A pension is about the most tax-efficient home your money can find in the UK. Every pound you put into a registered scheme gets a top-up from the government in the form of tax relief. How much you get, and how it reaches you, comes down to the way your pension is set up and the income tax rate you pay.
Not financial advice. Pension rules are complex and your situation may differ. This guide uses 2026/27 rates from HMRC, gov.uk and the Scottish Government. Source: gov.uk/tax-on-your-private-pension.
1. How pension tax relief works
Save into a pension and the government chips in on top of whatever you put away. The idea is simple: you pay in from after-tax income, and the government hands back the income tax you'd already paid on that money. The higher your tax rate, the more comes back, so the less a pension really costs you.
| Taxpayer band (England, Wales and NI) | Your tax rate | Relief you get | To put £100 in the pot | Net cost of £100 in the pot |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basic rate | 20% | 20% | Pay £80 | £80 |
| Higher rate | 40% | 40% | Pay £80, then reclaim £20 | £60 |
| Additional rate | 45% | 45% | Pay £80, then reclaim £25 | £55 |
Under Relief at Source (the most common set-up), everyone pays in the same £80 to get £100 in the pot. Higher and additional-rate taxpayers then reclaim the extra slice through Self Assessment.
Worked example: a basic-rate taxpayer wants £100 in their pension
| Step | Amount |
|---|---|
| You contribute from your net (after-tax) pay | £80 |
| Your provider claims 20% basic-rate relief from HMRC | £20 |
| Your pension pot receives | £100 |
| Net cost to you | £80 |
Worked example: a higher-rate taxpayer (40%) wants £100 in their pension
| Step | Amount |
|---|---|
| You contribute from your net pay | £80 |
| Your provider claims 20% basic-rate relief | £20 |
| Your pension pot receives | £100 |
| You reclaim a further 20% through Self Assessment | £20 |
| Net cost to you | £60 |
Worked example: an additional-rate taxpayer (45%) wants £100 in their pension
| Step | Amount |
|---|---|
| You contribute from your net pay | £80 |
| Your provider claims 20% basic-rate relief | £20 |
| Your pension pot receives | £100 |
| You reclaim a further 25% through Self Assessment | £25 |
| Net cost to you | £55 |
2. Three methods of delivering relief
| Method | How it works | Who gets NI savings? | Relief delivery |
|---|---|---|---|
| Relief at Source (RAS) | You pay 80%; provider claims 20% from HMRC | No (NI already paid) | Basic rate automatic; higher/additional via SA |
| Net Pay | Full gross deducted before tax calculation | No | Automatic at your marginal rate |
| Salary Sacrifice | Gross salary reduced by the contribution | Yes (employer and employee) | Automatic; most tax-efficient |
Relief at Source
This is what most personal pensions, SIPPs and plenty of workplace schemes use. Your contribution comes out of your net pay (after tax), then the provider automatically claims the basic-rate 20% top-up from HMRC, whatever rate you actually pay.
- If you're a basic-rate taxpayer: the full relief lands automatically, nothing to do.
- If you pay higher or additional rate: you'll need to claim the extra relief through Self Assessment or by ringing HMRC. It comes back as either a tax refund or a tweak to your PAYE tax code.
Net Pay Arrangement
Here your contribution comes off your gross salary before income tax is worked out, so you get relief at your marginal rate automatically, with no Self Assessment needed to claim the higher-rate slice. NI is still charged on your gross salary, so there's no National Insurance saving.
Salary Sacrifice
The most tax-efficient route of the lot. You agree to give up part of your gross salary, and your employer pays that full amount straight into your pension. Why it wins:
- You save income tax at your marginal rate
- Both you and your employer save National Insurance on the sacrificed amount
- For a basic-rate taxpayer, a £100 contribution costs about £72 in reduced take-home pay, against £80 under Relief at Source
Worked example: £100 into a pension by salary sacrifice, basic-rate taxpayer
| Line | Amount |
|---|---|
| Gross salary you give up | £100 |
| Income tax you no longer pay (20%) | £20 |
| Employee National Insurance you no longer pay (8%) | £8 |
| Net cost to your take-home pay | £72 |
That £8 of National Insurance is the extra saving salary sacrifice gives you over Relief at Source, where the same £100 costs £80. If your employer also passes on their own NI saving, the pot ends up bigger still.
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3. The annual allowance for 2026/27
The annual allowance is the biggest gross contribution you can make across all your pension schemes (personal and workplace together) while still getting tax relief on it:
| Allowance | 2026/27 amount | Applies to |
|---|---|---|
| Annual Allowance (AA) | £60,000 | Everyone (or 100% of earnings, if lower) |
| Money Purchase Annual Allowance (MPAA) | £10,000 | Once you've flexibly accessed a DC pension |
| Tapered Annual Allowance (floor) | £10,000 | Very high earners (see below) |
That £10,000 MPAA kicks in once you've flexibly accessed your defined contribution savings, for example by taking a flexible drawdown income. Taking only your tax-free lump sum doesn't trigger it.
The Tapered Annual Allowance trims that £60,000 down for very high earners. It bites only if your threshold income (broadly, your income minus your own pension contributions) tops £200,000 and your adjusted income (with employer contributions added back) tops £260,000. From there the allowance falls by £1 for every £2 of adjusted income above £260,000, down to a floor of £10,000, which you reach once adjusted income hits £360,000.
Worked example: the taper at £300,000 adjusted income
Assuming threshold income is also over £200,000, so the taper applies:
| Step | Amount |
|---|---|
| Adjusted income | £300,000 |
| Amount above the £260,000 trigger | £40,000 |
| Allowance cut (£1 for every £2) | £20,000 |
| Tapered annual allowance (£60,000 minus £20,000) | £40,000 |
Source: gov.uk/tax-on-your-private-pension/annual-allowance and HMRC PTM055100.
4. Carry-forward of unused annual allowance
Didn't use your whole allowance in recent years? You can carry the unused bits forward and make a bigger contribution this year:
| Tax year | Annual allowance | Carry-forward available if unused |
|---|---|---|
| 2023/24 | £60,000 | Yes |
| 2024/25 | £60,000 | Yes |
| 2025/26 | £60,000 | Yes |
| 2026/27 (current) | £60,000 | n/a |
Use the current year's allowance first, then dip into carried-forward amounts starting with the earliest year. One catch: you must have been a member of a registered pension scheme in every year you want to carry forward from.
Worked example: paying in £20,000 a year, then catching up
Say you paid £20,000 into your pension in each of the last three years and nothing yet in 2026/27:
| Tax year | Allowance | Paid in | Unused, available to carry forward |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023/24 | £60,000 | £20,000 | £40,000 |
| 2024/25 | £60,000 | £20,000 | £40,000 |
| 2025/26 | £60,000 | £20,000 | £40,000 |
| 2026/27 (current) | £60,000 | £0 | £60,000 |
| Most you could pay in during 2026/27 | £180,000 |
There's still a ceiling: tax relief only applies to contributions up to 100% of this year's earnings, so carry-forward helps most when your income is high enough to use it.
Source: HMRC PTM055100.
5. Scottish pension tax relief: the quirks
Scotland sets its own income tax rates, but pension providers still play by UK-wide HMRC rules when it comes to Relief at Source:
- Providers always claim 20% basic-rate relief from HMRC, whatever the Scottish taxpayer's real marginal rate
- Scottish starter-rate taxpayers (19%) come out slightly ahead: their provider claims the full 20% even though they only paid 19% tax, and HMRC doesn't ask for that 1% back
- Scottish intermediate (21%), higher (42%), advanced (45%) and top (48%) rate taxpayers can claim the difference above 20% through Self Assessment
| Scottish band | Marginal rate | Provider claims (RAS) | Extra you claim via SA | Net cost of £100 in the pot |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starter | 19% | 20% | Nothing (keeps 1% over-relief) | £80 |
| Basic | 20% | 20% | Nothing | £80 |
| Intermediate | 21% | 20% | 1% | £79 |
| Higher | 42% | 20% | 22% | £58 |
| Advanced | 45% | 20% | 25% | £55 |
| Top | 48% | 20% | 28% | £52 |
Everyone pays the same £80 into the pot under Relief at Source; the difference is how much the higher-rate Scots can then reclaim. All of which makes pension contributions an even better deal for Scottish higher, advanced and top-rate taxpayers than for their neighbours down in England.
Source: mygov.scot/scottish-income-tax and LITRG guidance.
6. The Lifetime Allowance has been abolished
The Lifetime Allowance (LTA) was scrapped on 6 April 2024. It used to cap the total you could build up across all your pensions before an extra tax charge kicked in. Two lump sum limits took its place:
| Allowance | 2026/27 amount | What it caps |
|---|---|---|
| Lump Sum Allowance (LSA) | £268,275 | The largest tax-free lump sum you can take when you start your pension |
| Lump Sum and Death Benefit Allowance (LSDBA) | £1,073,100 | Total tax-free lump sums, including any paid out on death |
Both cap your tax-free lump sums, not the total size of your pot. There's no longer any ceiling on how big your pension can grow.
Source: gov.uk/government/publications/rates-and-allowances-pension-schemes.
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Related guides
- How is take-home pay calculated?: pension contributions and salary sacrifice both change your net pay
- Scottish income tax explained: Scottish taxpayers can claim more relief through Self Assessment
- ISA vs savings account: should spare savings go into a pension or an ISA?