My husband has a part-time, low-wage job and doesn't earn enough to pay tax. I've established that he can get tax relief on the same level of pension contribution as someone who doesn't earn anything at all, not on his entire untaxed income. That's reasonably clear (though there is contradictory information out there on the internet) and makes sense to me.
But what if - and this could happen - in the current year his income rises to just over the threshold for basic rate tax, let's say £12,000, so he's paying tax on £500. And he has a spouse who earns enough to cover all their outgoings, so the entire £12,000 is available for investment. Could he put £9,600 into a SIPP and get £2,400 in tax relief when he'll only be paying £100 in income tax plus a small amount of National Insurance?
Or is this a case of, "If it sounds too good to be true ... ?"