No pension contribution for 2011, making lump sum contribution now: what tax relief?

Hi all,

I do not have an occupational pension (or at least I'm not currently in the scheme, my employment situation is precarious and I don't want the hassle until I know the company will survive), have a PRSA, haven't made any contributions for two years. I paid less than €5k tax @ 41% in 2011, can I make a lump sum contribution now of an amount smaller than the tax paid to get maximum relief for last year?

If so, what tax relief can I expect? In previous years I remember getting 41% plus some PRSI back, if I recall correctly. After making the contribution via my pension advisor (MyAdvisor.ie, hope he's still in business!), how do I go about claiming the tax relief / what documentation do I need to provide?

Any advice gratefully received.

If you make a contribution before October 31st 2012 then you can set it against tax paid in 2011. You will need to make the contribution AND inform Revenue that you want to claim against last year's tax on or before October 31st. I don't understand your tax figures above (€5K tax at 41%) but you should be able to work out what contribution needs to be made to maximise your tax return subject to your age related tax relief limit on pension contributions. If you make more than this then you can claim tax relief for this year on the balance. If you maximise tax relief this year and still contribute more then you can carry the excess forward. Hope that makes sense?!?

Yeah, that makes sense ClubMan, thank you.

With regard the €5K tax at 41%, what I meant was about €10K or so of my 2011 salary was liable for tax at the highest rate, so I ended up paying below €5K in tax from that section of my annual salary. So I guess I need to make a lump sum contribution of less than this amount in order to get the full 41% tax relief.

Do you know is it still possible to claim PRSI relief, or has that been scrapped.

If you paid 41% on €10K and 20% on the rest then you'll need a €10K pension contribution to claim back the 41% of €10K. You may also be able to claim back PRSI separately - can't remember if the rules changed on this in recent years though? See here: http://www.askaboutmoney.com/showthread.php?t=6248