For the last few years, I’ve paid into a personal pension scheme but I have never shown those payments on my tax return. Is it too late to get higher rate tax relief for those pension contributions?
As a higher rate taxpayer you should enter on your tax return the gross amount of personal pension contributions you paid in the tax year, to claim the additional 18% tax relief available, for the tax years up to and including 2007/08. So for every £78 you paid (equivalent to £100 gross), you should receive tax relief of £18. You are still within time to make a claim for 2006/07. Just write to the tax office where you submitted your tax return saying you are making an amendment to your 2006/07 return and provide details of the gross pension contribution paid. For the years back to 2000/01 you could make so-called error and mistake claims. We can help you with this, but the Taxman is not obliged to accept this special claim.
