Claiming back historic higher-rate tax relief?

[OzzyR1]

Brother has a workplace pension he pays into which includes basic rate tax relief on contributions.

3 or 4 years ago, his salary increased to £50K+ p/a and has risen further since. Been told by his work that he should have claimed higher rate relief on any pension contributions via HMRC himself but hasn't done so.

My own arrangements are different (LLP) so I'm not best placed to advise - hence my post here.

He asked if it was a matter of sending a letter to HMRC stating annual contributions & including relevant P60s which I think is the case, but please let me know if I am wrong!

He also asked how any previous relief might be refunded. No idea myself but guessing either cheque or adjustment of future tax-code - can anyone confirm?

[Crumpet]

I made a large pension payment last year to max out my allowance for the last three years (I normally salary sacrifice). The pension provider provided the basic rate relief at source. I then sent HMRC a letter explaining what I’d earned each year (as well as the P60s), what I’d paid into my pension each year (backed up by pension statements), what I’d just paid in (backed up by a statement) and my own calculations as to what HMRC owed me based on how I wanted to allocate my payment.

That was all back in January this year. I heard nothing from them and couldn’t get through to them on the phone. Then last month a cheque arrived in the post and a calculation from HMRC for roughly what I was claiming.

All very simple but HMRC are incredibly slow!

[surveyor]

I'm doing this at the moment and it's slow going.

I have been told that I can't go back more than 2 years if I'm using Self Assessment, but I can go back via a claim for Overpayment relief.

Several months in at the moment...