The Lemon Fool

SIPP newbie question - do claims for additional tax back on SIPP contributions need to be sent to HMRC at a specific time during the tax year? I've got contributions starting during the 2020-2021 tax year and some from this current year.

Also, having heard that you don't need to complete an entire tax return if you're just claiming back tax on SIPP contributions, I found a template on the Hargreaves Lansdown site which is basically a letter to HMRC telling them what contributions have been made - is it really that straightforward to claim it back?

Many thanks.

iambic wrote:SIPP newbie question - do claims for additional tax back on SIPP contributions need to be sent to HMRC at a specific time during the tax year? I've got contributions starting during the 2020-2021 tax year and some from this current year.

For a basic rate taxpayer making personal contributions, nothing needs to be done as they pay 80% of the gross contribution to the SIPP provider and the provider and HMRC do the rest. The balance will show up in the SIPP account after about 10 weeks.

For a higher rate taxpayer, the reclaim goes in with the rest of the tax return. There may not be a refund, just less tax is owed, A tax return or perhaps letter if the tax affairs are otherwise straightforward can go in at any time before January 31st 2022 for the tax year ending April 5th 2021.

Alaric wrote:For a higher rate taxpayer, the reclaim goes in with the rest of the tax return. There may not be a refund, just less tax is owed, A tax return or perhaps letter if the tax affairs are otherwise straightforward can go in at any time before January 31st 2022 for the tax year ending April 5th 2021.

Many thanks Alaric. I don't submit a tax return, so will go down the route of sending a letter instead.

The link to the letter template I found (in case it's useful to anyone seeing this post) is at: https://www.hl.co.uk/help/sipp,-drawdown-and-annuity/sipp/tax-relief/how-do-i-claim-higher-rate-tax-relief

What I do and have done over many years is take my SIPP withdrawal-some times once a year -occasionally twice
My provider pays me less a tax deduction
If this tax deduction is too much I reclaim the balance online using a R55 form
The refund is usually paid to me within a month
Very straight forward
xxd09