Self employed pension contributions & income tax question

MD1970

Hi, I'm 55 and have been self employed for the last 2 years but have not yet put anything into a pension.

I have a modest final salary pension pot of about £85k from a previous job and several small pots totalling about £8k.

I expect my tax liability for 25/26 to be around £3-£5k

Can I take drawdown from my existing pension pots and use it to pay into a new pension and will that reduce my tax bill? ie could I take £5k out, pay it to a new pension and that cancels out the £5k tax bill?

Dazed_and_C0nfused

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6656319/self-employed-pension-contributions-income-tax-question

Final salary pensions don't have a "pot" in the normal sense, they pay you a pension each year in accordance with the scheme rules.

And no, contributing to a pension is almost certainly not going to make any difference whatsoever to your tax liability. Or are you Scottish resident for tax purposes?

You would of course get basic rate tax relief added. For example £10k from you would become £12.5k within the pension.