Pension Annual Allowance Calculator United Kingdom

The annual allowance limits how much you can pay into pensions each year with tax relief. For most people it is £60,000, but high earners can have it reduced, anyone who has started drawing a pension flexibly is limited to a much smaller figure, and unused allowance from earlier years can be carried forward. This calculator works out your limit for 2026/27 and tells you whether a planned contribution fits.

The standard annual allowance

The allowance is £60,000, or 100% of your relevant UK earnings if lower. It covers everything paid into your pensions in the tax year: your own contributions, the basic rate relief added to them and your employer’s contributions. Contributions within it get full tax relief; anything above triggers an annual allowance charge that claws the relief back at your marginal rate. The calculator compares your total contribution with your available allowance and shows any excess.

The tapered allowance for high earners

The taper applies if your threshold income (broadly your income without your employer’s pension contributions) is over £200,000 and your adjusted income (broadly total income plus your own and your employer’s pension contributions) is over £260,000. The allowance then falls by £1 for every £2 of adjusted income above £260,000, down to a floor of £10,000. Adjusted income of £300,000 reduces it to £40,000; at £360,000 or more it reaches the £10,000 floor. Enter your threshold income in the advanced options; if you leave it blank, the calculator assumes it equals your adjusted income, the cautious case.

The Money Purchase Annual Allowance

Once you have flexibly accessed a defined contribution pension, for example by taking taxable income through drawdown or a lump sum beyond your tax-free cash, future money purchase contributions are limited to the Money Purchase Annual Allowance of £10,000. It stops people recycling withdrawn pension money for fresh relief, and carry-forward cannot be used against it. Tick the MPAA option if it applies and the calculator caps your allowance.

Carry-forward from previous years

If you did not use your full allowance in the previous three tax years, you can add the unused amount to this year’s allowance, provided you were a member of a registered pension scheme in those years and have enough earnings to support the contribution. This is how people make large one-off contributions after a bonus or a good year of self-employed profit. Enter the unused allowance available and the calculator adds it to your total.

A worked example

Someone earning £80,000 who pays in £40,000 is well inside the £60,000 allowance and has £20,000 unused to carry forward. A high earner with adjusted and threshold income of £300,000 has the allowance tapered to £40,000, so a £60,000 contribution leaves £20,000 over the limit. At £500,000 the allowance is at the £10,000 floor. If the MPAA applies, a £15,000 contribution is £5,000 over.

How to use the calculator

Enter your total pension contribution for the year, including your employer’s, and your adjusted income. Use the advanced options for threshold income, carry-forward from the previous three years and the MPAA. The result shows your allowance this year, the total available with carry-forward, how much your contribution uses, any unused allowance, any excess, the carry-forward you generate and how much the taper has cut the allowance.

Assumptions and limitations

This is a planning estimate, not advice. It uses the 2026/27 £60,000 allowance, the £260,000 adjusted income and £200,000 threshold income limits, the £10,000 taper floor and the £10,000 MPAA. It does not check your earnings against the 100% of earnings limit, calculate the annual allowance charge (which depends on your marginal rate), check carry-forward eligibility, or handle defined benefit pension input amounts, the timing of flexible access or scheme pays elections. Confirm with your scheme or an adviser before making large contributions. All limits are stored as parameters sourced from HMRC and reviewed each year.

About This Pension Annual Allowance Calculator

Use this pension annual allowance calculator to get an instant, accurate estimate. The figures follow official GOV.UK guidance and every rate and threshold is kept up to date for 2026. Adjust the inputs above to match your situation, or browse all our calculators to plan your next step.