Pension savings annual allowance calculator - introduction

From 6 April 2011 the annual allowance for tax relief on pension savings in a registered pension scheme has reduced to £50,000.This includes contributions made by anyone else into your pension such as your employer. You can use this calculator to work out the total amount of your savings (the 'pension input amount') and any unused annual allowance for a tax year for certain types of pension savings. You can also use the calculator to work out whether you have any unused annual allowance that you can carry forward from up to three years before the 2011-12 tax year.

When you can use the calculator

You can use the calculator to work out your savings and unused annual allowance for the following types of pension savings or a combination of them:

final salary pension
money purchase pension
Additional Voluntary Contributions (AVCs)

How do I know which types of pension arrangement I belong to?

When you can't use the calculator

You can't use it if you have any of the following types of pensions:

career average pensions
cash balance pensions
hybrid pensions

You also can't use the calculator if any of the following applies:

you've not been a member of a registered pension scheme continuously since 5 April (or earlier) - the third link below explains the definition of a member
you work part time and have a final salary pension
you're a member of more than one final salary scheme or more than one money purchase scheme
you have a final salary pension and the rate at which you build up your pension pot (the 'accrual rate') has changed during your membership of the scheme - for example your accrual rate changes from fractions of 80ths to 60ths
you have a final salary pension with a fixed accrual rate - for example your accrual rate is 2/3 because the way your pension savings build up doesn't depend on how long you've been in the scheme
you have a final salary scheme with a separate lump sum and the way that your lump sum is calculated does not depend on how long you have been in the scheme
your pension input period began before 16 October 2010 for the 2011-12 tax year and your pension savings are more than £50,000 for that year - follow the second link below to find out more

The first link below gives guidance on how to work out your pension savings for pension arrangements that you can't use the calculator for.

How do I work out how much my pension saving is for different types of pension schemes?

Technical guidance on how to calculate pension input amounts that began before 6 April 2011

Technical guidance explaining the definition of a member

Information you need to use the calculator

The calculator uses information that's based on your pension input period (PIP). You can find more guidance on this by following the link below. Before you use the calculator you'll need to have some information to hand. If you don't have these details your employer or pension scheme administrator should be able to tell you.

If you're in a final salary scheme

To work out your annual allowance you'll need the following information:

the end date of the pension input period - see link below for more guidance on pension input periods
your pensionable salary annual amount at the pension input period end date for the last five years - for example If your pension input period ends on 31 December you'll need details for 31 December for each of the years 2007 to 2011
your pension scheme accrual rate
the number of years and months in your pension scheme at the pension input period end date - this is usually the same as your years of employment
your lump sum factor - this only applies if your pension includes a separate lump sum payment as part of your pension pot

If you're in a money purchase scheme or make AVCs

To work out your annual allowance you'll need to know:

the end date of the pension input period
the total amount of the contributions made in each pension input period for the tax years 2008-09 to 2011-12.

Pension input periods

Using the calculator

The results are based on the information that you put into the calculator so it's important that you enter accurate information. If you use estimated figures the results may be incorrect. This is a complex calculation. If you use your own calculator to work out the amount of the pension savings there could be a difference in the results due to when you round the numbers in your own calculation.

If you have an overseas pension scheme you'll need to carry out an additional calculation before you use the calculator - find out more in the first link below.

More help and guidance on completing the calculator fields can be found by following the second link below.

Working out how much your pension saving is for different types of overseas pension schemes.

Pension savings annual allowance calculator guidance notes

Go to the pension savings annual allowance calculator

Useful links

Basic guide to how the annual allowance will work