SIPP Calculator
How Much Tax Relief Will You Get?
Enter your income and pension contribution — we’ll calculate your tax relief, what you’ll actually pay, and how much you can reclaim.
Your Details
Your total UK taxable income for 2025/26.
Total you want in your pension. Annual allowance is £60,000 for most people.
Tax Relief Breakdown by Band
| Tax band | Rate | Contribution in band | Relief |
|---|
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What is pension tax relief?
Every time you contribute to a pension, the government effectively tops it up — this is called tax relief, and it’s one of the most valuable perks of saving into a SIPP or personal pension. In simple terms, you’re getting back the income tax you would have paid on that money, meaning your pension grows faster than it would from savings alone.
To qualify, you must be a UK resident under the age of 75. Importantly, you don’t need to be working or paying tax to receive some relief — even non-earners can contribute up to £3,600 gross per year and still benefit from basic rate tax relief.
How much tax relief will you get?
The amount of relief depends on how much you earn and which income tax band you fall into:
- Basic rate taxpayers (20%) — the government automatically adds 20% on top of your contribution. Pay in £800 and £1,000 lands in your pension.
- Higher rate taxpayers (40%) — you receive the 20% top-up automatically, plus you can reclaim a further 20% via Self Assessment. A £10,000 contribution could effectively cost you just £6,000.
- Additional rate taxpayers (45%) — same automatic top-up, with up to 25% more reclaimable through your tax return. That same £10,000 contribution could cost as little as £5,500.
- Scottish taxpayers — Scotland has its own tax bands, including starter (19%), intermediate (21%), advanced (45%) and top (48%) rates. Make sure you tick the Scotland box above so the calculator uses the correct figures for your situation.
How much can you contribute?
You can contribute as much as you earn each tax year and receive tax relief on it — up to the annual allowance of £60,000 for most people in 2025/26. If you earn less than £3,600, you can still contribute £3,600 gross and benefit from basic rate relief.
The annual allowance may be lower in two situations: if your adjusted income exceeds £260,000 (the tapered annual allowance kicks in, potentially reducing it to as low as £10,000), or if you’ve already started drawing flexibly from a pension (in which case the Money Purchase Annual Allowance of £10,000 applies).
If you haven’t used your full allowance in previous years, carry forward rules may let you make a larger one-off contribution — but this is complex and worth discussing with a financial adviser before acting.
How to use this calculator
Enter your annual taxable income and the gross pension contribution you’d like to make. The calculator will instantly show you how much you need to pay in yourself, how much the government will add as basic rate relief, and — if you’re a higher or additional rate taxpayer — how much extra you can reclaim through your Self Assessment tax return.
If you’re a Scottish taxpayer, tick the box in the calculator. It will automatically apply Scotland’s tax bands to give you an accurate result.
Bear in mind that higher and additional rate relief isn’t added to your pension automatically — you need to claim it yourself, either through your annual Self Assessment return or by writing to HMRC. You can claim back up to four years, so if you’ve been missing this, it’s worth checking.