Rétrospective pension contributions

[nickfrog]

I understand I can backfill unused pension allowance over the past 3 years and still get the tax relief. I have probably used £20k of the £40k max per annum over the past 3 years although I don't have the exact amounts and I have changed accountants since then.
I have a spare £60k which I would therefore like to pay into one of my pension schemes and get 40% tax relief.
Are there any other constraints and if not how do I actually go about doing it? Would HMRC tell me the exaxt amount of head room I am allowed or it is up to me to work it out? Thanks.

[Mr Pointy]

You need to use up this year's allowance first & then you go back three years:
https://www.hl.co.uk/pensions/contributions/carry-...

You'll need to find out how much you earned & how much was paid into your pension in each year before you go much further. If you earn over £100k then taper relief comes in to reduce your allowance but you need proper advice on this:
https://www.hl.co.uk/pensions/tax-relief

[markiii]

I think you also need to earn enough in the contributing year to cover tha back payments

so you couldn't put 60k in this year (for backdating) if you only earned 50k this year

[Mr Pointy]

markiii said:

I think you also need to earn enough in the contributing year to cover tha back payments

so you couldn't put 60k in this year (for backdating) if you only earned 50k this year

Indeed:
https://www.hl.co.uk/annual-allowance

[nickfrog]

OK thanks a lot. Sounds like I am in the right window in terms of earnings. If I use up this years £40k and have a cumulated £50k of unused allowance over the past 3 years I can therefore pay up to £90k if my salary for this year is £90k. How do I actually do it? Pay a lump sum into pension scheme and hope for the best or is there a process or form?

[markiii]

i think there is an argument for staggering when you pay it in, i.e 60k backdate in one year is unlikely to be all at 40% tax rebate

spread it over multiple years may be

[Mr Pointy]

I'm pretty sure I just sent off the money to the pension institution who credited the 20% basic rate allowance to my account after a few weeks (check if it's automatically reinvested or not - institutions differ).

The other 20% is reclaimed via your SA tax return, but your accountant should be doing this. Just make sure you don't get the calculations wrong or you'll be paying tax on any overpayment (probably at 40%?).

[markiii]

also don't forget the 40k per year limit is inclusive of employer contributions

[nickfrog]

OK thanks, noted and really appreciated. I can have some of it paid by our Ltd company as employers contributions instead of salary or dividend so that might help alleviate any headroom limitations.