Pension Contributions Calculator

Paying into a pension is one of the most tax-efficient ways to save in the UK. Your employer adds money on top of yours, and the government gives you tax relief, so every pound that reaches your pension costs you less than a pound. But payslips rarely make it clear how much is really going in, or what it costs you.

Our Pension Contributions Calculator works out your contribution, your employer's contribution, the tax relief and the real cost to you for the 2026/27 tax year. This guide explains how each part works.

How workplace pension contributions work

Most employees are automatically enrolled into a workplace pension. Contributions come from three places:

• You, through deductions from your pay.
• Your employer, who must pay at least 3% of your qualifying earnings under automatic enrolment.
• The government, through tax relief on your own contributions.

The legal minimum is 8% in total, with at least 3% from your employer. Many employers pay more, and some will match extra contributions from you.

Qualifying earnings

Many schemes work out contributions on qualifying earnings rather than your full salary. For 2026/27 that's the part of your pay between £6,240 and £50,270 a year. So on a £35,000 salary, contributions are based on £28,760, not £35,000. Other schemes use your full basic salary. Your payslip or scheme booklet tells you which applies.

The three types of tax relief

How you get tax relief depends on how your scheme takes contributions.

With relief at source, if you pay £80, your provider adds £20, so £100 goes in. If you pay higher rate tax, you can claim another 20% through Self Assessment or by contacting HMRC. It isn't added automatically, and many people never claim it.

With salary sacrifice, you also save the National Insurance you would have paid on the sacrificed salary, which is 8% for most basic rate taxpayers.

How to use the calculator (Pension Contributions Calculator)

1. Enter your annual salary before tax.
2. Choose where you live, as Scotland has different income tax bands.
3. Enter your contribution as a percentage.
4. Enter your employer's contribution as a percentage.
5. Choose whether the percentages are of qualifying earnings or your full salary.
6. Choose how tax relief is given: relief at source, net pay or salary sacrifice.

The calculator shows the monthly amount going into your pension, the tax relief, any extra relief you need to claim and the cost to you after relief.

A worked example

Sam earns £35,000 and lives in England. Sam pays 5% and their employer pays 3%, both on qualifying earnings, through a relief at source scheme.

• Qualifying earnings: £35,000 − £6,240 = £28,760
• Sam's contribution (gross): 5% × £28,760 = £1,438
• Employer contribution: 3% × £28,760 = £862.80
• Total into the pension: £2,300.80 a year, or £191.73 a month
• Tax relief added by the provider: 20% × £1,438 = £287.60
• Cost to Sam: £1,150.40 a year, or £95.87 a month

So for less than £96 a month from take-home pay, nearly £192 goes into Sam's pension every month. Try your own figures in the Pension Contributions Calculator.

A higher rate example

Priya earns £70,000 and pays 5% of her full salary through relief at source. Her gross contribution is £3,500. She pays £2,800 from take-home pay and her provider adds £700. Because all of her contribution would otherwise be taxed at 40%, she can claim another £700 back from HMRC, bringing her real cost down to £2,100.

Limits on tax relief

You get tax relief on contributions up to 100% of your earnings or the £60,000 annual allowance, whichever is lower. The allowance includes your employer's contributions. If you go over it, you may pay a tax charge, although you can usually carry forward unused allowance from the previous three tax years.

The annual allowance is lower for some people:

• If your adjusted income is over £260,000, the allowance tapers down, to a minimum of £10,000.
• If you've already started taking money flexibly from a defined contribution pension, the money purchase annual allowance of £10,000 applies.

Is it worth paying more?

Increasing your contribution often costs less than you'd expect. A basic rate taxpayer paying an extra £100 a month into a relief at source scheme only sees £80 leave their take-home pay. Some employers also match extra contributions up to a limit, which is effectively a pay rise.

Before you increase contributions, make sure you have an emergency fund and can manage your debts, because pension savings are usually locked away until age 55, rising to 57 from April 2028.

To see how your contributions could grow over time, use our pension calculator. To check your take-home pay after pension deductions, try the take-home pay calculator.

Salary sacrifice: things to know

Salary sacrifice can save the most tax, but it lowers your official salary. That can affect:

• How much a mortgage lender will offer you.
• Statutory pay such as maternity pay, which is based on earnings.
• Life cover or other benefits linked to salary.

Your employer must also keep your cash pay at or above the minimum wage. The government has announced that, from April 2029, only the first £2,000 a year of pension contributions made through salary sacrifice will be free of National Insurance.