RPSM06200040 - Member Pages: Annual Allowance: Pension input periods

What are pension input periods?

This guidance explains the annual allowance rules up to 5 April 2011. If you want to know how the annual allowance works after that date see the annual allowance for pension schemes (HMRC website).

A pension input period is the period used for a particular pension arrangement during which the input is counted. It is the pension input amount for the pension input period ending within a tax year that is tested against the annual allowances for the tax year concerned.

Pension input periods may differ for different registered pension schemes or for different pension arrangements within a scheme. The first pension input period will normally begin when you join a scheme and end on the anniversary date.

But a pension input period may end before the anniversary date. This might be when the scheme administrator chooses, for example at the end of the scheme administrator year. In a money purchase arrangement it may be the date when you notify the scheme, for example you may want to use the occasion of seeking an illustration of benefits to be an occasion to check the pension input amount.

But if a pension input period ends earlier than an anniversary of start, the next pension input period must end in the following tax year. Subject to that requirement the end date will either be at the anniversary of the start, or an earlier date as nominated by the scheme administrator or, in a money purchase arrangement, nominated by the scheme administrator or yourself.