Pension tax relief calculator — what HMRC actually adds to your pot
Automatic relief, the provider top-up, and the higher-rate refund you may need to claim — separated out so you can see exactly what you're owed.
Every pension contribution attracts income-tax relief at your marginal rate — but only basic-rate relief (20%) arrives automatically. In a relief-at-source scheme, a higher-rate taxpayer contributing £4,800 gross gets the £960 top-up automatically and is owed £960.00 more from HMRC, claimable via Self Assessment or a tax-code adjustment. In a net-pay scheme, the full relief lands in your payslip with nothing to claim.
- Personal allowance
- £60,000 annual allowance
- Applies in
- Relief follows your income tax rates (Scottish rates apply in Scotland)
- Calculation
- Basic relief automatic; higher relief claimed
Automatic relief vs relief you must claim
The scheme type decides everything. Net pay schemes (most workplace trusts) deduct contributions before tax, so relief at your full marginal rate is built into your payslip automatically. Relief at source schemes (most personal pensions and SIPPs, and some workplace schemes) take contributions from taxed pay, add 20% back automatically — and stop there.
That gap is where higher-rate taxpayers leak money. If you pay 40% tax and contribute through relief at source, half your relief needs claiming — every year. Estimates put unclaimed higher-rate relief in the hundreds of millions of pounds annually. The calculator above shows your claimable amount explicitly; if it’s not zero, a Self Assessment entry or a call to HMRC gets it back, and claims backdate four years.