Tax relief on contributions
Higher rate pension tax relief: who can claim, how much, and how
If you pay into a relief at source pension and some of your income is taxed above the basic rate, part of your relief is not added automatically. This guide shows how much, and how to claim it.
Independent site, not a government service. Relief is claimed through your pension provider, your payroll or HMRC (Self Assessment or the GOV.UK claim service).
Relief at source pensions, including every SIPP, only receive basic rate relief: each £80 you pay becomes £100. If you pay Income Tax at 40% or 45%, or at 42%, 45% or 48% in Scotland, you are due more, but you must claim it. HMRC gives it by extending your basic rate band by the gross contribution, so that the same amount of income is taxed at 20% instead of your higher rate (GOV.UK, pension tax relief). The extra is 20% of the gross contribution that matches income in the higher rate band, 25% for the additional rate. On a salary of £68,000, paying £6,000 from your bank puts £7,500 in the pension and gives £1,500 to claim. You claim on your Self Assessment return, or through HMRC's online service if you are not in Self Assessment (HMRC, claim tax relief on private pension payments). Net pay and sacrifice members have nothing to claim.
The higher rate relief to claim back
Example, not your result yet· change a figure to see yours
To claim from HMRC
£1,500
| Gross contribution | £7,500 |
| Added by the provider | £1,500 |
| Real cost once claimed | £4,500 |
| Basic rate band extended by | £7,500 |
Figures checked by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · How the sums are done
How much extra relief, at six salaries
| Taxable income | Extra relief to claim, rest of UK | Extra relief to claim, Scotland |
|---|---|---|
| £55,000 | £946 | £2,200 |
| £60,000 | £1,946 | £2,200 |
| £70,000 | £2,000 | £2,200 |
| £90,000 | £2,000 | £2,500 |
| £130,000 | £3,271 | £3,802 |
| £200,000 | £2,500 | £2,800 |
Look at the first row. On £55,000, only £4,730 of income is taxed at 40%, so only that slice of the £10,000 gross contribution earns the extra 20%: £946. The rest of the contribution matches income already in the basic rate band and gets no more than the provider's 20%. That is the rule GOV.UK illustrates with someone on £60,270 who pays in more than £10,000: the extra relief is due on £10,000 only. At £130,000 and £200,000 the extra rises to 25% on the part of the contribution that matches income taxed at 45%.
The band extension, in plain numbers
HMRC does not pay "40% relief" as a percentage of what you paid. It widens your basic rate band. In 2026/27 the band is £37,700 of taxable income, which with the Personal Allowance means the higher rate starts at £50,270 (GOV.UK). A gross contribution of £10,000 makes the band £47,700, so the higher rate starts at £60,270 for you. Income between the two figures is taxed at 20% instead of 40%, which is the £2,000 of extra relief. The same widening pushes the additional rate threshold up too, which is how additional rate taxpayers get 25%.
The same widening also lowers your adjusted net income, the figure that controls the Personal Allowance taper above £100,000 and the Child Benefit charge above £60,000. A claim can therefore save much more than 20% for a parent or for someone on £110,000: see the guide to contributions over £100,000.
Scottish taxpayers
In Scotland the extra relief follows the Scottish rates on GOV.UK. An intermediate rate taxpayer, at 21%, can claim 1%; a higher rate taxpayer, at 42%, 22%; an advanced rate taxpayer, at 45%, 25%; a top rate taxpayer, at 48%, 28%. Starter rate taxpayers, at 19%, keep the full 20% the provider adds. The higher rate in Scotland starts at £43,663 of income, so many people on ordinary salaries have a claim that their colleagues in England do not.
How to claim, step by step
- Find the gross figure. It is what you paid plus the 25% top-up, or your payments divided by 0.8. Your provider's annual statement shows it.
- If you file a Self Assessment return, enter the gross amount in the box for payments to registered pension schemes where basic rate tax relief will be claimed by your provider. The calculation widens your bands automatically.
- If you do not, use HMRC's online claim in your personal tax account, or phone or write to HMRC, with the gross amount and the scheme. HMRC will change your tax code or repay you.
- Keep paying? Tell HMRC the expected amount for the current year so the code can give the relief as you go.
- Missed years? Claim them, back to 2022/23 until 5 April 2027.
When there is nothing to claim
- Your scheme uses net pay: the relief is already in your payslip at your top rate.
- You sacrifice salary: the pension money is an employer contribution and your pay is lower already.
- All your income is in the basic rate band, so the provider's 20% is all you are due.
- Your contributions are above your earnings for the year: relief is limited to 100% of relevant earnings (Finance Act 2004, section 190), and the provider must repay HMRC the top-up on the excess.
The SIPP calculator works out the claim from what you pay, and the guide to the three methods explains why net pay members never see this question. For a salary of £60,000 in detail, see the £60,000 page.
A claim over four years
A project manager has paid £400 a month into a SIPP since April 2022, £4,800 a year, which is £6,000 gross. Her salary has been above £56,270 throughout, so every gross pound matched income taxed at 40%, and the extra relief was £1,200 a year. She never claimed. In the 2026/27 tax year she can still claim four years: 2022/23, 2023/24, 2024/25 and 2025/26, for £4,800 in all. For the current year she asks HMRC to put the relief in her tax code. If she waits until after 5 April 2027, the 2022/23 claim is lost.
Why claims go wrong
- Entering the net amount. The return asks for the gross figure, what you paid plus the basic rate added. Entering £4,800 instead of £6,000 gives too little relief.
- Putting a net pay contribution on the return. Workplace net pay contributions have already had relief through payroll. Adding them to the relief at source box gives relief twice.
- Counting employer money. Employer contributions get no personal relief, so they never go on the return.
- Forgetting a tax code adjustment. If HMRC already gives the relief through your code, claiming again on a return doubles it until HMRC corrects it.
- Ignoring Scotland. A Scottish taxpayer on £45,000 is a higher rate taxpayer and has a claim, even though a colleague in England on the same pay does not.
Additional rate taxpayers
Above £125,140 the additional rate of 45% applies, and a relief at source contribution earns 25% on the part that matches income taxed at that rate. Because the band extension also lifts the additional rate threshold, the contribution moves income from 45% to 40% and, if it is large enough, from 40% to 20%. Between £100,000 and £125,140, the same extension also restores Personal Allowance, which is why a claim at that level often returns half of the gross contribution or more. The £150,000 page shows all three bands for one salary.
Higher rate relief and your other income
The band extension works on all your non-savings income, not just salary. A basic rate employee who also has rental profit can be a higher rate taxpayer overall, and a relief at source contribution then earns extra relief on the part that matches the rent taxed at 40%. The same applies to a pension in payment and to self-employed profits alongside a job. Savings interest and dividends sit on top of other income in the calculation; the extended band pushes them down too, so a contribution can lower the tax on dividends from the higher dividend rate to the ordinary one. The engine here models earnings and other non-savings income; for interest and dividends, HMRC's own calculation on your return is the reference.
What to keep for HMRC
Keep each year's contribution statement and any letter showing the basic rate relief your provider claimed. If HMRC checks a claim, those are the documents it asks for. Keep a note of any tax code change linked to pension relief, so that you can tell HMRC when contributions stop.