Could you be owed hundreds of pounds?
If you bought additional pension with a lump sum, quite possibly.
HMRC are not used to dealing with pension schemes that are NOT set up for automatic tax relief.
The relevant HMRC manual page to quote if the first person you talk to doesn’t understand this fully is the 3rd bullet point on this page:
www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/pensions-tax-manual/ptm044210
- where a member makes gross contributions to a registered pension scheme, they can make a claim to HMRC to obtain the tax relief on the contribution. The amount of the contribution is then relieved by being deducted from the member’s total income for the tax year in which the payment is made. The deduction will be shown on the member’s Self-Assessment to give them the correct amount of tax relief. Further information on claims is at PTM044240.
I read Dave’s comment about this on the TES forum website before it was shutdown over a year ago and rang TPS. They told me that I had already had the tax relief and that if I disagreed to write to them. This put me off.
Having watched this video I decided to give it another go and HMRC’s first line responder was still adamant that I was still wrong, but when I persisted with the facts from this video they agreed to pass it on to someone more senior who would get back to me. The NEXT day this person did indeed call me back and confirmed that I WAS OWED a tax refund!
I now have just under £1000 paid back. I very nearly didn’t pursue it – a donation to the Pilgrim’s Hospice (Dave’s favourite charity) is on its way.
Thank you.
I really miss the TES Retirement Forum for Teachers. It was great being able to discuss all sorts of issues with other retired teachers or those planning retirement. Discussion regarding pension income and expenditure plans was very useful. People sharing budgets so others could give their opinions and views was also very useful. Also reading how some made very good retirements for themselves without huge incomes was very encouraging. Discussion about how some topped up their incomes with part time work etc… was also interesting to read about. I cannot find any worthwhile replacement. I also miss the old names.
I was hoping a new forum would emerge here. Perhaps that would be an idea. It could be advertised through TES Facebook and other places. What do you think?
There is this one where a lot of the TES refugees turned to: https://staffroom.boards.net/
I see this site has a Facebook page. Unfortunately I do not have Facebook.
I did try that forum but I am not sure it exists anymore.
I still post there so I know it does exist, once you’ve logged in try using the link again.
I have just checked again. When you bus a list of thousands of forum names. Unfortunately staffroom.net is not one of them. Thanks anyway.
Sorry I meant to say when you log in not bus!
I believe I have managed to request access again. I will let you know.
Just to let you know I am now an approved member of https://staffroom.boards.net/ and have started to post in the retirement section. Many thanks for your help.