carry back pension allowance?

olb81

i've worked at the same place for 19 years but for long period have opted out of payments to the pension.

i'm now 45 and want to catch up, and benefit from tax relief.

However, it says you can only pay in up to your total gross salary per year which mine is around £30,000 give or take.

However, the last 3/4 years I have barely paid in as far as I can remember, so am I allowed to use my previous years allowance and put in a bigger amount this year?

Linton

You cannot carry forward the earnings limit.. You can carry forward another limit, Annual Allowance, but with a gross salary of £30K that would not be relevent anyway as the AA is higher.

Woodstok2000

Were you a member of the scheme, even if you made no payments?

I don't think you can get tax relief from previous years brought forward, but you can use previous year's allowances so that at least you won't have to pay tax again on excess contributions.

dunstonh

carry back pension allowance?

carry back was abolished many years ago. Only carry forward exists today. However, carry forward is not available to you as you do not meet the criteria.

i've worked at the same place for 19 years but for long period have opted out of payments to the pension.

oh dear. all that free money lost.

Marcon

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82153986#Comment_82153986

The requirement is to have been a member of any registered pension scheme, not necessarily this scheme in particular.

You can't use carry forward until you've used up the £60,000 Annual Allowance for the current tax year - and even taking into account the employer contributions OP would get if they join their scheme now, on a salary of £30K they aren't going to do that.

Secret2ndAccount

If you earn 30k, you can pay 30k into your pension. If you do it through your employer, they might take it off at the top of your pay-slip so you don't pay any tax. If you open a SIPP, you pay in 24k and the taxman puts an extra 6k in there for you. (Some employers work it this way too). 30k, or whatever you earn, is your limit. On top of this, presumably your employer is making some contributions too. Those can go in on top of your personal 30k limit.

This limit resets on April 6th, so you could get 30k in this tax year, then continue making large contributions out of your salary after April 6th.

olb81

OK thanks so due to my low salary I cant use any previous allowances which I didnt take advantage of. However I could put 100% my salary going forward and live from my savings?

Marcon

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82154020#Comment_82154020

Technically yes. If you contribute to a relief at source scheme (such as NEST, or a SIPP, both mentioned in your other posts), you pay in 80% of your gross earnings and the taxman adds basic rate tax relief direct to your pension pot.

Looking at those other posts, you say you want a complete change of job and are in your mid-40s and are 'effectively on minimum wage'. Is it really wise to tie up so much cash in a pension you won't be able to access for over a decade, when you might need those funds to live on, help you retrain or whatever? Tax relief now comes at the expense of a serious hit on your cashflow and savings. Obviously it's your call, but once the contribution has been made you can't ask for it back - or rather, you can ask but won't get!

olb81

yeah to be fair I'll probably leave NEST alone at 52k let it grow slowly

May be best to use 150k for a flat purchase

and keep 15k for the fees and emergency fund