gouldec

Thank you for replying, I very much appreciate it. However, my current situation is that tax relief is not given at source - my pension provider claims back 20% tax relief and I have had to claim the extra 20% (as a 40% tax rate payer) by regularly phoning or writing to HMRC. My allowance has been increased to £20,370 to account for this situation, presumably so that I don't have to keep ringing up to get it checked? My pension contribution is 14%, so that's £1040.38/month or £12,484.56/year. What I am trying to do is to make sure I'm not paying too much tax and have to claim it back again. So, my question is: is the amount of tax I am paying this year likely to be correct, given these details? Shouldn't tax relief at source vs after tax paid end up with me being in the same situation in relation to my pension and tax? And why is my tax code set at 2037? Thank you!

I have spent many many hours on the phone to HMRC over the last few years trying to get this sorted. I am still getting refunds due to erroneous calculations from 4 years ago, which has dented my confidence that my tax is now correct! What I have been told also differs from the gov.uk take-home pay / tax calculator using the same details. Could someone explain simply and clearly to me what the calculation should be based on these example figures using what HMRC have told me? Gross pay £89,175 Pension contribution 14% Tax Code (to reflect 40% pension tax relief; 20% is added back into the pot by the pension provider): 2037L Allowance £20,370 Taxable pay £68,805 (deduct allowance) Amount at 20% tax: £37,700, so £7,540 Amount at 40% tax: £31,105, so £12,442 - is that correct or should my pension contribution be accounted for / deducted? Total tax £19,982 or £1,665.17 per month