Pension tax relief calculator
Pay £80 into a pension and your provider adds £20 automatically, basic-rate relief, which every UK taxpayer gets without asking. The part routinely lost is the rest: higher-rate taxpayers must claim their extra relief themselves, through self-assessment or a tax-code adjustment, and HMRC does not chase you to do it. On the 2026/27 rates (checked 2026-08-28), a 40% taxpayer putting £4,000 into a personal pension sees £5,000 land in the pot but is also owed £1,000 back personally, money that goes unclaimed surprisingly often, and claims can be backdated four tax years. Inside the £100,000-£125,140 personal allowance taper the true relief rate passes 60%, making it the best pension deal in the UK system. This calculator separates the automatic top-up from the claimable remainder at your actual marginal rate, computed rather than assumed.
£5,000 lands in your pension. Its true cost to you:
£4,000.00
20% total relief, £1,000.00 added automatically by your provider.
Relief-at-source arrangement (personal pensions and most SIPPs). Workplace salary sacrifice works differently and saves NI too. Annual allowance and taper rules for very high earners are not modelled.
How pension tax relief works
Contributions come from pre-tax income, so the state returns the tax you paid on them. In a relief-at-source scheme that happens in two parts: the provider reclaims basic-rate relief (your £80 becomes £100 in the pot), and anything above basic rate is repaid to you, through self-assessment, a tax-code change, or a written claim, rather than into the pension. Non-earners can even contribute £2,880 a year and see it grossed to £3,600. The relief is capped by the annual allowance (£60,000 for most people, tapered for very high earners) and by your relevant earnings, beyond this page's scope, but the reason six-figure contributions need advice.
Where relief is most valuable
The £100,000-£125,140 taper is the best pension deal in the UK system, contributions there earn relief above 60% because they rebuild the personal allowance as they go. Around £60,000-£80,000 with children, the Child Benefit clawback adds a similar bonus. And through a workplace salary sacrifice scheme, National Insurance savings stack on top of everything this page shows.
2026/27 rates, checked 2026-08-28. Method on the about page.