Mmarcus

I am supporting a Student Finance England (SFE) application for my son and need to answer the following question for the 2023-2024 tax year: "How much did you pay into private pensions during tax year 2023 to 2024? Do not include pension contributions from your payslip or workplace pensions." I contribute to a personal pension under the relief at source system, where I pay a net amount, and the pension provider claims 20% basic rate tax relief from HMRC. For example, if I paid £8,000, the provider claims £2,000, making the total contribution £10,000. For SFE’s form, should I report: The net amount I paid (e.g., £8,000, before tax relief)? Or the gross amount including the 20% tax relief (e.g., £10,000, as reported in HMRC Self Assessment for “Payments to registered pension schemes”)? I’m confused because HMRC’s Self Assessment asks for the gross amount (including tax relief), but SFE’s question seems to focus on the amount I paid, suggesting the net amount to reflect disposable income. There’s no explicit guidance on GOV.UK or SFE’s website clarifying this. Can HMRC or anyone familiar with SFE’s income assessment confirm which amount to report? If SFE expects the net amount, how does this align with the gross amount reported to HMRC? Any official guidance or references would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!