Claim tax credit for pension contribution lump sum

Hello. I have a workplace pension, I'm a basic rate tax payer. I have made a not insignificant lump sum contribution from savings into my pension. The contribution does not exceed my annual allowance (a sum equivalent to my gross annual salary).The pension provider has said I need to contact HMRC to tell them about the contribution in order to claim the additional tax relief (20%?). However, HMRC have stated that I am not entitled to any tax relief for the contribution I have made. This contradicts information I have read online, have been told by financial advice and by the pension provider themselves. Is this correct, if not, where do I go from here? Thanks and regards, Chris.

Hi,

We would need to access your record to review. You can contact HMRC at:

National Insurance: general enquiries

Thank you.

Thanks for your response, but my enquiry does NOT relate to NI contributions specifically. In short, if pension contributions are made from net pay salary, the "government" will also contribute the 20% PAYE tax I have paid back into the pension pot. This is not NI, it is income tax. I do not submit self assessment, besides, it would be too late to complete a self assessment for the previous tax year Here is the email transcript, I have removed names and amounts: _________________________________________________ Hi C Your Smart Pension account tax relief basis is Net Pay Arrangement, not Relief at Source as HMRC are probably assuming. Your Single contribution has been paid gross out of your own funds and therefore you are entitled to reclaim tax relief on your single contribution. If you use the self assessment process this should automatically calculate the tax relief for you. Kind regards J On Wed, 3 Apr 2024 at 18:08, H wrote: Hello J. I have today, contacted HMRC with regard to claiming the tax relief due on the below contribution. As you may know, I am a basic-rate tax payer and as such, HMRC have informed me I am not entitled to any tax relief, that the 20% relief only applies to the highest rate tax payers. Do you know if this is genuinely the case? HMRC have also stated that SmartPension can contact HMRC directly to query this. I would appreciate that if it were possible. Thanks and kind regards, C. From: J On Behalf Of Single Contributions Sent: 28 March 2024 13:17 To: C@... Subject: Payment confirmation Dear C, Payment confirmation We can confirm we have received your single contribution payment of £XXXXXX. This will be added to your Smart Pension account in the next three to five working days. As explained on the member website information page about single contributions, to claim tax relief on this single contribution, you will need to contact HMRC and provide them with full details of the payment made. If you have any questions, please get in touch with us by email -  Kind regards, J 

[Personal information removed - Admin]

Hi Chris J E Hurrion,
If the pension contribution is less than £10,000 you can contact us by telephone on 0300 200 3300 to have your record updated.
Self Assessment: general enquiries
If over , you need to write in with evidence of the payment to:
HMRX PAYE & Self Assessment BX9 1AS.