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Pension Carry Forward and Annual Allowance Calculator
Your annual allowance this year, including any taper, plus unused allowance from the three tax years before it, less what you expect to pay in
Pension Annual Allowance and Carry Forward Calculator 2026/27
How much can you pay into your pension this year without a tax charge?
Three steps. Work out this year’s annual allowance, including any taper for high earners. Add unused allowance from the three tax years before this one. Then take off what you expect to pay in this year.
Based on tax rates and allowances in England, 2026/27
Step 1. Your annual allowance this year, 2026/27
Taking only tax-free cash does not count. If yes, the money purchase annual allowance of £10,000 applies and carry forward cannot be used for money purchase savings.
High earners get a reduced, tapered allowance. If you are not sure, choose Yes and enter your income.
Step 2. The three tax years before this one
Carry forward can only come from 2023/24, 2024/25 and 2025/26. This calculator does not look further back. Start with last year and work backwards.
Being a member at any point in a tax year counts, even if nothing was paid in that year.
For each year, enter your total income and what went into your pensions. We use them to work out that year’s allowance, including any taper. Own contributions means what you paid with basic rate relief added, plus any net pay deductions. Employer contributions include salary sacrifice.
2025/26 (last tax year)
2024/25
2023/24 (the earliest year you can carry forward from)
For earlier years we test adjusted income only: your income plus employer contributions. Over £260,000, the allowance falls by £1 per £2, down to £10,000.
Step 3. What you expect to pay in this tax year
Include what has been paid since 6 April 2026 plus anything scheduled before 5 April 2027. Leave blank any that do not apply.
Needed only for the tax relief limit on your own contributions. Dividends and rent do not count as earnings.
What the numbers say
Enter your income for each of the three earlier tax years in step 2 to see your carry forward. If your income this year could be over £200,000, enter it in step 1 too.
This limits everything paid in this year, by you and any employer together, before a tax charge applies.
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How the annual allowance adds up
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Where your allowance comes from
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Year by year, oldest first
| Tax year | 2023/24 | 2024/25 | 2025/26 | 2026/27 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Annual allowance | , | , | , | , |
| Pension input | , | , | , | , |
| Unused, or over by | , | , | , | , |
| Covered a later year | , | , | , | n/a |
| Used in 2026/27 | , | , | , | , |
Carry forward is used oldest year first, after this year’s own allowance. In the 2026/27 column, the last row is the total brought forward.
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Illustrative only, not financial advice. This calculator is based on tax rates and allowances in England for 2026/27. The pension annual allowance rules are UK wide, but tax relief rates differ in Scotland. The annual allowance is £60,000 for 2026/27 and was £60,000 in each of 2023/24, 2024/25 and 2025/26. It tapers by £1 for every £2 of adjusted income over £260,000, down to £10,000, but only where threshold income is over £200,000. For this year we test both. For the three earlier years we test adjusted income only, taken as your income plus employer contributions. That can show a taper where threshold income would have removed it, so those figures err on the low side. This year’s allowance is used first, then unused allowance from the earliest year. You can only carry forward from a year in which you were a member of a UK registered pension scheme. The calculator looks back to 2023/24 and no further. If an earlier year went over its own allowance, it may have used allowance from before 2023/24, so the result is marked as an estimate. Once the money purchase annual allowance applies, carry forward is not available for money purchase savings. Defined benefit accrual, lump sum death benefits and the alternative annual allowance are not modelled. Personal contributions get tax relief only up to 100% of relevant UK earnings, or £3,600 gross if higher. Talk your figures through with us, the first conversation is free.
This year’s allowance first, then three years of carry forward
The pension annual allowance is £60,000 for 2026/27. High earners may have less. If threshold income is over £200,000 and adjusted income is over £260,000, the allowance falls by £1 for every £2 over £260,000, down to £10,000.
That matters for carry forward, because most people with the money to use it are high earners. So the calculator starts by working out this year’s allowance, taper included. Threshold income is your income less your own pension contributions, with any salary sacrifice added back. Adjusted income is your income plus employer contributions.
Next it looks at the three tax years before this one: 2025/26, 2024/25 and 2023/24. For each, you enter your income and what went into your pensions. The calculator works out that year’s allowance, including any taper, and what was left unused.
It does not look further back than 2023/24. If one of those three years went over its own allowance, the excess first draws on years before 2023/24. The calculator cannot see those, so it marks the answer as an estimate and says what to check.
You must have been a member of a registered pension scheme in a year to carry forward from it, even if nothing was paid in. If you joined more recently, tell the calculator when, and the earlier years are left out.
Finally it takes off what you expect to pay in this tax year: contributions already made plus any scheduled before 5 April 2027. This year’s allowance is used first, then the oldest year. Unused allowance from 2023/24 is lost after 5 April 2027.
The answer shows the total you can still pay in without an annual allowance charge, from you and any employer. It also shows how much of that can be your own contribution with tax relief. Relief on your own contributions is limited to your earnings, and dividends do not count. Employer contributions are not limited by earnings, which is why a company contribution is often how an owner-director uses carry forward.
Our tapered annual allowance calculator covers the taper in more detail, and our pension tax relief calculator shows what a large contribution costs you.
Frazer James is an independent, FCA-regulated firm of Certified Financial Planners. Advice covers the whole of the market, there is no initial fee, and the first meeting is free.
Check the taper first
If your income is over £200,000, your allowance may be below £60,000. For earlier years the calculator works out any taper from the income you enter.
This year, then the oldest year
This year’s allowance is used first, then unused allowance from the earliest year. The 2023/24 allowance must be used by 5 April 2027 or it is lost.
Two different limits
The annual allowance caps everything paid in. Tax relief on your own contributions is capped at your earnings. The result shows how much of the room left you can pay in yourself with relief.
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Questions people ask about the annual allowance and carry forward
What is the pension annual allowance for 2026/27?
It is £60,000. It covers everything paid into your pensions in the tax year, including employer contributions and the tax relief added to your own. It is lower if the taper applies or if you have flexibly accessed a pension.
How does the tapered annual allowance work?
The taper applies only if threshold income is over £200,000 and adjusted income is over £260,000. The allowance then falls by £1 for every £2 of adjusted income over £260,000, down to a minimum of £10,000 at £360,000. Salary sacrifice is added back to threshold income.
What is pension carry forward?
It lets you add unused annual allowance from the previous three tax years to this year’s allowance. You use this year’s allowance first, then the earliest year. You must have been a member of a UK registered pension scheme in each year you carry forward from.
Can I carry forward if my allowance was tapered in an earlier year?
Yes, but only the unused part of that year’s tapered allowance. If your 2024/25 allowance was tapered to £40,000 and £25,000 was paid in, you can carry forward £15,000. The calculator works out each year’s taper from the income and contributions you enter.
How much can I carry forward in 2026/27?
Up to £180,000 of carry forward in the most generous case, on top of this year’s £60,000. That assumes nothing was paid in during 2023/24, 2024/25 or 2025/26 and no taper applied. In practice it is each year’s allowance less what was paid in.
Why does the calculator say my answer is an estimate?
One of the three earlier years went over its own allowance. That excess first uses unused allowance from the three years before it, which reach back beyond 2023/24. This calculator does not look that far back, so it counts those years as nil and flags what to check.
Should I enter contributions already paid or what I expect to pay?
Enter what you expect to pay in this tax year. That means contributions already paid since 6 April 2026 plus any scheduled before 5 April 2027, including employer contributions and salary sacrifice.
Can I carry forward if I earn less than the contribution?
Personal contributions only get tax relief up to your earnings for the year. If you earn £50,000 you can put in £50,000 personally with relief, whatever your carry forward. Employer contributions, including from your own company, are not limited by your earnings.
Does flexibly accessing my pension stop carry forward?
Yes, for money purchase savings. Once you take taxable income from a pension, the money purchase annual allowance of £10,000 applies and carry forward cannot be used against it. Taking only tax-free cash does not trigger it.
How much of the result can I pay in myself?
The lower of two figures. One is the room left under the annual allowance. The other is your tax relief limit: your earnings, or £3,600 gross if higher, less what you have already paid in yourself. Employer contributions can use the rest.
Reviewed by
BSc, MLIBF, PETR, Chartered ALIBF · Co-Founder and Chartered Associate
Chris has spent over a decade in financial planning and specialises in research and technical analysis. He checks every figure and calculation on this page before it is published.
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