Colin

Hi, In March 2022 (just prior to 22/23 tax year) I made a voluntary contribution to a private pension. I was given basis-rate tax relief on this contribution by the pension contribution (i.e. amount paid into fund was my-contribution divided by 0.8). On my 21/22 self-assessment, I included the pension contribution under: "Payments to registered pension schemes where basic rate tax relief will be claimed by your pension provider (called ‘relief at source’). Enter the payments and basic rate tax". The figure I entered was the amount with tax-relief. Midway through 22/23 tax year my tax-code was adjusted (increased) by HMRC with a "Personal Pension Relief" item equal to my pension contribution with tax-relief. Is this tax-code adjustment correct? Since I was given basic-rate tax-relief on the amount paid into my pension, I don't quite see why my tax-code for the following tax-year was adjusted. I'm now looking at my 22/23 self-assessment but would like to understand the above to ensure I file correctly. Thanks

Hi, I'm in the process of completing my 2022/23 self-assessment but confused as to how my tax code factors into the tax calculation. I had a single employment in the year with a final tax code of 2993L (i.e. higher than the default 1257L). The 2993L code has been used by my employer for PAYE, and is shown in my HMRC account as the "closing" tax code for 22/23 tax year. The amount of tax paid through PAYE appears to be correct as per a 2993L code. As others have noted (e.g. https://community.hmrc.gov.uk/customerforums/sa/1923338f-6555-ed11-97b2-00155d9c9a65), the self-assessment tax calculation is based on the default 1257L. I believe that "other expenses and capital allowances" should be used to allow for any expenses in my tax code. What I'm missing is how HMRC arrived at the 2993L coding in the first place. (My tax code was updated during the tax year). Should I be able to access a breakdown of my tax code on-line through my HMRC account? (I no longer receive paper notifications of tax code changes/updates). All I can find on-line is the actual code, but not how it was derived. Thanks!