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Posted Thu, 02 Jan 2025 12:08:14 GMT by Artsiom Mezin
Hello HMRC Community, I hope someone can help me clarify my eligibility for higher-rate tax relief on pension contributions. Background: Last year, I received a bonus from my employer. I requested that this bonus be transferred directly into my pension fund. However, my employer processed the bonus as taxable income, deducting both income tax and National Insurance (NI) contributions before transferring the remaining amount into my pension. I am a higher-rate taxpayer, and I understand that additional tax relief beyond the basic rate (20%) might be available for contributions made to my pension. I want to ensure I claim the correct amount of tax relief and understand whether I am eligible in this specific situation. Questions: Am I eligible to claim higher-rate tax relief on the gross amount of the contribution (i.e., the amount was wired directly to the RAS plus basic-rate relief added by the provider)? Can I claim this relief via self-assessment for the last tax year? If so, what specific information do I need to include in my return? I want to ensure that I maximize the tax efficiency of my pension contributions while staying compliant with HMRC rules. Any guidance would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for your time and assistance!
Posted Fri, 17 Jan 2025 08:59:42 GMT by HMRC Admin 25 Response
Hi Artsiom,
Unfortunately, it is not possible to review personal matters in this forum.
Please contact us here:
Self Assessment: general enquiries
Thank you. 
Posted Sat, 18 Jan 2025 14:59:55 GMT by maxb
@Artsiom It sounds like you're describing a simple case of a personal contribution to a relief-at-source pension, in which case the only information you need to report is the amount. Just be careful you report it for the tax year in which the contribution happened. Check when your pension provided received the contribution if in any doubt. Questions to look for in the online tax return are: "Did you make contributions towards a personal pension or retirement annuity?" "Payments to registered pension schemes (also known as PPR) where basic rate tax relief will be claimed by your pension provider (called 'relief at source'). Enter the payments and basic rate tax:" As the question says, it's asking for the total of the amount paid *and* the basic rate relief claimed. Note that the question is asked about your total contributions for the year - including any regular contributions, not just the one-off contribution. There's another box immediately after that one that asks for just the 'one-off' amount - that's so that your tax code for future years can be adjusted on the assumption you'll continue regular contributions, but not ones you declare there as one-off.

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