Confused about pension contribution tax year (paid 31 Mar, credited 10 Apr)

ClashCityRocker1

So for Civil Servant paying into AVC with Legal and General does that mean 31 March salary deduction will count as the following tax year when L&G get it (usually about 20th Apr)?

Marcon

There's not much point in giving a link if nobody bothers to read it. See https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/pensions-tax-manual/ptm041000#IDA3SUFG and scroll down to the section headed 

Rules regarding member contributions made at the start or end of a tax year or pension input period

twister_teddy

I provided both payslip and statement from pension provider to ChatGPT and that's what I got below; 
(I removed the amount, my employer and pension provider name from responce below)

Prompt : Act as UK PAYE tax advisor and a pensions expert, review my <employer_name> march payslip and attached pension statements from <pensions_provider>, remember I'm a PAYE employee paying into a SIPP via salary sacrifice. My March 2025 salary was paid on 31 March, and the pension contribution for that month was deducted then. <employer_name> says they sent the payment to the pension provider on 31 March, but it only showed up in my SIPP account on 10 April 2025.

For annual allowance purposes, does this count as a 2024–25 or 2025–26 contribution? I’ve read conflicting info about whether it’s the deduction date or the date the provider actually receives the funds that matters.

TL;DR / Recommendation

The £x pension contribution from your March 2025 salary counts towards the 2024-25 tax year (ending 5 April 2025), not 2025-26. This is because HMRC uses the date the contribution is paid (deducted from your salary), not when it arrives in your SIPP.

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Context & Analysis

Looking at your payslip and pension statement:

From your March payslip (31 March 2025):

• Salary deduction: £x (employee contribution via salary sacrifice)
• Payment date: 31 March 2025
• This was Period 12 (final period of 2024-25 tax year)

From your statement:

• Regular Payment received: 10 April 2025

Validation

You can verify this on:

• HMRC Pensions Tax Manual PTM044100: "A contribution is paid when it is deducted from earnings or otherwise paid away by the member"

twister_teddy

Marcon said:

There's not much point in giving a link if nobody bothers to read it. See https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/pensions-tax-manual/ptm041000#IDA3SUFG and scroll down to the section headed 

Rules regarding member contributions made at the start or end of a tax year or pension input period

This guidance is about personal contributions about payment timing with direct debits or cheques? I'm using salary sacrifice through my employer, not sure this applies?

ClashCityRocker1

Marcon said:

There's not much point in giving a link if nobody bothers to read it. See https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/pensions-tax-manual/ptm041000#IDA3SUFG and scroll down to the section headed 

Rules regarding member contributions made at the start or end of a tax year or pension input period

I read it but didn't really understand - is the Civil Service AVC net pay or relief at source?

DRS1

twister_teddy said:

Marcon said:

There's not much point in giving a link if nobody bothers to read it. See https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/pensions-tax-manual/ptm041000#IDA3SUFG and scroll down to the section headed 

Rules regarding member contributions made at the start or end of a tax year or pension input period

This guidance is about personal contributions about payment timing with direct debits or cheques? I'm using salary sacrifice through my employer, not sure this applies?

Yes I think it would be optimistic to assume that because salary sacrifice looks a bit like net pay therefore the contribution is treated as paid when your salary is paid.  That was why I asked if the same sort of rules re cheques, debit card, direct debit) would apply to employer contributions as apply to employee contributions.  

You may end up having to ask the scheme administrators how they work it out - or just ask them for a pension input amount for 24/5.

ClashCityRocker1

In case anybody ever needs to know, the Civil Service AVC is net pay, so the contribution at end of March will count against the earlier tax year not the April tax year for Annual Allowance purposes.