Refund of pension contributions

carveone

This isn't really a question, more a stunned vent! I'm sorry for placing this burden on boards.ie but otherwise I'm going to go out and hurl rocks at cars.

I recently got a letter saying that, back in 1999, I had pension contribitions below some set level and it was ages ago blah blah blah and thus I could get these contributions back. Given my unemployed status, I said "oh yeah...". So they sent out a cheque less 20% for tax. I asked Revenue about retreiving this and they said I need a company number and a P45 (well, that's PAYE, so the equivalent).

Turns out they were talking bollox and wasting days of my time.

The tax isn't mine!!! It's a "tax on the administrator", but on my money. So I lose 20% but there's no tax on me per se so there's nothing so apply back for. AND you get the remaining 80% put on your income (if I had any). AND you lose the companies contributions - god knows where they go.

I was absolutely gobsmacked. What kind of run around half assed nonsense is this for any country to pull on hard working tax paying citizens. I had a pension in Canada over 5 years which I retrieved in full no problem, aside from the obvious income tax implications. Jesus, it was MY money after all.

The worse thing is that the returns over 12 years amounted to a miserable, insulting, incompetant 25%. That's worse than AIB Investment which is really saying something. And then minus 20% leaves me with 0% over 12 years or a loss of 36% after inflation.

AND now the government are stealing more money out of this? Brilliant. By the time I'm 65 they'll have raised the retirement age to 75 and you'll get nothing. Your pension fund managers will be driving 2050 BMWs, but you can't even get your own money back.

If they introduce mandatory pensions I'm so outta here...

Right. I think I'm done.

Pablo Sanchez

You got your contributions back from what you say, but you had to pay tax at 20% Seeing as you received tax relief in the premiums you paid in, it seems more than fair?

carveone

Pablo Sanchez wrote: »

You got your contributions back from what you say, but you had to pay tax at 20% Seeing as you received tax relief in the premiums you paid in, it seems more than fair?

A lot of people say that, but it's only because I'm not working that it seems that way. If I was working then I'd have to pay tax, at the marginal rate, on that return.

I can't remember what the tax rate I was paying in 1999 was, but it might not have been 36%. If I had not "invested" in a pension, then that money would have been available for me to invest elsewhere. In the post office for example. I believe I would have done better to take the tax hit then and invest myself, especially given the rake of new taxes that exist now.

carveone

Pablo Sanchez wrote: »

but you had to pay tax at 20%

Actually, if that was true, I wouldn't have a problem with it. Taxes are taxes. The problem is I didn't pay 20% tax. It was more like a 20% charge.

Pablo Sanchez

carveone wrote: »

Actually, if that was true, I wouldn't have a problem with it. Taxes are taxes. The problem is I didn't pay 20% tax. It was more like a 20% charge.

Im sure you were happy enough to take the tax relief when you were getting higher rate tax relief on the premiums you paid into it!

If you had a personal pension you would be unable to draw on it till age 60 so as such your contributions would have been 'lost' untill then.

People need to realise that a pension is basically a long term savings plan.....with restrictions. If you put invest a thousand euro in the stock market and the value decreases by 50% your likely to say fair enough, i took the risk. But if the value of a pension falls (in line with the market) the immediate reaction is to call them theiving baxtards!

Of course you could have simply put your few pound in a the Post office, but you would have lost the main attracting feature for pension plans, tax relief on contributions and tax free (till recently) gross roll up of profits.

carveone

Pablo Sanchez wrote: »

If you put invest a thousand euro in the stock market and the value decreases by 50% your likely to say fair enough, i took the risk.

No I (emphasis on the I) would be an idiot for not putting in stops and hedging with puts. Apparantly that's what management fees are paid to others for.

But if the value of a pension falls (in line with the market) the immediate reaction is to call them theiving baxtards!

Nah, I was calling the government the thieving b...