What it brings together
- Threshold and adjusted income
- Standard or tapered annual allowance
- Current-year pension input
- Potential unused allowance from three earlier years
Free UK calculator · 2026/27
Pension carry forward calculator
Estimate your current pension annual allowance, tapered allowance and potential unused headroom from the previous three tax years.
What to collect
- Pension input for every scheme
- Employer and personal contributions
- Membership evidence for earlier years
- Any flexible-access or defined-benefit details
Where it stops
The model does not value defined-benefit pension growth or apply the Money Purchase Annual Allowance. Those situations require scheme information and an individual check.
How the estimate works
Carry forward is calculated year by year.
The current tax year's allowance is used first. Potential unused allowance from the previous three years is then considered, normally oldest first. It is not simply three times today's annual allowance: historic tapering, pension input and scheme membership can make each year different.
Both taper income tests matter.
For 2026/27, the standard annual allowance is £60,000. The high-income taper can apply when threshold income exceeds £200,000 and adjusted income exceeds £260,000. The allowance then reduces by £1 for every £2 above the adjusted-income threshold, subject to the £10,000 minimum.
What to check before relying on the result
- Confirm pension input—not merely contributions paid—for every scheme and tax year.
- Check registered-scheme membership for each carry-forward year.
- Resolve defined-benefit input, flexible access and any MPAA position separately.
- Remember that carry forward does not remove the separate earnings limit for tax relief on personal contributions.