Calculating Max Contribution for an AVC

hadrian

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A friend of mine asked me to calculate what contribution she should make to an AVC in order to take maximum advantage of the tax relief available.



Initially I thought I could probably answer the question easily but its quickly become clear it might not be as simple as I thought.



She is public sector in her mid forties, her annual gross is 80,575 and she has a small additional income linked to her main employment that was worth 5,432.



She paid tax of 16,447, a pension contribution of 7,943 (comprising of “pensions grouped” and “Additional Superannuation Contribution (A” aka ASC I presume) and 1230 spouses and children on the main employment and the total income tax paid on the 5,432 was 2,172…its under prsi class S0/S1…I haven’t included USC and salary protection deductions in that as I assume they don’t affect calculation?



As she is between 40 and 49 and below the 115,000 is it as clearcut as saying she can contribute 86,007 x 25% = 21,501.75 to an AVC and get 8,600 of that back in tax relief?





Or do you have to take other things into account like reducing the gross by the amount of pension related deductions



Eg: 86,007 – 7,943 -1,230 = 76,834

then 76,834 x 25% = 19,208.50

contribute 19,208.50 to an AVC and get 7,683.40 of that back in tax relief





Or can you only get 40% back on the portion of income that was taxed at 40%



Eg: if she has a SRCOP of 42,000 (I don’t know what it is but just for the purposes of the example)



Then anything above 42,000 is taxed at 40%



So 86,007 -42,000 = 44,007



44,007 X 40% = 17,602 is paid at 40%



Within percentage limit (which she could be within as it might be 21,501 or 19,508) she can claim relief at 40% on up to 17,602?



So her max contribution to avail of the maximum tax relief at 40% should be 17,602?



Apologies if I’m making a total mess of this, what initially seemed straightforward has given me and no doubt any readers of this a headache!



One of the reasons she asked is she has a small business on the side and is under the impressions she has to make the maximum contributions to her AVCs in order to contribute to a separate PRSA for any profit she might make in the business.



Anyway I would appreciate any guidance. Is there a simple formula somewhere or am I just overcomplicating things and it’s the first calculation…ie: 86,007 x 25% = 21,501.75 to an AVC and get 8,600 of that back in tax relief?
 
One of the reasons she asked is she has a small business on the side and is under the impressions she has to make the maximum contributions to her AVCs in order to contribute to a separate PRSA for any profit she might make in the business.

Is the side business a limited company or sole trader income?
 
Okay her capacity for an AVC is as per @Protocol post above. €86,000 x 25%, less the two pension contributions already going through on her payslip and ignoring the ASC. In addition, she can make a separate Personal Pension or PRSA contribution based on 25% of her side income with a ceiling on the side income of around €29,000 (as that's where her total income would get to the overall €115,000 income ceiling.)
 
Really appreciate the response. So just deduct the pensions grouped and the spouses and children from €86,000 x 25% and you can get 40% relief on what remains! It was a lot more straightforward than my over complicated shenaningans above.

Thank you. Something that occurred to me as I'm in a somewhat similar situation myself With the separate Personal Pension or PRSA would I be right in saying that on drawdown she is not tied to any income limitations on the lump sum ie: the lump sum wouldn't have to be 25% of the income from the sole trade, it would just be 25% of the total pot built up in that PRSA or personal pension?

And does she have to make the maximum contributions to her AVC in order to contribute to a PRSA linked to the sole trade or is that just something she heard?

I'd assumed you could contribute to the level you wished to either and didn't have to max the AVC to take out a PRSA for the sole trade. I didn't think they were linked like that.
 
With the separate Personal Pension or PRSA would I be right in saying that on drawdown she is not tied to any income limitations on the lump sum ie: the lump sum wouldn't have to be 25% of the income from the sole trade, it would just be 25% of the total pot built up in that PRSA or personal pension?

Yes that's correct.

And does she have to make the maximum contributions to her AVC in order to contribute to a PRSA linked to the sole trade or is that just something she heard?

Dual incomes are a bit complicated. If someone's main pensionable job exceeds the €115,000 salary cap, then their main income is dominant and they can only max out AVCs in respect of that income. But if the main pensionable income is less than €115,000 they can make pension contributions in respect of the gap between the main income and €115,000 ... in this example €29,000 ... without reference to the other income or pension scheme.
 
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