Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimates they have of (1) how many higher rate taxpayers fail to claim higher rate tax relief, and (2) how much higher rate tax relief is unclaimed each year, in relief at source pensions.

HM Revenue and Customs can provide estimates of the number of women and men earning income below the personal allowance threshold who contribute to a net pay or a relief at source pension scheme over a three year period. These figures are set out in the table below.

These figures are produced using HMRC’s Real Time Information data to identify taxpayers who contribute to relief at source and net pay pension schemes, which is then combined with the Survey of Personal Incomes to obtain information on income and gender. The most recent tax/year for which these estimates are available is 2016/17.

Number of individuals earning below the Personal Allowance making workplace pension contributions into net pay and relief at source pension schemes (Figures are in thousands)

Note: (1) Personal Allowances for the respective tax years: £10,000 in 2014/15, £10,600 in 2015/16 and £11,000 in 2016/17; (2) Figures are rounded to neared 100 thousand; (3) Figures by gender may not sum to total due to rounding

Source: Real Time Information and Survey of Personal Income Data for 2014/15, 2015/16 and 2016/17.

There may be individuals who have both relief at source and net pay pension schemes. The relief at source pension schemes data only shows individuals who are part of an employer-sponsored or provided pension scheme.

An estimate of the number of disabled people who earn less than the personal allowance and are contributing to a net pay pension scheme is not available. The relevant HM Revenue and Customs’ administrative data does not contain information on disability.

An estimate for the number of taxpayers with relief at source pensions who fail to claim higher rate tax relief, and how much higher rate tax relief is unclaimed each year, is not available.