Higher rate tax relief on one-off pension contributions

Hello, I wrote to HMRC back in March and then again in June to claim back additional higher rate tax relief on some one-off pension contributions I made into my company pension scheme. I could see the letter was received via the HMRC app which is very useful, however, I didn't receive a response apart from an update of "Done" on the app form tracker. I can see that my tax code (tax-free amount) has since changed and gone up but was interested to know if there is a default way of HMRC paying back higher rate tax relief as I thought this might be a cheque or back transfer? It doesn't really matter which, just interested to understand the process better for future reference. What is confusing is that I put in two different claims. After the first claim totalling £2k of one off contributions, my tax code changed and after the second more substantial claim of £8.8k I received an updated tax code where my tax code amount went down rather than up. I was expecting a rebate of £2,160 in total for these two claims based on 20% higher rate tax relief. The additional tax relief falls short of this based on the remaining tax year if indeed this is being refunded via tax code allowance change. Lastly, I hadn't notified HMRC of increases to my salary as well as pension contribution for circa 4 years as I'm a higher rate tax payer so I was expecting a rebate for this too but again wasn't sure if the default is via tax code change, cheque or bank transfer? I have tried to phone up but appreciate you are very busy and the lines always have a long wait time. Many thanks

Hi,

When you submit a claim for tax relief on pension contributions, we would update the record and a tax calculation would be issued for any previous tax years if there was any underpayment or overpayment of tax.

The figures you declare would be used as an estimate going forward and you would receive an amended tax code for the current year to try and give you the tax relief going forward. If you are unsure over the amount that would be due back you can contact our Income Tax team and we can advise how it has been calculated.

https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/hm-revenue-customs/contact/income-tax-enquiries-for-individuals-pensioners-and-employees

Thnak you.

I’ve had a similar issue, I pay pension contributions after tax and the pension company applies 20% tax to the payment. I am a higher (40%) tax payer so I wrote to HMRC and got no response, I then filled in the note/comment on the two affected tax years on the gateway and these were “completed” by HMRC but no response or payment given I’ve tried phoning and given up as you get cut off before actually speaking to anyone so I also wrote again in August and still no response. It’s very poor and I was wanting to make additional payments to my pension but won’t if getting the tax back is this difficult. Is my next step an official complaint?

Hi
I apologise if you haven't had a response.
You should always get a calculation or a letter advising of the updated position.
You will need to contact our Income Tax department again to confirm if it has been actioned:
Income Tax: general enquiries