I have a small Limited business, of which I am a company director. Salary £8052 (to qualify for NI credit), plus £15000 dividends in 2016/17. I haven't previously had a pension set up- yes, I know, feel free to facepunch me. My total income this year from the business plus rentals is likely to be around 53k, so a pension is a sudden priority before the tax year ends in order to try and reduce the amount over the higher tax band rate if possible.
However. I'm confused. So, so confused. I've spend days reading pension articles and for some reason my brain is just refusing to play ball with this topic. I also had two meetings with IFAs who told me entirely different things. One told me that I can carry over unused annual allowances from the three previous tax years and one told me that I couldn't, because I had to be registered with a pension scheme during the previous tax years. So, I have some questions.
- Which is correct?
- How much in total can I pay into a scheme before the 5th April?
- Am I better off setting up a company pension or paying it in privately? One IFA said I could do both, but was very vague on the pros and cons.
- Can anyone recommend any further reading for pension newbies, particularly guides for company directors?