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Personal Pension · Backdate 4 Years · 2026/27

Higher-Rate Pension Tax Relief Claim Calculator

If you've contributed to a personal pension or SIPP and you're a higher-rate or additional-rate taxpayer, HMRC owes you an extra 20–25% (or more in the 60% trap). The basic-rate 25% gross-up is automatic — the rest must be claimed manually. You can backdate four tax years.

Use this calculator if your pension is "relief at source" (personal pension or SIPP). Workplace "net pay" pensions already give full relief automatically — no claim needed.

Enter each tax year

Enter the net contribution you paid each year (what came out of your bank). We add the basic-rate gross-up automatically. Skip years where you didn't contribute or weren't higher-rate.

2022/23
2023/24
2024/25
2025/26

Refund HMRC owes you

Total refund across 4 years £0 Enter your contributions to calculate.

How to claim

If you already file Self Assessment, enter your gross contribution in SA100 box 1 of the "Tax reliefs" section. If not, write to HMRC at PAYE Self Assessment, BX9 1AS — see our how to claim higher-rate pension relief guide for the template letter.

What this calculator does

For each tax year you contributed to a personal pension or SIPP, the calculator:

  1. Adds the 25% basic-rate gross-up to your net contribution (so £8,000 net becomes £10,000 gross)
  2. Calculates the extra relief due based on your tax band — 20% extra for higher, 25% for additional
  3. For the 60% trap band (£100,000–£125,140 ANI), applies the 40% effective relief — the PA restoration windfall
  4. Sums the four years to show your total reclaim

HMRC pays interest on backdated refunds at the prevailing rate (currently ~3-4%) but this is not modelled — actual refunds will be slightly higher than the calculator shows.

Who can use this

You can claim higher-rate pension tax relief if:

  • You're a UK taxpayer at higher rate (40%) or additional rate (45%)
  • Your contribution was to a "relief at source" pension scheme (most SIPPs and personal pensions — provider adds the 25% gross-up)
  • You didn't already claim the relief via Self Assessment in the year of contribution
  • The contribution was within your Annual Allowance for the year (£60,000 for 2024/25 onwards, £40,000 before, tapered for very high earners)

You cannot double-claim if your scheme is "net pay" (most NHS, Civil Service, Teachers' Pension — full relief is given automatically) or salary sacrifice (no relief needed because no income tax was paid).

Sources and methodology

GOV.UK: pension tax relief GOV.UK: claim a tax refund UK Tax Drag: full how-to-claim guide Annual Allowance calculator 60% trap escape calculator

The 60% trap windfall

If you were in the £100,000–£125,140 ANI band in any of those years, the relief you can claim is dramatically higher. Inside the trap, the effective marginal saving is 60-62%, not 40%. So a £10,000 gross pension contribution in a trap year is worth £4,000 of relief beyond the basic-rate 25% gross-up — versus £2,000 for an ordinary higher-rate year.

Many higher earners under-claim because they assume "higher rate = 20% extra relief". In the trap zone, it's twice that.

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