Pension drawdown tax: UK Pension Tax and Allowance Rules
The UK Pension Tax and Allowance Rules carries 19 published figures read from 7 sources' own pages, from 3,600 to 1,073,100 GBP, read 17 October 2026.
- 133,600 to 181,850
- 4181,850 to 360,100
- 360,100 to 538,350
- 538,350 to 716,600
- 716,600 to 894,850
- 2894,850 to 1,073,100
Bands
| Bucket | Value |
|---|---|
| 3,600 to 181,850 | 13 figures |
| 181,850 to 360,100 | 4 figures |
| 360,100 to 538,350 | 0 figures |
| 538,350 to 716,600 | 0 figures |
| 716,600 to 894,850 | 0 figures |
| 894,850 to 1,073,100 | 2 figures |
7 of the 12 named sources read in full publish a figure; 5 publish none, read 17 October 2026.
By rule
| Breakdown | Median | Range | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| ruleannual allowance | 60,000GBP | 60,000 to 60,000GBP | 3 |
| ruletaper threshold income | 200,000GBP | 200,000 to 200,000GBP | 1 |
| ruletaper adjusted income | 260,000GBP | 260,000 to 260,000GBP | 2 |
| rulecontribution eligible for relief with no earnings | 3,600GBP | 3,600 to 3,600GBP | 1 |
| ruleminimum tapered annual allowance | 10,000GBP | 10,000 to 10,000GBP | 1 |
| rulemoney purchase annual allowance | 10,000GBP | 10,000 to 10,000GBP | 2 |
| rulepersonal allowance | 12,570GBP | 12,570 to 12,570GBP | 2 |
| ruletrivial commutation limit | 30,000GBP | 30,000 to 30,000GBP | 1 |
| rulelump sum allowance | 268,275GBP | 268,275 to 268,275GBP | 1 |
| rulelump sum and death benefit allowance | 1,073,100GBP | 1,073,100 to 1,073,100GBP | 1 |
| ruleoverseas transfer allowance | 1,073,100GBP | 1,073,100 to 1,073,100GBP | 1 |
| ruletax relief limit as a share of earnings | 100% | 100 to 100% | 1 |
| ruletax-relieved contribution floor | 3,600GBP | 3,600 to 3,600GBP | 1 |
| rulesmall pot lump sum | 10,000GBP | 10,000 to 10,000GBP | 1 |
| ruletrivial commutation lump sum | 30,000GBP | 30,000 to 30,000GBP | 1 |
Every figure, with its source
One row per published figure: the figure as the source's own page publishes it, the page, and the day it was read. A figure that is not on a page we read is not on this one.
The sentence each figure was read from (20)
- Hargreaves Lansdown - the lump sum allowance, read 2026-10-17:
For most people the lump sum and death benefit allowance is £1,073,100.
- Hargreaves Lansdown - the lump sum allowance, read 2026-10-17:
For most people, the standard allowance is £1,073,100.
- Hargreaves Lansdown - the lump sum allowance, read 2026-10-17:
For most people, the lump sum allowance will be £268,275.
- GOV.UK - tax on your private pension contributions: annual allowance, read 2026-10-11:
your ‘threshold income’ is over £200,000 your ‘adjusted income’ is over £260,000
- House of Commons Library - pension tax relief: the annual and lifetime allowance, read 2026-10-17:
It is reduced by £1 for every £2 someone earns over £260,000 (including pension contributions).
- GOV.UK - tax on your private pension contributions: annual allowance, read 2026-10-11:
your ‘threshold income’ is over £200,000
- GOV.UK - tax on your private pension contributions: annual allowance, read 2026-10-11:
You’ll only pay tax if you go above the annual allowance. This is £60,000 this tax year.
- GOV.UK - tax on your private pension contributions (overview), read 2026-10-17:
£60,000 a year - check your ‘annual allowance’
- House of Commons Library - pension tax relief: the annual and lifetime allowance, read 2026-10-17:
An annual allowance limits the amount someone can pay into pension schemes each year before they must pay income tax. In 2026/27, people can contribute up to £60,000 into pension schemes without paying income tax.
- GOV.UK - tax when you get a pension: what's tax-free, read 2026-10-17:
If you have £30,000 or less in all of your private pensions, you can usually take everything you have in your defined benefit pension or defined contribution pension as a ‘trivial commutation’ lump sum.
- GOV.UK - tax when you get a pension: what's tax-free, read 2026-10-17:
If all your private pensions are worth £30,000 or less, you may be able to take the whole amount from certain types of pensions as a lump sum.
- GOV.UK - tax when you get a pension: what's tax-free, read 2026-10-17:
You will not usually pay any tax if your total annual income adds up to less than your Personal Allowance - this is usually £12,570.
- GOV.UK - tax when you get a pension, read 2026-10-17:
You pay tax if your total annual income adds up to more than your Personal Allowance - this is usually £12,570.
- House of Commons Library - pension tax relief: the annual and lifetime allowance, read 2026-10-17:
Tapering stops when the annual allowance reaches £10,000.
- House of Commons Library - pension tax relief: the annual and lifetime allowance, read 2026-10-17:
The lower allowance, known as the money purchase annual allowance, is set at £10,000 a year.
- Hargreaves Lansdown - the money purchase annual allowance, read 2026-10-17:
personal pensions), including tax relief and employer contributions to £10,000 a year.
- GOV.UK - tax when you get a pension: what's tax-free, read 2026-10-17:
You can usually take any pension worth up to £10,000 in one go.
- House of Commons Library - pension tax relief: the annual and lifetime allowance, read 2026-10-17:
Usually, people cannot receive tax relief on pension contributions above their annual earnings. However, people can still contribute up to £3,600 a year, including tax relief, even if their earnings are lower than this (see box 4 below).
- House of Commons Library - pension tax relief: the annual and lifetime allowance, read 2026-10-17:
However, people can still contribute up to £3,600 a year, including tax relief, even if their earnings are lower than this (see box 4 below).
- GOV.UK - tax on your private pension contributions (overview), read 2026-10-17:
100% of your earnings in a year - this is the limit on tax relief you get
Read in full, publishes no figure
5 named sources were read in full on the dates shown and print no usable figure. They are counted, never filled in.
- GOV.UK - personal pensions: how you can take your pension, read 2026-09-12: every candidate on the page was refused
- HMRC Pensions Tax Manual - PTM056530 (annual allowance), read 2026-10-10: every candidate on the page was refused
- GOV.UK - State Pension age, read 2026-09-12: read in full and no accepted figure on the page
- GOV.UK - check your State Pension forecast, read 2026-09-12: every candidate on the page was refused
- GOV.UK - pension schemes: protect your lifetime allowance, read 2026-10-03: every candidate on the page was refused
Methodology
Every row is a verbatim sentence read from the named source's own page through our fetch service on the date shown, hash-pinned to the stored read (the sha of the page's visible text; the raw page is mirrored to R2).
7 of the 12 named sources that could be read published a usable figure; 5 published none and are recorded as not published, never filled in; 1 could not be read (blocked, dead or unreachable) and count nowhere.
The headline figures (median, minimum, maximum, quartiles) are over ONE figure per source for each breakdown it prices, in GBP (a source's median where its page yielded several accepted sentences for one breakdown), so a page that gives figures for several breakdowns gives one for each and N counts 19 figures, never sentences; 37 candidate sentence(s) were refused by a reviewer with the reason recorded.
The fuller derivation this dataset is chartered to grow into (not yet what the figures above are; they are each source's own published figure as read): one row per rule and figure - the annual allowance, the tapered allowance and its thresholds, the money purchase annual allowance and what triggers it, the lump sum allowance and the lump sum and death benefit allowance, the protected allowances, the normal minimum pension age and its 2028 change, the personal allowance the pension income is taxed against, and the emergency-code treatment of a first withdrawal - each quoted verbatim from GOV.UK or the HMRC manual with its effective date and tax year.
The DERIVATION is the tax actually paid: for a given pot and a given withdrawal pattern, the marginal and effective rate, the point at which drawdown crosses into the higher-rate band, and what the MPAA costs someone still contributing.
Changed-since is the news every time a tax year turns.
37 candidate sentences on these pages were refused by a reviewer; each refusal and its reason is recorded in the review ledger.
Sources (13)
- GOV.UK - tax on your private pension contributions (overview)(the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- GOV.UK - tax on your private pension contributions: annual allowance(the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- GOV.UK - personal pensions: how you can take your pension(the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- GOV.UK - tax when you get a pension: what's tax-free(the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- GOV.UK - tax when you get a pension(the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- HMRC Pensions Tax Manual - PTM056530 (annual allowance)(the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- GOV.UK - State Pension age(the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- GOV.UK - check your State Pension forecast(the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- GOV.UK - pension schemes: protect your lifetime allowance(the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- House of Commons Library - pension tax relief: the annual and lifetime allowance(the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- Hargreaves Lansdown - the money purchase annual allowance(the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- Hargreaves Lansdown - the lump sum allowance(the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- MoneyHelper - shopping around for pension income products(the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
Cite or embed this figure
Cite or embed this figure
The UK Pension Tax and Allowance Rules carries 19 published figures read from 7 sources' own pages, from 3,600 to 1,073,100 GBP, read 17 October 2026.
7 of the 12 named sources read in full publish a figure; 5 publish none, read 17 October 2026.
UK Pension Tax and Allowance Rules, rule annual allowance: median 60,000 GBP across 3 sources, read 17 October 2026.
UK Pension Tax and Allowance Rules, rule taper threshold income: median 200,000 GBP across 1 source, read 17 October 2026.
UK Pension Tax and Allowance Rules, rule taper adjusted income: median 260,000 GBP across 2 sources, read 17 October 2026.
UK Pension Tax and Allowance Rules, rule contribution eligible for relief with no earnings: median 3,600 GBP across 1 source, read 17 October 2026.
UK Pension Tax and Allowance Rules, rule minimum tapered annual allowance: median 10,000 GBP across 1 source, read 17 October 2026.
UK Pension Tax and Allowance Rules, rule money purchase annual allowance: median 10,000 GBP across 2 sources, read 17 October 2026.
UK Pension Tax and Allowance Rules, rule personal allowance: median 12,570 GBP across 2 sources, read 17 October 2026.
UK Pension Tax and Allowance Rules, rule trivial commutation limit: median 30,000 GBP across 1 source, read 17 October 2026.
UK Pension Tax and Allowance Rules, rule lump sum allowance: median 268,275 GBP across 1 source, read 17 October 2026.
UK Pension Tax and Allowance Rules, rule lump sum and death benefit allowance: median 1,073,100 GBP across 1 source, read 17 October 2026.
UK Pension Tax and Allowance Rules, rule overseas transfer allowance: median 1,073,100 GBP across 1 source, read 17 October 2026.
UK Pension Tax and Allowance Rules, rule tax relief limit as a share of earnings: median 100 percent across 1 source, read 17 October 2026.
UK Pension Tax and Allowance Rules, rule tax-relieved contribution floor: median 3,600 GBP across 1 source, read 17 October 2026.
UK Pension Tax and Allowance Rules, rule small pot lump sum: median 10,000 GBP across 1 source, read 17 October 2026.
UK Pension Tax and Allowance Rules, rule trivial commutation lump sum: median 30,000 GBP across 1 source, read 17 October 2026.
Cite as: "Corp Tax Calculator UK Pension Tax and Allowance Rules", updated 2026-10-19, https://corptaxcalculator.co.uk/datasets/uk-pension-tax-and-allowance-rules/.
Download the CSV (20 rows, computed 2026-10-19)