mikesykes

I have a query regarding Basic rate tax relief on personal contributions, which i believe are being excluded from the tax "reliefs" that are calculated via self assessment. I wanted to double check my understanding. To clarify what i mean above, if a higher or additional rate earner wants to reduce their overall tax burden, one way of doing this is via personal pension contributions (for instance via a SIPP, obviously within the limits of the annual allowance and carry-forward rules). Assuming relief at source, the basic rate relief is effectively claimed via the pension provider but the higher/additional rate relief is claimed via completing self assessment (resulting in an increase in basic rate banding and usually resulting in a refund from HMRC via self assessment assuming the earner is a salaried PAYE employee) I understand all of the above mechanics well, but if even more tax relief was desired on top of the pension relief one scenario is that the earner could look into making investments which result in an income tax rebate, such as VCTs, EIS or SEIS (or some combination of these). One theoretical scenario would be that the earner not only invests in personal pension contributions but also puts enough into VCT/EIS/SEIS to effectively achieve a 100% refund of all tax paid, via their self assessment.However i have noticed that interestingly the self assessment calculations don't seem to factor in basic rate relief received inside the SIPP, so effectively in the 100% refund self assessment scenario the earner is actually receiving a net tax credit from HMRC taking into account the basic rate pension relief? In this above scenario, is it right to think of that the basic rate tax relief claimed via relief at source in the pension is 100% still valid or could it theoretically be clawed back? My impression is that basic rate relief pretty much applies to all personal pension contributions (no questions asked) assuming a person is working and earning normally, with one argument being that the "relief" is there partly to encourage pension investment but it is actually excluded from self assessment calculations (one key reason for which might be that you are eventually subject to tax on the way out with the pension). Many thanks in advance for hopefully clarifying my understanding. I hope the above makes sense. I believe the above is