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DB pension input amount calculator
Calculate pension input from the opening and closing scheme values.
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DB Pension Input Amount
Calculator illustration from paraplanai.co.uk/calculators/db-pia · Calculator last reviewed 15 Sept 2026. ParaplanAI keeps no record of this illustration.
For planning and illustration purposes only. Verify all inputs against source documents. This tool does not constitute financial or tax advice.
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Closing capital value minus the CPI-revalued opening value, 16× the pension only (PTM053301), step by step.
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— Understanding the result
A defined-benefit pension input amount measures the growth in the capital value of your DB pension over the year — not the contributions paid. Capital value is 16× the accrued annual pension, plus any separate automatic lump sum at face value. The pension input amount is the closing capital value minus the opening value revalued by CPI, floored at zero.
— How it's calculated
Capital values, not contributions
A defined-benefit pension input amount is NOT the contributions paid. It is the growth in the capital value of the accrued benefit over the pension input period: closing capital value minus the opening capital value revalued by CPI. Capital value is 16 × the accrued annual pension, plus any separate automatic lump sum at face value.
The lump-sum trap
The 16× factor applies to the pension only. A SEPARATE automatic lump sum (paid in addition to the full pension — classic Civil Service, pre-2009 NHS) is already a capital amount and enters at face value, NOT 16×. A COMMUTED lump sum (pension given up for cash) is already reflected in the reduced pension — enter zero. Multiplying a £60,000 automatic lump by 16 turns a £380,000 capital value (£20,000 pension × 16 plus a £60,000 lump) into a fabricated £1.28m: a costly data-entry error in DB annual-allowance work.
CPI revaluation of the opening value
The opening value is revalued by the prior September's CPI before subtraction, so benefit growth in line with inflation produces no pension input. The rate is year-specific and reads from the selected year's versioned config. Growth below CPI floors the PIA at zero — it never goes negative.
Events that change the closing value
Before the subtraction, the closing value is adjusted for events in the year that the two values alone cannot show (FA 2004 s.236; PTM053301). A scheme pension coming into payment, an increase to a pension in payment other than one that statute requires, and a pension commencement lump sum or pension commencement excess lump sum (benefit crystallisation events 2, 3 and 6; s.236(8A)) are added back, as are a reduction to pay an annual allowance charge under Scheme Pays, a pension debit, a transfer out and benefits surrendered. A pension credit and a transfer in are deducted. ParaplanAI does not make any of these adjustments and does not ask for their amounts. The pension calculator, when it works the figure out from opening and closing values, first asks whether any of them applied. The tool assumes none of them applied and says so beside the figure; if one did, or you are not sure, tick the box and it does not work the figure out: use the pension input amount on the scheme's pension savings statement instead.
Deferred members
A member who was a deferred member of the arrangement for the whole pension input period (or who became a pensioner member in it after being deferred) is treated as having no pension input amount if their benefits rose by no more than the relevant percentage (an RPI-related annual increase set in the scheme rules on 6 April 2012, or another annual increase set in the rules on 14 October 2010, otherwise CPI) plus any increase that statute requires (FA 2004 s.234(5B)-(5C); PTM053910, PTM053920). This tool does not test that. It works the figure out from the values entered, so for a deferred member whose benefits rose only by revaluation it can show a pension input amount where the law gives nil. Check the member's status and the revaluation basis with the scheme.
— How to calculate a defined-benefit pension input amount
Step 1
Value the opening benefit
Multiply the accrued annual pension at the start of the pension input period by 16, then add any separate automatic lump sum at its face value (not 16×).
Step 2
Revalue the opening value
Increase the opening capital value by the prior September’s CPI (Finance Act 2004 s.235), so growth in line with inflation is not counted as pension input.
Step 3
Value the closing benefit
Multiply the accrued annual pension at the end of the period by 16, then add any separate automatic lump sum at face value.
Step 4
Subtract
The pension input amount is the closing capital value minus the revalued opening capital value.
Step 5
Floor at zero
If benefit growth is below CPI the pension input amount is zero — it never goes negative.
— Worked example
- Opening capital value (16 × £10,000)
- £160,000
- Revalued opening value (prior-September CPI, s.235)
- £166,080
- Closing capital value (16 × £11,000)
- £176,000
- Pension input amount (closing − revalued opening)
- £9,920
Computed live by the same engine the tool above runs. The CPI revaluation of the opening value is what stops pure inflation counting as pension input.
— Frequently asked questions
How is a defined-benefit pension input amount calculated?
It is the closing capital value of the accrued benefit minus the opening capital value revalued by CPI, floored at zero. Capital value is 16 times the accrued annual pension, plus any separate automatic lump sum at face value.
Why is the factor 16?
PTM053301 (Step 2) sets the factor: multiply the annual amount of the pension by 16. A defined-benefit input amount is not the contributions paid — it is the growth in the capital value of the promised benefit, so the annual pension is converted to a capital figure using the 16× factor.
How are lump sums treated in a DB pension input amount?
A separate automatic lump sum (paid in addition to the full pension — classic Civil Service, pre-2009 NHS) enters at its face value, NOT multiplied by 16. A commuted lump sum (pension given up for cash) is already reflected in the reduced pension, so it is entered as zero. Multiplying a separate automatic lump sum by 16 is a costly data-entry error in DB annual-allowance work.
Why is the opening value revalued by CPI?
The opening capital value is increased by the prior September’s CPI before subtraction (Finance Act 2004 s.235), so a benefit that grows only in line with inflation produces no pension input amount. Only growth above CPI counts.
Can a defined-benefit pension input amount be negative?
No. The pension input amount is floored at zero — if benefit growth is below CPI the input amount is nil, never negative.