have paid direct I don't know why Standard Life wouldn't be responsible for adding the basic rate tax relief 🤔

retiringtoosoon

Dazed_and_C0nfused said:

retiringtoosoon said:

Dazed_and_C0nfused said:

I don't think you'll find it easy to get tax relief on that.

It's very unusual to make a personal contribution without getting basic rate tax relief.  Do you have a statement covering the next couple of months when, with a lot of providers, the basic rate tax relief would have been added?

HMRC don't seem to see what you've apparently done as a valid option.

https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/pensions-tax-manual/ptm044230

I did question it at the time to Standard Life (old pension Er DC pension scheme) and had this response



Been trying to get HMRC to recognise it since

If it's a qualifying payment eligible for tax relief which you have paid direct I don't know why Standard Life wouldn't be responsible for adding the basic rate tax relief 🤔

Indeed! /Shrug

Below is my spreadsheet of payslips for the year (note: the header column for 'AVCs' and 'Car' column do change between employers. Old employer 'AVC' was actually 'Childcare Vouchers' and 'Car allowance' was actually 'AVCs'. i was being lazy in not showing two different headers for each employer).



By my reckoning i've been overcharged PAYE by ~£400.

Albermarle

It could be that the provider is only used to receiving employer payments/salary sacrifice/net payments.
So when you suddenly make a personal contribution, they are not geared up to add the tax relief, or some sort of admin mistake has been made. Or the tax relief will be added later.
This is just a guess and you need to speak first with the pension provider, to clarify why no tax relief has been added to that £2K before approaching HMRC.
If my guess is right there are a couple of other recent threads where something similar happened.

retiringtoosoon

Albermarle said:

It could be that the provider is only used to receiving employer payments/salary sacrifice/net payments.
So when you suddenly make a personal contribution, they are not geared up to add the tax relief, or some sort of admin mistake has been made. Or the tax relief will be added later.
This is just a guess and you need to speak first with the pension provider, to clarify why no tax relief has been added to that £2K before approaching HMRC.
If my guess is right there are a couple of other recent threads where something similar happened.

Yes, that's exactly it i think. Normally they receive payments from employer's HR department. I think the one off payment from myself threw them a wobbly. The fund has since been transferred out to my new employers scheme though now.

I just dont know why HMRC cant pick up the phone or accept emails!

Dazed_and_C0nfused

Albermarle said:

It could be that the provider is only used to receiving employer payments/salary sacrifice/net payments.
So when you suddenly make a personal contribution, they are not geared up to add the tax relief, or some sort of admin mistake has been made. Or the tax relief will be added later.
This is just a guess and you need to speak first with the pension provider, to clarify why no tax relief has been added to that £2K before approaching HMRC.
If my guess is right there are a couple of other recent threads where something similar happened.

Agree with @Albermarle a better explanation is needed from Standard Life before you will get anywhere with HMRC.

What did your P60 show your taxable pay to be for that tax year?  And did you have any other taxable income of note?

Not totally convinced £400 is the correct amount (should any relief be due).

Albermarle

retiringtoosoon said:

Albermarle said:

It could be that the provider is only used to receiving employer payments/salary sacrifice/net payments.
So when you suddenly make a personal contribution, they are not geared up to add the tax relief, or some sort of admin mistake has been made. Or the tax relief will be added later.
This is just a guess and you need to speak first with the pension provider, to clarify why no tax relief has been added to that £2K before approaching HMRC.
If my guess is right there are a couple of other recent threads where something similar happened.

Yes, that's exactly it i think. Normally they receive payments from employer's HR department. I think the one off payment from myself threw them a wobbly. The fund has since been transferred out to my new employers scheme though now.

I just dont know why HMRC cant pick up the phone or accept emails!

There was another thread where the poster was pulling their hair trying to solve exactly this problem. One replay was from someone who had eventually got the problem sorted out. It was a couple of weeks ago I think. 

Albermarle

Found it !
Tax relief on gross Pension Contribution help please — MoneySavingExpert Forum

retiringtoosoon

Dazed_and_C0nfused said:

Albermarle said:

It could be that the provider is only used to receiving employer payments/salary sacrifice/net payments.
So when you suddenly make a personal contribution, they are not geared up to add the tax relief, or some sort of admin mistake has been made. Or the tax relief will be added later.
This is just a guess and you need to speak first with the pension provider, to clarify why no tax relief has been added to that £2K before approaching HMRC.
If my guess is right there are a couple of other recent threads where something similar happened.

Agree with @Albermarle a better explanation is needed from Standard Life before you will get anywhere with HMRC.

What did your P60 show your taxable pay to be for that tax year?  And did you have any other taxable income of note?

Not totally convinced £400 is the correct amount (should any relief be due).

Thanks.

P60 below, which matches my excel file. No other taxable income other than small saving income which is well below £500.

The tax code thing annoys me as they've given me so many different codes throughout the year i dont think they have any idea what it should be. They still havent provided a final tax calculation on the online portal for the year, and no tax code given online as they say they are due to work it out by April 2024....apprarently