Pension Annual Allowance Calculator
Estimate how much Annual Allowance you may have left this tax year, including up to three years of unused allowance carried forward.
This year (2026/27)
Your contributions and income for the current tax year.
Personal contributions (gross), employer contributions and relief-at-source amounts grossed up. A £4,000 personal contribution is £5,000 gross.
Total taxable income including employer pension contributions — salary, dividends, rent and interest. This drives the allowance taper.
Total taxable income minus your own personal pension contributions. Below £200,000 the taper never applies.
Triggered when you flexibly access a defined contribution pension. If yes, money purchase contributions are capped and carry-forward doesn't apply to them.
No
2023/24
Oldest carry-forward year
Personal plus employer contributions, with relief at source grossed up.
Leave blank if you earned under £260,000 that year.
You must have been in a UK registered scheme that year to carry forward its unused allowance.
Yes
2024/25
Earlier year
Personal plus employer contributions, with relief at source grossed up.
Leave blank if you earned under £260,000 that year.
You must have been in a UK registered scheme that year to carry forward its unused allowance.
Yes
2025/26
Last year
Personal plus employer contributions, with relief at source grossed up.
Leave blank if you earned under £260,000 that year.
You must have been in a UK registered scheme that year to carry forward its unused allowance.
Yes
Enter your figures above
—
Tax year 2026/27 · figures as at 26 August 2026
Year-by-year breakdown
| Tax year | Your AA | Contributions | Used in carry-forward | Unused & still available |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023/24 | £60,000 | £0 | £0 | £60,000 |
| 2024/25 | £60,000 | £0 | £0 | £60,000 |
| 2025/26 | £60,000 | £0 | £0 | £60,000 |
| 2026/27 (current) | £60,000 | £0 | n/a | £60,000 |
| TOTAL AVAILABLE THIS YEAR | £240,000 | |||
How this is calculated
- Standard Annual Allowance£60,000 for 2026/27£60,000
- Your Annual Allowance this yearNo taper applies at your income level£60,000
- Contributions this year£0
- Current year allowance remaining£60,000
- Unused allowance from 2023/24Allowance £60,000 less contributions £0£60,000
- Unused allowance from 2024/25Allowance £60,000 less contributions £0£60,000
- Unused allowance from 2025/26Allowance £60,000 less contributions £0£60,000
- Total carry-forward available£180,000
- Total you can still contribute this yearCurrent year remaining plus carry-forward£240,000
Assumptions used
- Standard Annual Allowance of £60,000, tapered by £1 for every £2 of adjusted income above £260,000, to a floor of £10,000.
- Carry-forward is only available from years you were a member of a UK registered pension scheme, oldest year used first.
- Where the Money Purchase Annual Allowance applies, money purchase contributions are capped at £10,000 with no carry-forward.
- Assumes all contributions entered are gross (relief-at-source amounts grossed up).
- Excludes defined benefit input amounts, scheme-pays elections and pre-2020/21 carry-forward.
Show worked example
Sarah is a Ltd company director in Hull. In 2026/27 her company is making £180,000 profit. She's drawing a £12,570 salary plus £50,000 in dividends. Her adjusted income is £62,570, so no AA taper applies.
In 2023/24 her company contributed £15,000 to her pension. In 2024/25 and 2025/26 her company contributed £20,000 each year. She's contributed £10,000 so far in 2026/27.
Her unused carry-forward: £45,000 (from 23/24) + £40,000 (from 24/25) + £40,000 (from 25/26) = £125,000. Plus this year's remaining: £50,000. TOTAL available this year: £175,000.
Her Annual Allowance headroom for 2026/27 is therefore £175,000. Headroom is not by itself a tax saving. A company contribution is only deductible if it is incurred wholly and exclusively for the purposes of the trade, which for a director-shareholder is usually judged against the total remuneration package. The relief it produces also depends on the company's profits: at £180,000 profit a £175,000 contribution would take taxable profits close to nil, so part of it would relieve profit taxed in the marginal band between £50,000 and £250,000 and part at lower effective rates, and any excess could only be carried back or forward under the spreading rules. The figure is not simply 25% of the contribution. Take advice before making a contribution of this size.
On these figures, around £240,000 of Annual Allowance appears unused this year.
Headroom is not the same as relief. Employer contributions are only deductible if they meet the wholly and exclusively test, the corporation tax saved depends on the company's profit level and marginal rate, and personal relief depends on your earnings and your own marginal rate. We can work through what a contribution would actually be worth in your case.