Scots miss out on tax break

Scots are missing out on thousands of pounds in government contributions to their pensions because they’re not aware of a tax break available to them, research out today reveals.

Just 38 per cent of adults know they can get tax relief from investing in pensions, according to a survey by Standard Life.

Pensions tax relief is paid on contributions to your pension at your marginal rate of tax. For every £4 paid in by a basic rate taxpayer, for example, the government will add another £1.

However, the proportion of Scots who are aware of the perk has risen from just 23 per cent a year ago. A fifth of 18 to 24-year-olds know about the tax efficiency of pensions, up from 11 per cent last year.

The increase is attributed to the launch last year of automatic enrolment, under which millions of workers will be paying into a pension for the first time.