Is there an issue with two pension plans?

Savvy

Registered User
Messages
336
Hi,
I have a PRSA that I started in 2003 but I'm also looking to start a pension plan with Quinn direct.Is there any issue with having a PRSA and a personal pension plan at the same time?
Can I claim tax relief for the new plan?
Interested in any/all replies.
S
 
You can contribute to two personal pension plans but you can only get tax relief on one (so defeats the purpose).
 
bocade said:
You can contribute to two personal pension plans but you can only get tax relief on one (so defeats the purpose).
What about regular employer-type pension plans. Can you get tax relief on more than one of these? I work for 2 employers and both contribute towards their (separate) company schemes for me - is this ok?
 
You can contribute to two personal pension plans but you can only get tax relief on one (so defeats the purpose).
This is wrong. I'm assuming original poster is self-employed or in non-pensionable employment, and therefore eligible to contribute to either a PRSA or a Personal Pension. S/he mentioned Personal Pension hence this assumption.

If this is true, there's no limit to the number of Personal Pensions s/he can contribute to. Tax relief on all contributions (added together) will be restricted to the usual age-related limits - 15% up to age 30 etc, 20% up to age 40 etc.

Example - if you're age 42, have net relevant earnings of €100,000 per year, you can pay up to 25% into a Personal Pension, i.e. €25,000. You can have 10 different Personal Pension plans of €2,500 each if you want.

Liam D Ferguson
[broken link removed]
 
Apologies, for some reason I read it as an occupational pension scheme and personal pension (don't know why, now that I re read) where cannot claim tax relief on both. Liam, you are correct of course on the multi personal or multi occupational being OK.
 
Thanks for your replies guys.

That leaves me with one question left then.

Whats the story if in the future I take a permanent position which offers a pension?
One poster states that I would not be able to claim the tax back from the personal/prsa contributions. Is this correct?
 
Tax relief can be claimed at the %'s specified but up to a earnings ceiling of €254,000 i.e. even if you earn over that, 254k is the maximum you can calculate the allowable % on

But if you're on that kind of money you are probably getting your advice elsewhere anyway ...
 
Betsy, my money is a fraction of that!!

So If I join an occupational scheme in the future. I can claim tax relief on those contributions, my prsa contributions and personal contributions up to the limits for my age?
 
You will have to stop your payment on your personnal pension if you go with your company pension, you cannot have both - don't ask me why, I have no clue - My new company has a pension scheme but in order to go with it, I need to resume my payment to my personnal pension which I am hesitating to do - see my post "question about my pension"
 
Savvy,

Just to be clear - if you are not a member of an Occupational Pension Scheme now, you can contribute to Personal Pension(s) or PRSA(s) and claim tax relief on contributions, up to the age-related limits.

If you subsequently join an Occupational Pension Scheme, you don't lose tax relief on the contributions you have already made to Personal Pensions or PRSAs. You simply stop making any more contributions to these private plans and instead make contributions to the OPS, and you'll get tax relief on the OPS contributions.

Before anyone picks me up on the technical point - it is permissible to make contributions to an Occupational Pension Scheme and a Personal Pension at the same time, but if there's only one source of income you'll only get tax relief on the OPS contributions, so there's no point in continuing to pay into a Personal Pension. If you have two sources of income, e.g. a PAYE job and some self-employed work, you can treat them as two separate incomes and claim tax relief on both private pension and OPS contributions.