Pension Annual Allowance & Carry Forward Calculator
Your pension savings
For defined contribution pensions, include gross contributions paid by you, your employer and anyone else. For defined benefit schemes, enter the pension input amount from your scheme.
Previous three tax years
Enter pension input for each carry-forward year and confirm scheme membership. Unused allowance can only be carried forward if you were a member of a registered pension scheme in that year.
2023/24
2024/25
2025/26
Switch to Advanced mode if high income taper, flexible pension access, or MPAA in a previous year may apply.
Sharing this link encodes your pension and income figures in the URL.
Results
Enter your current-year pension input to see your annual allowance, carry forward and any excess.
What the pension annual allowance is
The annual allowance caps tax-relieved pension saving each tax year. If your pension input exceeds your available allowance (including carry forward), an annual allowance tax charge can apply. See our Pension Annual Allowance guide.
What counts towards pension input
For defined contribution pensions, include gross contributions from you, your employer and anyone else. For defined benefit schemes, use the pension input amount from your scheme administrator.
Carry forward
Unused allowance from the previous three tax years can usually be carried forward if you were a member of a registered pension scheme in that year. Allowance is consumed current year first, then oldest eligible year first.
Tapered annual allowance
High earners may have a reduced allowance when threshold income exceeds £200,000 and adjusted income exceeds £260,000 (2023/24 onwards), down to a minimum of £10,000.
Money purchase annual allowance
After flexible access to defined contribution benefits, MPAA rules can limit future money purchase saving to £10,000 (2023/24 onwards). Unused MPAA cannot be carried forward.
Calculator limitations
This tool shows excess pension savings where relevant but does not calculate the monetary annual allowance charge. It is general information, not personalised tax or financial advice and not approved by HMRC.
Frequently asked questions
What does this calculator estimate?
It estimates your annual allowance for the selected tax year, unused carry forward from the previous three years, total available allowance, remaining headroom and any excess pension savings. It does not estimate the monetary annual allowance tax charge.
Which tax years are supported?
You can calculate for 2025/26 and 2026/27 (default). Carry-forward years use the correct historical allowances, including £40,000 for 2022/23 when calculating 2025/26.
What counts as pension input?
For defined contribution pensions, pension input broadly includes gross contributions paid by you, your employer and anyone else. For defined benefit schemes, use the pension input amount supplied by your scheme — not employee contributions alone.
How does carry forward work?
Unused annual allowance from up to the previous three tax years can be added to the current year if you were a member of a registered pension scheme in that earlier year. The current-year allowance is used first, then unused amounts from the oldest eligible year onwards.
Does this model tapered annual allowance?
Yes, in Advanced mode. Taper applies only when threshold income is over £200,000 and adjusted income is over £260,000 (2023/24 onwards). Enter HMRC threshold and adjusted income figures — not salary alone.
Does this model MPAA?
Yes, in Advanced mode. When money purchase inputs exceed the money purchase annual allowance, the calculator applies HMRC’s comparison between the alternative and default chargeable amounts. Carry forward cannot increase the MPAA itself.
What is outside the scope?
Severe ill-health exceptions, death, deferred-member carve-outs, qualifying overseas schemes, hybrid historic arrangements and 2015/16 mini tax years are not modelled. Figures are estimates, not tax advice.
Official sources
Figures are estimates for general information and planning. They may differ from scheme statements or adviser software. This is not tax, legal or financial advice.
Related guides
- Pension Annual Allowance ExplainedHow the UK pension annual allowance works — standard limit, taper, carry forward, MPAA and what happens if you exceed it.Read guide
- Pension Tax Relief ExplainedRelief at source, net pay and salary sacrifice — how pension contributions get tax relief in the UK.Read guide
- Employer Pension Contributions ExplainedHow company-paid pension contributions work for tax, National Insurance, Corporation Tax and annual allowance.Read guide
- Salary Sacrifice ExplainedHow salary sacrifice pensions reduce taxable pay and National Insurance, and what to check before agreeing.Read guide
- Director Salary and Dividends ExplainedOverview of how owner-directors extract company profit through salary, dividends, pensions and retained profit.Read guide
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Part of the Pensions hub.