Pension Tax Relief 2025/26: How It Works & How to Maximise It

Pension contributions are one of the most tax-efficient things you can do with your money. The government effectively tops up your pension savings by refunding the income tax you'd otherwise pay. For higher-rate taxpayers, this means £100 into your pension only costs you £60. Yet many people don't fully understand how pension tax relief works or how to maximise it.

How Pension Tax Relief Works

When you contribute to a pension, you get tax relief at your highest marginal rate. This works differently depending on the type of scheme:

Relief at Source (Most Personal Pensions)

If you contribute to a personal pension, stakeholder pension, or SIPP:

You pay contributions from your after-tax income
Your pension provider claims 20% basic rate relief from HMRC and adds it to your pot
If you're a higher rate (40%) or additional rate (45%) taxpayer, you claim the extra relief through Self Assessment or by contacting HMRC to adjust your tax code

Example: To put £100 into your pension, you pay £80. Your provider claims £20 from HMRC. If you're a 40% taxpayer, you claim another £20 back — so the net cost is £60 for £100 of pension savings.

Net Pay (Most Workplace Pensions)

If your employer uses a "net pay" arrangement:

Your contribution is deducted from your salary before tax is calculated
You get full relief automatically at your highest rate — no need to claim anything
Your payslip shows a lower gross taxable pay

Salary Sacrifice (Best Option If Available)

Some employers offer salary sacrifice for pension contributions. You agree to a lower salary, and your employer puts the difference into your pension. The benefits:

You save income tax (automatic, at your highest rate)
You save National Insurance (8% employee + 15% employer)
Your employer often passes on their NI saving too, boosting your pension further
Works for all tax rates, including Scottish bands

Example: A 40% taxpayer sacrificing £100 of salary saves £40 income tax + £8 NI (employee) = £48. If the employer passes on their £15 NI saving, £115 goes into the pension at a net cost of £52. That's a 121% return before any investment growth.

Tax Relief by Tax Band

Tax Band	Rate	Cost of £100 Pension (Relief at Source)	Cost of £100 Pension (Salary Sacrifice)
Basic rate (20%)	20%	£80	£72 (saves NI too)
Higher rate (40%)	40%	£60	£52
Additional rate (45%)	45%	£55	£47
Scottish Intermediate (21%)	21%	£79	£71
Scottish Higher (42%)	42%	£58	£50
Scottish Advanced (45%)	45%	£55	£47
Scottish Top (48%)	48%	£52	£44

Auto-Enrolment: The Minimum

Since 2019, most employees are automatically enrolled into a workplace pension. The minimum contributions are:

Contributor	Minimum	Applied To
Employee	5%	Qualifying earnings (£6,240 – £50,270)
Employer	3%	Qualifying earnings (£6,240 – £50,270)
Total	8%

Important: auto-enrolment minimums apply to "qualifying earnings" between £6,240 and £50,270 — not your full salary. On a £35,000 salary, qualifying earnings are £28,760, so the minimum employee contribution is £1,438/year (£120/month), not £1,750.

These are minimums. Contributing more almost always makes sense given the tax relief, especially if your employer matches additional contributions.

The Annual Allowance

There's a limit on how much you can contribute to pensions tax-efficiently each year:

Standard Annual Allowance: £60,000 — This is the total from you and your employer combined
Carry forward: You can use up to 3 years of unused allowance from previous years, potentially contributing up to £240,000 in one year
Tapered Annual Allowance: If your "adjusted income" exceeds £260,000, the allowance reduces by £1 for every £2 over, down to a minimum of £10,000
Money Purchase Annual Allowance: £10,000 — Applies if you've already started drawing from a defined contribution pension flexibly

If you exceed the annual allowance, you pay a tax charge on the excess at your marginal income tax rate — effectively removing the tax relief.

The £100,000 Pension Trap

This is one of the most important tax planning opportunities in the UK. Once your income exceeds £100,000, your personal allowance starts to be withdrawn — £1 for every £2 of income above £100,000. This creates an effective 60% marginal tax rate between £100,000 and £125,140 (or 67.5% in Scotland).

The solution: make pension contributions to bring your adjusted net income back below £100,000.

Example: You earn £120,000. By contributing £20,000 to your pension (via salary sacrifice), your adjusted income drops to £100,000. You:

Keep your full £12,570 personal allowance (worth £5,028 in tax)
Save £8,000 in income tax on the contribution itself (40%)
Save £1,600 in employee NI (8%)
Total tax saving: approximately £14,628 on a £20,000 contribution

That's a 73% effective tax relief rate. There's almost no scenario where this doesn't make sense.

Pension Contributions on Your Payslip

How pension contributions appear depends on the method:

Salary sacrifice: Your gross salary is reduced before tax. You'll see a lower "gross pay" figure.
Net pay: Shows as a deduction before tax is calculated. Your taxable pay is lower.
Relief at source: Shows as a deduction after tax. You pay the net amount, provider reclaims basic rate.

In all cases, use our salary calculator and enter your pension percentage to see the exact impact on your take-home pay.

Common Pension Tax Relief Mistakes

Not claiming higher-rate relief: If you pay into a personal pension via "relief at source", you get 20% automatically but must claim the extra 20-25% yourself via Self Assessment or your tax code. Many higher-rate taxpayers miss this.
Contributing too little: Auto-enrolment minimums (5%) are just that — minimums. Increasing to 8-12% typically has a modest impact on take-home pay thanks to tax relief.
Ignoring employer matching: If your employer matches contributions up to, say, 5%, not contributing 5% is leaving free money on the table.
Not using salary sacrifice: If it's available, salary sacrifice saves NI on top of income tax. Always choose it over personal contributions if offered.
Exceeding the annual allowance: If you're contributing heavily, check you haven't gone over £60,000 (combined with employer contributions). The tax charge removes all benefit.

How Much Should You Contribute?

A common rule of thumb: contribute half your age as a percentage of your salary. So if you start at 30, contribute 15%. This is a rough guide — the right amount depends on when you want to retire, your other savings, and state pension entitlement.

At minimum, always contribute enough to get any employer match. Beyond that:

Salary	5% Employee + 3% Employer	10% Employee + 5% Employer
£30,000	£2,378/yr total	£4,500/yr total
£40,000	£3,523/yr total	£6,000/yr total
£50,000	£3,523/yr total (capped at band)	£7,500/yr total

Check the impact on your take-home pay using our salary calculator — enter your pension percentage to see the real cost after tax relief. You'll often find that increasing contributions by 5% of salary only reduces take-home pay by about 3-4%.