Smith & Williamson said many savers could take advantage of claiming tax relief on their contribution through the self-assessment tax system, with the second payment on account for the 2015/16 tax year due on 31 July.

The company said there had been a surge in people wanting to put extra funds into their pension before 5 April to use up one-off additional allowances available in 2015/16 before changes came into effect to restrict tax relief for those with incomes of £150,000 or more p/a.

Mike Fosberry, a pension specialist and financial services director at Smith & Williamson, said: “Many people thought it may be their last big opportunity to claim 45% tax relief on pension contributions and so they tried to make the best of the allowances that the government had made available.”

Tina Riches, national tax partner at Smith & Williamson, the accountancy and investment management group, said: “Typically, the July tax payment is based on your previous year’s self-assessment tax bill and so half of the previous year’s tax payment should normally be made by 31 July as your payment on account.

“However, if you are one of the thousands of people who made a larger pension contribution in 2015/16 than you did in 2014/15, then you may be able to reduce your July tax payment.

“So, if you put in, say, an extra £10,000 (£8,000 payment with £2,000 basic rate tax credit) and you pay tax at 40%, you could be eligible for £2,000 tax relief on that pension contribution. This could potentially cut your tax bill for 2015/16 by that amount.”