Income tax question
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Inspectorclueso

Original Poster:

785 posts

275 months

Wednesday 13th November 2019
quotequote all
Hi all, quick question on an income tax scenario.

Say you have worked from April (start of tax year) up to middle of March in the same tax year and earned enough to be in higher rate well within that tax year. Then you are due a large payment as part of a redundancy agreement. If the redundancy and PILON (pay in lieu of notice) was physically paid to you after April the 6th i.e. the next tax year, does it fall into that next years allowances and hence qualify for lower tax deductions ? Albeit I recognise that if you then bean earning again, you would likely be straight into higher rate.

Any views / knowledge appreciated.

RobXjcoupe

3,390 posts

114 months

Wednesday 13th November 2019
quotequote all
Yes! But the first £30k of redundancy money is tax free regardless.
So ideally, the payoff money should be received in the next tax year otherwise it simply adds on to your earnings so far. Then as you say, if you are employed in the payoff tax year you will be taxed as the average inclusive of the payoff money.
If you have a private pension plan you can put a lump sum in that tax free and I believe you can back date 3 years. You claim the tax back if you can’t get your employer to put the lump sum direct into a personal pension plan.

Inspectorclueso

Original Poster:

785 posts

275 months

Wednesday 13th November 2019
quotequote all
Thanks for reply. That’s what I expected, but need to get some advice on the pension. I have two work related schemes so need to look at the options. Thx.

RobXjcoupe

3,390 posts

114 months

Wednesday 13th November 2019
quotequote all
Inspectorclueso said:
Thanks for reply. That’s what I expected, but need to get some advice on the pension. I have two work related schemes so need to look at the options. Thx.
Your first company pension you can’t add anything additional to. Your second stake holder pension is the one you can add the lump sum to. £40k per year tax free. If your company can add the lump sum to the stake holder pension it saves the grief of claiming the tax back via hmrc

Sy1441

1,283 posts

183 months

Monday 18th November 2019
quotequote all
RobXjcoupe said:
Yes! But the first £30k of redundancy money is tax free regardless.
So ideally, the payoff money should be received in the next tax year otherwise it simply adds on to your earnings so far. Then as you say, if you are employed in the payoff tax year you will be taxed as the average inclusive of the payoff money.
If you have a private pension plan you can put a lump sum in that tax free and I believe you can back date 3 years. You claim the tax back if you can’t get your employer to put the lump sum direct into a personal pension plan.
Redundancy up to £30k is tax free, PILON is taxable.

RobXjcoupe

3,390 posts

114 months

Monday 18th November 2019
quotequote all
Sy1441 said:
RobXjcoupe said:
Yes! But the first £30k of redundancy money is tax free regardless.
So ideally, the payoff money should be received in the next tax year otherwise it simply adds on to your earnings so far. Then as you say, if you are employed in the payoff tax year you will be taxed as the average inclusive of the payoff money.
If you have a private pension plan you can put a lump sum in that tax free and I believe you can back date 3 years. You claim the tax back if you can’t get your employer to put the lump sum direct into a personal pension plan.
Redundancy up to £30k is tax free, PILON is taxable.
The basics is the pension is taxable once it’s being paid back at a lower rate. If you opted for salary sacrifice it’s placed in a pension before it’s taxed and you pay less tax on earnings as you are technically earning less ie your earnings minus any pension payment.
For example gross pay could be £1k a week and pension via salary sacrifice totals £300 a week. New taxable pay is £700 a week. Your earnings per year are only £36,400 compared to £52,000 but you have still paid Into a work pension. You can do that up to £40k per year.