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

retiringtoosoon

Albermarle said:

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

So...reading through that....do i need to make a complaint to .....HMRC? Standard Life?

It cant be that an unusual situation. I fear speaking to anyone on the phone at HMRC wont get anywhere as they'll not understand the problem. Particularly if they cant see evidence as provided in prior posts. An email address for them would help!

Dazed_and_C0nfused

If you have no other taxable income then your tax code would normally be pretty straightforward.

Not sure how you can't have a tax code half way through the tax year though 😳.

Depending on what your additional tax code allowances for 2021-22 relate to then if you do eventually get the relief from HMRC it looks like it will be a mix of saving some 20% and some 40%.

If your interest is less than £500 then it will still all be taxed at 0%, nothing will change in that respect.

But you could then become eligible for Marriage Allowance (either as applicant or recipient).

retiringtoosoon

Dazed_and_C0nfused said:

If you have no other taxable income then your tax code would normally be pretty straightforward.

Not sure how you can't have a tax code half way through the tax year though 😳.

Depending on what your additional tax code allowances for 2021-22 relate to then if you do eventually get the relief from HMRC it looks like it will be a mix of saving some 20% and some 40%.

If your interest is less than £500 then it will still all be taxed at 0%, nothing will change in that respect.

But you could then become eligible for Marriage Allowance (either as applicant or recipient).

I would have thought my tax code would be simple also. I only have paid income from employment really.

It's not that they havent given me a tax code it's just that they seem to change it on a monthly basis!

My current online tax account shows:

Dazed_and_C0nfused

You're getting a bit confused.

Tax codes cannot be allocated once a tax year has ended.  And are only ever provisional anyway, the overall position is reviewed after the year has ended and any tax refund due or extra tax to be paid sorted then.

Tax code 1515L shows you have some additional tax code allowances over and above the Personal Allowance but without knowing the precise make up of the code it's impossible to know exactly how that will impact things.

Dazed_and_C0nfused

retiringtoosoon said:

Albermarle said:

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

So...reading through that....do i need to make a complaint to .....HMRC? Standard Life?

It cant be that an unusual situation. I fear speaking to anyone on the phone at HMRC wont get anywhere as they'll not understand the problem. Particularly if they cant see evidence as provided in prior posts. An email address for them would help!

I would say it's very unusual.

There are three methods pension contributions are usually made,

Relief at source
Net pay
Gross contribution to an occupational pension where no tax relief is given at the time of payment i.e. outside payroll

And people can sacrifice salary in return for employer pension contributions but there is never any pension tax relief with those no relief is due for employer contributions.

retiringtoosoon

Dazed_and_C0nfused said:

You're getting a bit confused.

Tax codes cannot be allocated once a tax year has ended.  And are only ever provisional anyway, the overall position is reviewed after the year has ended and any tax refund due or extra tax to be paid sorted then.

Tax code 1515L shows you have some additional tax code allowances over and above the Personal Allowance but without knowing the precise make up of the code it's impossible to know exactly how that will impact things.

I get that they can change the tax code on a whim - but there's no anlaysis of how they came to any of the tax codes they've given to me during the year.

I would expect my tax code to be 1288L, the standard allowance for those working from home during covid i think. They seem to come up with a number of different codes throughout the year: 1315L on my P60. 1515L from the personal tax account.....

In my mind the 2021/22 tax due is:

Taxable income: £51,126
Less PA: £14,880 (being the standard £12,880 + £2,000 from the one off pension contribution)
Subject to Basic Rate: £36,257 @ 20% = £7,251

Compared to PAYE of £7,650

Dazed_and_C0nfused

You could be correct but it partly depends on why your tax code allowances were ~1515(0) rather than 1288(2).

It could well be you owe tax from too many tax code allowances and that will be recovered from the overpayment from the pension contribution (assuming you eventually get relief on that) leaving a net refund of about £400.

retiringtoosoon

Dazed_and_C0nfused said:

You could be correct but it partly depends on why your tax code allowances were ~1515(0) rather than 1288(2).

It could well be you owe tax from too many tax code allowances and that will be recovered from the overpayment from the pension contribution (assuming you eventually get relief on that) leaving a net refund of about £400.

It's just so very frustrating as I cant get hold of anyone to explore and probe the situation. Standard life's messages from last year was to tell HMRC. HMRC are broadly uncontactable and when i get through they dont understand the situation, promise to escalate and then hear nothing. There's no analysis on the online portal to check as they havent calculated my 2021/22 position as yet but promise to do it by April next year....or so they say.

Prism

I have always found that the only way to have complete visability of tax and pension contributions is to do a tax return. No need to talk to HMRC. I can't remember if there is an option to tell them that you had no tex rebate at all though.

retiringtoosoon

Prism said:

I have always found that the only way to have complete visability of tax and pension contributions is to do a tax return. No need to talk to HMRC. I can't remember if there is an option to tell them that you had no tex rebate at all though.

I completed a tax return for the first time this year for 2022/23 period - whilst completing it i did check whether there was a way to declare payments made to pension without tax relief and couldnt find a section.