FAVC and tax relief - simple question!

kennysarmy

Hello,

Last night I was with some friends, two of whom advised me that if I pay in to a FAVC I should be able to claim tax relief on the amount I pay each month...AND that I could be able to claim back 7 years of over payment?

I have no idea....

Is there any truth to this?
Under what conditions is it right?
How do I go about following up on this?

I am currently full time employed for an local authority if that makes any difference.

Thanks!

dunstonh

FSAVCs (which I think you mean) dont exist any more and tax relief is based on years of contribution. The ability to contribute and go back to past years hasnt been available for many years.

Any legacy FSAVCs (those set up before they were made obsolete) are now classed as personal pensions.

kennysarmy

damn if they don't exist anymore where is my money going each month

so I guess the asnwer is no then.....no cheque coming from the tax-man...

I only pay in a small amount each month anyway...have been doing this for 15 years....the idea was it enabled me to take part of my local governament pension as a lump sum when I retired and then use the FSAVC to top this up....

dunstonh

damn if they don't exist anymore where is my money going each month

Its now classed as a personal pension and works under personal pension rules. Rule change was April 06.

In house AVCs are no longer compulsary to be offered either and occ schemes have been withdrawing these fairly quickly on the whole for new applications.

John_Pierpoint

I don't want to hijack this thread, but I too have an old FSAVC and an AVC (I took out the FSAVC to avoid additional rate income tax in the early 90's and a few years later my then company started offering the same thing on an AVC basis, which worked out better value and was a lot less hassle).
I've not yet called on the funds at Standard Life. Do the changes mean I can get out a lump sum as well as a pension, now that I am in my 60's and a self employed sole trader?
Could I consolidate these funds into a modest private pension fund I now have at Hargreaves Lansdown?.

dunstonh

Yes. The ability to take 25% Tax free cash on AVC/FSAVCs was part of the changes.

FSAVCs can be transferred to SIPPs, stakeholders and personal pensions now.