If your pension contributions in the 2017/18 tax year exceeded your total available Annual Allowances (including unused allowances available to carry-forward), you would have had have an Annual Allowance tax charge to pay.
However, if you were eligible* to compel your pension scheme to pay the tax (known as “mandatory scheme pays”, with a corresponding reduction in your fund or pension) and you indicated in your 2017/18 tax return that you would be doing so but have not yet submitted the formal instruction to your pension scheme, you must now ensure that the scheme has received your formal instruction by 31 July 2019.
Failure to submit your instruction on time will mean that you will no longer be able to compel the pension scheme to pay the tax charge; you will become personally responsible for the tax liability and may have to pay a late settlement penalty.
*In order to be eligible to use the “scheme pays” facility, total pension inputs to the scheme in question must have exceeded £40,000 in 2017/18 and the tax charge relating to the amount in excess of £40,000** must be more than £2,000. (**I.e. if for example, an excess of £10,000 has occurred because your annual allowance was tapered to £35,000 but inputs were £45,000 you can only compel the scheme to pay the tax relating to £5,000 of the excess.)
Please contact your Kerr Henderson consultant or your accountant if you require any further guidance.
HMRC guidance on scheme pays can be found at www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/pensions-tax-manual/ptm056410