Claiming higher rate pension tax relief for a one-off contribution of £85,000 in 21/22

I am a higher-rate tax payer with an income of £100,000. I made a one-off contribution to my pension of £85,000 in November 2021 but I did not use my Self Assessment to claim higher rate tax relief on this in tax year 21/22 or later years (family issues, wasn't quite on top of some of the admin). I didn't make any pension contributions in 20/21 or 21/22. I contributed £2,300 in 22/23. Can I claim higher rate tax relief for the £85,000 contribution in 21/22? This exceeds the £60,000 annual limit but can I claim £60k higher rate tax relief in 21/22 and the remainder in 22/23? If so, how? Do I need to write to HMRC to claim for the whole amount or do I need to write for 21/22 and adjust my Self Assessment return for 22/23 to claim relief for the balance of £27,300 (£25,000 + £2,300)? Thanks.

Hi,

As back to the 2021/22 tax year any amendment to your Self Assessment tax return will be needed in writing. See link below:

Self Assessment tax returns

Thank you.

Hi, not HMRC Admin but to answer your other question, you'd have to claim the whole £85,000 in the 21/22 return. If you have unused allowance (the 60k) from the previous 3 years this will prevent you getting a tax charge in the 21/22 year for the excess 25k you contributed. You will only receive higher rate relief to the extent you paid higher rate. So if your earnings were 70k, you would only get higher rate relief on 20k of the 85k contribution. Hope that clarifies things for you.