If your employer is using the ‘relief at source’ tax arrangement where your contributions are deducted after tax, we’ll automatically claim tax relief for you, adding the basic tax rate of 20% to your pension contributions. We can receive this payment for tax relief from HMRC up to 12 weeks after your contributions are made into your pension pot.

If you’re a higher rate taxpayer, we can’t comment on how long it takes to receive the extra tax relief – you’ll need to contact HMRC.

If you make direct payments to us or your employer deducts your contributions after tax (this is known as relief at source), then we’ll automatically claim tax relief for you, adding the basic tax rate of 20% to your contributions. If you pay the Scottish starter rate of Income Tax at 19%, we’ll still give you tax relief at 20% and HMRC won’t ask you to repay the difference – so you won’t need to take any action. If you pay more than 20% tax, then you’ll need to complete a tax return to claim back the extra tax relief from HMRC.

• If your earnings are below the starting rate for income tax, you’ll receive a payment to your bank account from HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) – this will represent the tax relief you would have benefitted from if you were a taxpayer. Find out more.
• However, if your earnings are over the starting rate for income tax, you’ll automatically get tax relief at the highest rate of tax you pay and so you don’t need to claim this back from HMRC.

For more information about tax relief, please visit our pension tax webpage.

• Self-Assessment tax return
• call or write to HM Revenue & Customs if you don’t fill in a tax return.

If you’re an additional rate taxpayer (ie you earn over £125,140 per year and pay 45% tax on this portion), you can only claim your 25% extra via a Self-Assessment tax return.

If you pay pension contributions via the net pay arrangement (before tax has been taken), you’ll receive your full 40%/45% straight away without having to do anything.

If you have any queries on how to claim higher rate tax relief see www.gov.uk/tax-on-your-private-pension/pension-tax-relief

1. Your pension contribution has been taken off your gross salary (ie before your wages have income tax deducted) therefore you aren’t due any tax relief as you’ve already received it.
2. Your pension contributions may be part of a ‘salary sacrifice’ arrangement. This means you’ve given up part of your wages (your sacrifice) which your employer then pays into your pension scheme along with their contribution.

If you’re a higher rate taxpayer with a taxable income of between £100,000 and £125,140, a pension contribution that reduces your taxable income to £100,000 would give an effective rate of tax relief of 60%. For those on higher incomes, or making bigger contributions, the effective rate would be between 40% and 60%.

Pensions and tax can be complex, so it’s a good idea to get some financial advice to find out what’s best for your circumstances. If you don’t have one you can find an adviser via unbiased.co.uk or moneyhelper.org.uk. You should check the adviser is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) by visiting the Financial Services Register at register.fca.org.uk. This gives you greater protection if things go wrong.