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Pension Tax Relief Payments

andykent63
Posts: 1 Newbie
Hi, any help or thoughts would be very much appreciated.
I finished work in Febuary 2021 to look after my father so have been using my savings to live on together with a carers allowance of £270 a month.
I had been paying into the works pension for a few years but not in great amounts.
In October 2021 I opened a personal pension plan with Pension Bee and transferred the small amount that was in the works pension into it.
At the same time I also started paying in monthly sums of money using money from my savings.
In the tax year
2021/2022 I paid in £20700
2022/2023 I paid in £12000
2023/2024 paid in so far £7000
Pension Bee have automatically been collecting tax relief from HMRC and adding it to my contributions
2021/2022 HMRC TOP UP £5175
2022/2023 HMRC TOP UP £3000
2023/2024 HMRC TOP UP £1750
I know this is naive but did not realise that there was a limit to what I could pay into the pension and also the tax relief HMRC contributed.
I have read about the 3 year carry forward rule but am really unsure if I can use this to offset any of the HMRC contributions.
Below are my earnings from the last 3 years before I finished work and the pension payments I made into the works pension.
Tax Year
2018/2019 Total Pay £19559 Pension Payment Total £696
2019/2020 Total Pay £18481 Pension Payment Total £2050
2020/2021 Total Pay £15821 Pension Payment Total £2138
If I have to pay all the HMRC contributions back I am happy to do that. I am really worried that I have broken the law.
I am going to ring Pension Bee and talk with them on how to sort this out, but just wanted some insight from others who have a better understanding of this than me.
Thank you so much to anyone who can advise.
Kind regards, andy.
0
Comments
-
Carry forward is not relevant in your case.
Since February 2021, you have had no 'relevant earnings' in relation to claiming tax relief on pension contributions ( carers allowance does not count)
In this case the maximum you are allowed to contribute each tax year is £3,600. That is £2,880 from you and £720 tax relief.
So for tax years 21/22 ; 22/23 and so far in 23/24 you have gained significant more tax relief than you are entitled.
Talk to Pension Bee first, they should be able to unwind the 23/24 contributions, but could be more problematic for the previous two years.
2 -
andykent63 said:If I have to pay all the HMRC contributions back I am happy to do that. I am really worried that I have broken the law.Googling on your question might have been both quicker and easier, if you're only after simple facts rather than opinions!2
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