Skip to content

We count anonymous page and calculator use without cookies. May we also use optional analytics (cookies, masked replay) to improve the service?

About your privacy choices

We use essential storage to keep you signed in, remember work in progress, save your privacy choice and run sign-in bot protection. We use limited cookieless usage counts before you choose. With your permission, optional product analytics help us understand and improve the signed-in service. Account-linked analytics stay off unless you accept. Session replay is disabled on authenticated and client workspace pages; with your permission, anonymous masked replay may run only on queryless public pages. We do not use advertising trackers or sell personal data. Read our privacy policy.

ParaplanAI
Sign in

← Calculators/Last reviewed

Transitional tax-free amount certificate (TTFAC) calculator

Compare the standard deduction with your scheme’s tax-free cash evidence.

Free, no sign-up. AI never does the maths.

TTFAC uplift (LSA recovered vs the default)£64,620

See the working
Worked example.
— Inputs

The pre-2024 history, and the evidence.

% used × £1,073,100, not raw BCE totals. E.g. 80% = £858,480.

Why we ask
% used × £1,073,100; do not add raw BCE amounts from before 6 April 2020. E.g. 80% used = £858,480.

The percentage on the client’s statements. Converted at £1,073,100 into pounds.

Scheme statements or bank records.
Why we ask
Evidence of the actual TFC at each event: scheme-administrator or BCE statements, financial records or bank statements. Without evidence an application will be refused and the default stands.

Total TFC actually paid across the pre-2024 events, per the scheme statements.

Deadlines differ; confirm with the certification administrator.
Why we ask
A recorded event requires application-timing review. Member lump-sum entitlement and death-benefit payments have different deadlines; confirm the applicable rule with the certification administrator (the scheme administrator, or the insurer paying a scheme pension or lifetime annuity).
Enhanced or Primary Protection: use the full workflow.
Why we ask
Enhanced Protection: use the full workflow. Primary Protection: the full workflow asks for the certificate details and refuses a history it cannot calculate. Fixed or Individual Protection: the percentage of the lifetime allowance used (the amount above ÷ £1,073,100) is applied to the member’s lifetime allowance under that protection: the protected amount or, for Individual Protection, £1,073,100 if that is higher (PTM164400).
Add other details
PCLS (crystallisation with tax-free cash)Sets the default: 100% for pre-75 ill-health or death benefit, else 25%.
Why we ask
Drives the LSDBA-side default (100% for pre-75 SIH/death-benefit; 25% otherwise).
Why we ask
The transitional rules run from 2024/25.

One combined line. Per-event detail is in the full TTFAC workflow.

About this quick check

This quick check aggregates the pre-2024 history into one line. Per-event evidence, mixed event kinds and scheme-specific PCLS belong in the full TTFAC workflow.

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. Create the compliance annex, with its working and HMRC references, in the signed-in workflow.

Default 25%-of-LTA deduction vs the evidence-based alternative, side by side — including the cases where a certificate makes things worse.

Free to use, with no sign-up. Your figures stay in this browser unless you choose to share them or send them to your workspace. Calculation methods and checks.

— Understanding the result

A Transitional Tax-Free Amount Certificate (TTFAC) lets a member who crystallised pension benefits before 6 April 2024 replace the standard 25%-of-LTA-used deduction from their new lump-sum allowances with the tax-free cash actually taken. Where less was taken than the default assumes, it recovers allowance — but a certificate binds both ways, so it can also reduce it.

— How it's calculated

The transitional default

Members who crystallised benefits before 6 April 2024 have their new Lump Sum Allowance reduced by a default of 25% of the Lifetime Allowance percentage they used. That default assumes maximum tax-free cash was taken at every event — which is frequently untrue: defined-benefit members, members who took scheme pension without PCLS, and anyone who commuted less than the maximum all took less.

PTM174100 (standard transitional deduction) · FA 2024 Sch 9 Part 6 para 125

The certificate substitutes evidence

A Transitional Tax-Free Amount Certificate, applied for with scheme evidence of the tax-free amounts actually paid, substitutes the evidenced figure for the default — often recovering tens of thousands of pounds of allowance. Application timing depends on the event: member lump-sum entitlement and death-benefit payments have different deadlines. Confirm the applicable rule with the certification administrator; this comparison does not determine application eligibility.

PTM174300 (certificates: application + evidence) · FA 2024 Sch 9 Part 6 para 127

When a certificate hurts

The certificate binds both ways. Where the member actually took MORE tax-free cash than the 25% default assumes — scheme-specific protected PCLS is the classic case — the evidenced deduction is larger than the default, and a certificate would reduce the remaining allowance. The engine compares both paths and flags this before you apply. On the LSDBA side, pre-75 serious ill-health and death-benefit events default to 100% of the LTA used, not 25%.

PTM174200 (LSDBA-side defaults)

— How to work out whether a transitional tax-free amount certificate helps

  1. Step 1

    Find the default deduction

    Calculate the standard transitional deduction: 25% of the Lifetime Allowance percentage used across the pre-6-April-2024 events.

  2. Step 2

    Gather the evidence

    Collect scheme-administrator statements showing the tax-free amounts actually paid at each pre-2024 event.

  3. Step 3

    Compute the evidenced deduction

    Total the actual tax-free cash taken — this is the figure a certificate substitutes for the default.

  4. Step 4

    Compare the two paths

    A smaller evidenced figure than the default means a certificate recovers allowance; a larger one means a certificate would reduce it.

  5. Step 5

    Check the deadline

    Confirm the applicable application deadline with the certification administrator. Member lump-sum entitlement and death-benefit payments have different timing rules; this comparison does not determine eligibility.

— Worked example

2026/27 · 80% of the £1,073,100 LTA crystallised pre-2024 (£858,480) · actual TFC evidenced at £150,000
Default LSA deduction (25% × LTA used)
£214,620
LSA remaining on the default
£53,655
Evidenced LSA deduction (actual TFC)
£150,000
LSA remaining with a TTFAC
£118,275
Uplift — allowance the certificate recovers
£64,620

Computed live by the same engine the tool above runs. This example shows the evidenced path leaving more allowance than the default; it is not a recommendation to apply. Evidence of a higher actual TFC can flip the sign, and a certificate can bind even when it leaves less allowance.

— Frequently asked questions

What is a transitional tax-free amount certificate?

A TTFAC substitutes the tax-free amounts a member actually took before 6 April 2024 for the standard 25%-of-LTA-used default, when working out the new Lump Sum Allowance and Lump Sum and Death Benefit Allowance. It is applied for with scheme evidence.

Do I need a TTFAC?

A certificate can give a higher remaining allowance only where the member took less tax-free cash than the 25% default assumes — for example, defined-benefit members, members who took scheme pension without a lump sum, and anyone who commuted less than the maximum. This calculator compares the default and evidenced paths side by side.

When does a TTFAC make things worse?

The certificate binds both ways. Where the member actually took more tax-free cash than the 25% default assumes — scheme-specific protected PCLS is the classic case — the evidenced deduction is larger than the default, and a certificate would reduce the remaining allowance. The engine flags this before you apply.

What is the deadline to apply for a TTFAC?

Member lump-sum entitlement and death-benefit payments have different application deadlines (FA 2024 Sch 9 para 127(2), amended by SI 2024/1012). Confirm the applicable rule and dates with the certification administrator; this calculator does not determine whether an application can be made.

What evidence does a TTFAC need?

Evidence of the actual tax-free amounts paid at each pre-2024 event: scheme-administrator or BCE statements, financial records or bank statements. Without evidence an application will be refused and the default stands.

— Related