Client’s Situation:
Mr M has an existing Personal Pension plan that we originally set-up for him and which we review annually in a face to face meeting with him. As the client’s investments are greater than £100,000, we provide an enhanced ongoing service to him which includes both the review of the plan and additional services, including if required a review of his tax situation. We recently held a review meeting when he provided us with details of his current tax calculation recently received from HMRC.
Client Objectives and Needs:
The client wished for us to check his tax calculation to ensure, firstly, it was correct but, secondly, to explore whether there are any ways in which he can reduce his tax liability, particularly in respect of Income Tax. The client explained that he was previously a higher rate taxpayer, however in the current tax year he will be a basic rate taxpayer having reduced his working hours in the run up to retirement.
Actions Taken:
During the meeting we went through Mr M’s tax calculation which showed that in the previous tax year he had been a higher rate taxpayer and indeed had been a higher rate taxpayer for at least three years before that. As the client would be a basic rate taxpayer in the current tax year, I explained to him that as his wife is a non-taxpayer, she could arrange to transfer 10% of her personal allowance across to him which would result in a tax saving for the year of £230. We went through the application online, as his wife was also present at the meeting, to put this in place.
We also noticed that his personal pension contributions, which were around £3,000 per annum, were not showing on his tax calculation and, as a result, it was likely that he was not receiving the full tax relief on these and therefore would likely be entitled to a refund of tax. We discussed the implications of this and agreed to look into this for the client.
Solution:
Following our meeting and having spoken with HMRC, I advised Mr M that a refund in respect of tax relief not claimed in respect of his contributions was possible going back a maximum of 6 years. In view of this, we would be prepared to deal with the reclaim on his behalf, for which we discussed and agreed a fixed fee given this is additional work not included as part of our ongoing service. We obtained the client’s agency agreement for us to deal directly with HMRC on his behalf and obtained the information on his pension contributions for the previous 6 years from his pension provider, which we sent to HMRC with a covering letter requesting the reclaim of tax.
Outcome:
By identifying the error on his tax return and dealing with the matter on his behalf, Mr M received a substantial tax refund from HMRC. Without our intervention, he would likely have never become aware of this matter and was very pleased with our actions on his behalf and the value that we added with our ongoing service.