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DB pension input amount calculator
Closing capital value minus the CPI-revalued opening value, 16× the pension only (PTM053301), step by step.
Free, no sign-up. Runs the same engine and versioned tax-year config as the signed-in suite — the pension and bond calculation workbench UK paraplanners use to produce compliance-annex PDFs. Your calculator figures stay in this browser unless you choose to share or rerun them in the signed-in workbench. How we verify the numbers.
— In short
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.
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DB Pension Input Amount
Tax year 2026/27 · Last reviewed 20 Jul 2026
From the scheme statement.
Pension Input Period the statement covers. Drives the CPI revaluation rate.
Accrued annual pension at the start of the PIP (typically 6 April).
Separately-accrued automatic lump sum at the start of the PIP. Enter 0 if the lump is by commutation (it's already reflected in the reduced pension).
Accrued annual pension at the end of the PIP (typically 5 April following).
Separately-accrued automatic lump sum at the end of the PIP. Enter 0 if the lump is by commutation (it's already reflected in the reduced pension).
PTM053100 capital valuation factor: 16. For full Annual Allowance + carry-forward, sign in and run the full pension calculator under a client.
For planning and illustration purposes only. Verify all inputs against source documents. This tool does not constitute financial or tax advice.
Print this quick illustration now. Signed-in users can add a client or file reference before saving it as a PDF — the branded compliance annex, with the full working and HMRC references on every page, comes from the signed-in workflow.
Keep the working
Save this as a branded compliance annex PDF.
A free account saves this calculation to a client record and renders the annex — 3 a month, no card.
More than one scheme year, or a full AA position to build? The pension workbench computes the PIA inside the whole annual-allowance picture.
— 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 PIA into a fabricated £1.28m: the single most expensive 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.
Two things that break a naive closing-minus-opening
An inward transfer (a CETV credited during the same pension input period) inflates the closing capital value with rights that were bought in, not accrued — transferred-in rights are excluded from the pension input amount, so the closing figure has to be netted of them before the subtraction. A pension debit from a pension sharing order cuts the accrued pension the other way. Neither can be derived from the two capital values alone: check the statement for both before trusting the difference, and if either applies use the pension workbench, which takes them as inputs and flags the figure for review.
PTM053100 (transferred-in rights excluded) · FA 2004 s.234
— 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?
PTM053100 sets the capital valuation factor at 16 for the pension. 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 the single most expensive 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.
— Related
— When you're ready
Put this calculation in the client file.
ParaplanAI is the paraplanner's calculation workbench: the same engine as this free tool, plus document extraction, full multi-event workflows, and a branded compliance annex PDF with the step-by-step working and its HMRC references — the file a compliance officer signs.