Self Assessment Question

fuzzzzy

Is there any need to include payments to a SIPP or charitable giving on self assessment if you are a basic rate tax payer?

Dazed_and_C0nfused

fuzzzzy said:

Is there any need to include payments to a SIPP or charitable giving on self assessment if you are a basic rate tax payer?

Assuming you want to submit an accurate return then yes.

fuzzzzy

My natural inclination is to dig out the correct information but I just wondered if it was strictly necessary.

I know I have paid enough tax to cover gift aid donations and I know my earnings support my pension payments.

Some sources online suggest it is not necessary to include this information on your tax return unless you are wanting to claim extra tax relief.

eskbanker

fuzzzzy said:

My natural inclination is to dig out the correct information but I just wondered if it was strictly necessary.

I know I have paid enough tax to cover gift aid donations and I know my earnings support my pension payments.

Some sources online suggest it is not necessary to include this information on your tax return unless you are wanting to claim extra tax relief.

But when you get to the end and have to declare:

Declaration

I declare that the information I’ve given on this tax return and any supplementary pages is correct and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

I understand that I may have to pay financial penalties and face prosecution if I give false information.

do you then annotate it with "I've chosen to be selective about what I've included"?

fuzzzzy

Ok I'll ignore the online sources I have read on this and include it all.

I guess that as I will be doing self assessments from now on I was just looking for a bit of clarification about things I may be including that weren't necessary.

It can get a bit confusing on a number of other issues too about what needs including. For instance I know that I do need to include all dividends paid to me even if they are less than the allowance, but I can ignore capital gains below the allowance so long as the sale proceeds were less than £50k. Am I correct in this?

eskbanker

fuzzzzy said:

Ok I'll ignore the online sources I have read on this and include it all.

I guess that as I will be doing self assessments from now on I was just looking for a bit of clarification about things I may be including that weren't necessary.

It can get a bit confusing on a number of other issues too about what needs including. For instance I know that I do need to include all dividends paid to me even if they are less than the allowance, but I can ignore capital gains below the allowance so long as the sale proceeds were less than £50k. Am I correct in this?

Self assessment is primarily about income tax, so anything relevant to income tax needs to be declared - dividend income (outside wrappers such as ISAs or pensions) is taxable income even though the bottom slice is taxed at 0%.

When considering 'online sources' it'll generally be best to assess credibility, so the authoritative steer will usually be in the gov.uk pages, so for CGT:

Fill in the ‘Capital Gains Tax summary’ pages if:
• you sold or disposed of chargeable assets which were worth more than £50,000
• your chargeable gains before taking off any losses were more than £3,000 (‘annual exempt amount’)
• you have gains in an earlier year taxable in this period
• you want to claim an allowable capital loss or make a capital gains claim or election for the year
• you were not domiciled in the UK and are claiming to pay tax on your foreign gains on the remittance basis
• you’re chargeable on the remittance basis and have remitted foreign chargeable gains of an earlier year

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/67e1612564220b68ed6a7009/SA108-Notes-2025.pdf

fuzzzzy

Ok thanks. These were the websites I had looked at regarding my original questions. I wasn't sure if they were reliable. I had looked for gov.uk pages but could not seem to find any clarification. I will play it safe and include the payment to my SIPP and charitable giving on my tax return.

https://getpenfold.com/news/self-assessment-tax-return-pension-contributions

https://www.pie.tax/tax-pible/do-i-have-to-declare-gift-aid-on-my-tax-return

Albermarle

fuzzzzy said:

Ok thanks. These were the websites I had looked at regarding my original questions. I wasn't sure if they were reliable. I had looked for gov.uk pages but could not seem to find any clarification. I will play it safe and include the payment to my SIPP and charitable giving on my tax return.

https://getpenfold.com/news/self-assessment-tax-return-pension-contributions

https://www.pie.tax/tax-pible/do-i-have-to-declare-gift-aid-on-my-tax-return

The Penfold link is correct in saying that most people do not have to include their workplace pension contributions, because most people make their workplace pension contribution by Net pay ( before tax) or by salary sacrifice

However they are incorrect to say that a basic rate taxpayer adding to a personal pension where the provider adds basic rate tax relief, does not have to include their gross pension contributions on the return.
Presumably the misunderstanding is that for a basic rate taxpayer, including them on their return will normally make no difference to their tax position, but as explained in previous posts you should include them anyway.

fuzzzzy

Having finally got around to doing my actual tax return online today I realise my questions were a bit premature, as when tailoring the form to your needs it does ask you the direct question of whether you have made contributions to a personal pension or charitable donations with a "yes" or "no" answer, so it is clear that they do need to be included and are not optional.