Higher rate tax band - things to be aware of?

I hate HMRC, every single interaction I have had with them has simply been nothing other than pure pain.
I have been given bad/wrong advice by their "support" staff every time.
I guess this is why people hire accounting help.
 
Its what I do. Its why I no longer have a soul, it seems. And just because you deal with HMRC on a regular basis, doesn't make it any easier, if that's any sort of consolation.
 
It’s all there. Ignorance isn’t an excuse. Self assessment is easy compared to trying to get a visa for a non European citizen …
 
Simon said:
It’s all there. Ignorance isn’t an excuse. Self assessment is easy compared to trying to get a visa for a non European citizen …
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IF you know where to look, the front page of the self assessment makes no reference to it. It can only be incompetence or malicious. Not sure what is worse.

I check that page each year as I linked, and it makes no reference to it, and to my knowledge, never has.

We all know ignorance makes no difference to HMRC, but they make not being ignorant far harder than it should be.
 
NotAGolf said:
I'm due to start a new job soon which will push me into the higher rate tax band.

- I will likely need to complete a self assessment tax form to claim for the additional 20% tax relief on my pension contributions (a salary sacrifice scheme is not available)
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You can let HMRC know how much you are paying into your pension and they will adjust your tax code so no need for a Self Assessment, I've been doing it this way for quite a few years.
 
Cycle to work
Massively increase your pension
Any pretax schemes at work?
Any opportunity for like company shares or anything?

Dump everything you can into any optional extras you can get to mitigate the tax

Suppose it depends how far into the tax band you are
 
LabR@t said:
Can I increase pension contributions to stay under the threshold?
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Yes, if you do it by salary sacrifice.

Employers like salary sacrifice because they don't have to pay NI on the amount sacrificed. Where I work there is both a defined benefit pension scheme and an optional shared cost AVC where you can create a pot using scarified salary, better than a normal pension scheme because you avoid paying NI on the sacrificed amount.
 
paradigm said:
Not always a great idea to opt out of the child benefits, if your other half isn’t working.

I continue to claim and subsequently pay back the benefit as this keeps my wife “earning” according to PAYE as such is still building her state pension pot.
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I'm sure you can claim now but without receiving the money so you don't have to pay back...I'm sure that's what my wife did....
 
Malt_Vinegar said:
I hate HMRC, every single interaction I have had with them has simply been nothing other than pure pain.
I have been given bad/wrong advice by their "support" staff every time.
I guess this is why people hire accounting help.
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This is exactly why I give it to someone else. Because of property rental and other bits it makes our life a lot easier. I hate HMRC and dealing with all that stuff. And frankly don't have the time or the intelligence to do it myself.
 
CapitalOne said:
There is a limit

https://www.gov.uk/tax-on-your-private-pension

I get an email from HR every April about it
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How does this work with pension contributions taken before tax?

I used to claim my tax back when my contributions were taken after tax, but it's now changed to being taken before tax so I don't bother mentioning it in SA as there's nothing to reclaim. However, this part of your link has me slightly confused...

You usually pay tax if savings in your pension pots go above:
100% of your earnings in a year - this is the limit on tax relief you get
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Surely most pension pots are greater than annual salary, or am I misunderstanding?
 
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