UK money
Pension contribution calculator 2026/27
What a contribution costs you, and what lands in the pension.
How to use it
- Enter the yearly salary and the contribution as a percentage of that salary.
- Choose salary sacrifice, a net-pay arrangement, or relief at source.
- Read what leaves your pay, what reaches the pension, and the tax and National Insurance saved against no pension.
Three ways the same percentage behaves
Salary sacrifice reduces the pay used for income tax, employee National Insurance and student loans. This page leaves student loans out so the National Insurance effect is easy to see. A net-pay arrangement reduces taxable pay, but National Insurance is still charged on the full salary. Relief at source is paid from after-tax pay: you hand over 80% and the scheme claims the other 20%. Higher-rate relief above that 20% is shown as an extra amount to claim.
On a £60,000 salary in England, Wales or Northern Ireland, a 5% contribution is £3,000 into the pension. Salary sacrifice and net pay both take £3,000 from pay and both cut income tax by £1,200 against no pension. Salary sacrifice also saves £60 of annual National Insurance. Relief at source takes £2,400 from pay, the scheme adds £600, and the extra higher-rate relief is a further £600.
What is not applied
The annual allowance, and the tapered annual allowance, are not checked. The salary-sacrifice National Insurance cap that starts in April 2029 is not applied to 2026/27. Scottish rates change the extra relief-at-source figure; the region selector is there for that. A full payslip, including student loans, is on the take-home pay calculator.
Sources for 2026/27
- Income Tax rates and Personal Allowances
- HMRC Income Tax rates and allowances, current and past
- Scottish Income Tax
- Scottish Rate Resolution 2026-27
- National Insurance: how much you pay
- Employer NI rates and thresholds 2026 to 2027
- Student loan repayments
- Employer student loan guidance
- Pension tax relief
- SDLT residential rates
- SDLT higher rates for additional properties
- VAT rates
- Capital Gains Tax rates
- Business Asset Disposal Relief
- Shares and Capital Gains Tax (HS284)
- Personal Savings Allowance
- Individual Savings Accounts
- Capital Gains Tax losses
- HMRC cryptoassets manual: pooling example CRYPTO22255
- Pension scheme investments and tax
Rates were reviewed on 8 October 2026. Email [email protected] if a figure looks out of date.
Questions
Is the percentage the amount I type into payroll, or the gross contribution?
It is the gross contribution as a percentage of salary. For relief at source, that includes the 20% the scheme claims, so you pay 80% of it.
Why does only salary sacrifice change National Insurance?
The other two methods do not reduce the earnings National Insurance is charged on.
Do you store the salary?
No. The calculation runs in this tab.