The Lemon Fool

I retired on 23 April 2020. My employer and l paid a total of £48.67 (£6.64 HMRC tax relief received)into my Nest Pension for that month.
How much more am I allowed to contribute to my Self Invested Personal Pension for 2019/2020? As I am a basic tax payer, do l have to declare my SIPP contribution in my Self Assessment tax return 2019/20?
Many thanks.

Ifnotnow8 wrote:I retired on 23 April 2020. My employer and l paid a total of £48.67 (£6.64 HMRC tax relief received)into my Nest Pension for that month.
How much more am I allowed to contribute to my Self Invested Personal Pension for 2019/2020? As I am a basic tax payer, do l have to declare my SIPP contribution in my Self Assessment tax return 2019/20?

23 April 2020 is in the current tax year, 2020/21...

You can contribute as much as you like but the amount you can get the tax relief boost on is basically the higher of £3,600 (gross) and your earnings, up to a max of £40K.

However there are some quirks. See https://www.moneyadviceservice.org.uk/en/articles/tax-relief-on-pension-contributions

Note that the £3,600 gross / £2,880 net applies even if you're not a tax payer, a rare case of getting tax relief when you haven't paid any tax!

Am I right in thinking that as a basic tax payer, l do not have to inform HMRC of my contribution of £2880 in my self assessment?

Also, my Sipp provider will claim tax relief (20%) and automatically top it up to £3600.
Thanks!

Ifnotnow8 wrote:Am I right in thinking that as a basic tax payer, l do not have to inform HMRC of my contribution of £2880 in my self assessment?

Also, my Sipp provider will claim tax relief (20%) and automatically top it up to £3600.

If you have to submit a self assessment anyway, then I'd think you'd have to enter details of any pension contributions on it.

But your £2880 contribution doesn't in itself trigger a need to self assess.

And yes, your SIPP provider will claim tax relief (20%) and automatically top it up to £3600.

Scott.

Ifnotnow8 wrote:Am I right in thinking that as a basic tax payer, l do not have to inform HMRC of my contribution of £2880 in my self assessment?

The online self assessment asks you if you've made any pension contributions, and if so then (later) asks you for the gross amount. It is not marked as optional.