Self Assessment / pension / tax calculating

chuffinnora

Then why not just put the figures on here and let those that can help you. No-one is going to track you down.

Phossy

I use this

Self Employed Tax Calculator | UK Tax Calculators

though it only looks at Income and pension, not savings.

jnorth55

I'll come at this again, from a different angle. I'd like to understand the effects of pension contributions on tax & whilst I think I do, on paper, when I've tried using various online calculators the results are confusing. What I did yesterday was try them all again with 2 sets of numbers, chosen to try to work out how it works for lower & higher rate tax. Again, these amounts were chosen simply to try to understand either the system or indeed if any of the online calculators appeared to be accurate, or at least consistent. What I think I realised is if someone is able to put into their pension the same amount as their profit it's then only the savings interest that is taxable, meaning, unless the interest is very high, they remain as a lower band tax payer, whereas if the profit is modest & they contribute below that amount they get taxed more than someone earning much more.

I tried the various online calculators again today & they all gave different figures for tax then they did yesterday. Whatever one thinks about the tax / pension system in general I do find it odd that there isn't any reliable calculator available, even on the various free pension advice websites.

jnorth55

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81905471#Comment_81905471

To be frank I never understand why anyone shares actual personal info on open forums. What I asked was if anyone knew of any reliable & accurate online calculators & so far it seems there aren't any. You're welcome to try them yourself, with your own figures from a previous return & you should see that getting one that is always accurate is an issue.

chuffinnora

I understand what you mean, its a good starting point to not share information on the internet. But if peoples usernames are effectively anonymous, there's no real risk if it achieves your goal. There are plenty of contributors here that have shared details, including myself.

There are some very experienced knowledge responders on here.

It just seemed you weren't getting what you were after, so the next stage was to provide the detail. But obviously its a personal choice. I haven't personally found the ideal online calculators but thats because everyones scenario is unique.

jnorth55

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81905948#Comment_81905948

Indeed. I just find it odd that there isn't one where you can enter the 3 factors that effects the result; profit, savings interest & pensions contributions.

cc123mm456

Try this online tool: taxgrid.co.uk

I think it will be exactly what you are looking for.

I got this link from another MSE discussion a while back. I successfully used the tool last year (2024/25 tax year), to check the additional pension contribution that I would need to make before the end of the tax year to remain a basic rate tax payer, thereby keeping the £1,000 savings allowance.

I didn't rely on this tool entirely, but it helped to check my own calculations. The result was confirmed to be correct when I completed my self assessment after the tax year end.

When your income is from self-employment, you can just leave blank the Gross Salary, and input only your savings interest on the main screen. Then under Advanced Options you'll find inputs for Self-employment income, and Pension Contributions.

I expect your pension type will be Relief at Source (RaS), assuming that your pension provider adds the 25% tax relief.

If your aim is to remain a basic rate tax payer, the main thing to check is that the Net Adjusted Income is £50,270 or less. If you want to drill down to more details, open the income tax result section, and there you'll see any income that is in the higher rate band. Then you can adjust the pension contribution amount and recalculate.

The tool also includes calculation of the Class 4 NIC on self-employed profits.

I see that you aren't in Scotland, but for general information, this tool is not set up for Scottish tax.

jnorth55

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81906030#Comment_81906030

Thanks. This one does seem to have all the categories. I've just run the amounts I used to test other online calculators & this one comes up with a different set of results, so I'll spend some time trying to work out why & also test with a previous years return amounts.

update; I tried a few more of the amounts I tested other online calculators with & this one gave totally different results. I also tested it with a previous return & it was almost accurate (a few pounds out). The other calculators I tried were on fairly well known websites so as they gave inaccurate results compared to this one, which seems accurate, that is rather interesting. With this one, Taxgrid, the one things I can't get it to do, which I think I'm correct in my calculations, is to input amounts which should result in the higher tax band relief on pension contributions. As some will no doubt know there is a point at which you can, in effect, have higher profits but pay less tax by using pension contributions, but this calculator doesn't seem to show that.

cc123mm456

To identify the higher tax band relief on pension contributions, this is the way I would do it using this tool....

I would first input the income with the amount of pension contribution already made to date. Then run the calculation and look at the result to check the amount of income that would be in the higher rate tax band.

Then add 80% of that amount to the net pension contribution. This is because the pension provider will add 25%. Then run the calculation again, and the amount in the higher rate band should be reduced to zero, because the basic rate band will be expanded by the gross pension contribution amount.

That is how the tool identifies the tax relief on the HR band. By comparing the 2 results, before and after the increase to the pension contribution.

Maybe an example will help. Here's an example with test numbers:

Savings Interest: £8,000
Self-employment Profit: £60,000
Pension contribution already made £8,000 net / £10,000 gross

This calculates a Net Adjusted Income of £58,000

The Income Tax Results reports that the Higher Rate Band amount is £7,730. Multiply it by 0.8 = £6,184.

Then add that to the net pension contribution (making it £14,184 net / £17,730 gross) and recalculate. The new result will show that the basic rate band is increased by £7,730 and this clears the amount that was in the higher rate band. Therefore, the savings allowance becomes £1,000 instead of £500.

In that scenario, I would then know that the addition pension contribution I will need to make by the end of the tax year will be £6,184 net. I would probably round it up to £6,200 for a margin of error.

I hope this helps.

jnorth55

Thanks. That is useful information.