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Transitional tax-free amount certificate (TTFAC) calculator
Default 25%-of-LTA deduction vs the evidence-based alternative, side by side — including the cases where a certificate makes things worse.
Free, no sign-up. Runs the same engine and the same versioned tax-year config the signed-in suite uses — nothing leaves your browser. How we verify the numbers.
The pre-2024 history, and the evidence.
Total BCE amounts across all pre-2024 events. E.g. 80% of the £1,073,100 LTA = £858,480.
Drives the LSDBA-side default (100% for pre-75 SIH/death-benefit; 25% otherwise).
Scheme-administrator statements showing the actual TFC at each event. Without evidence the certificate cannot be applied for — the default stands.
Total TFC actually paid across the pre-2024 events, per the scheme statements.
A TTFAC must be applied for BEFORE the first post-2024 relevant event — afterwards the default is locked in.
Enhanced / Primary Protection → full workflow.
The transitional rules run from 2024/25.
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.
— 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.
PTM174000 · FA 2024 Sch 9 (transitional rules)
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. The application must be made before the first post-April-2024 relevant crystallisation; after that the default is locked in.
PTM174000 (application + evidence requirements)
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)
— Worked example
- 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. The recommendation here is to apply — but evidence of a HIGHER actual TFC (scheme-specific PCLS) flips the sign: a certificate, once issued, binds even when it makes things worse.
— Related
— When you're ready
Save the calc to a client and get the branded compliance PDF — full working, legislative references, config version, sign-off trail.
3 free calcs / month · no card required · cancel any time.
For planning and illustration purposes only · Verify all inputs against source documents · This tool does not constitute financial or tax advice.