What is the pension annual allowance for 2026/27?

£60,000 as standard. It tapers for high earners to a £10,000 floor. Flexibly accessing defined-contribution benefits normally triggers the £10,000 money purchase annual allowance for money-purchase inputs and changes how other pension inputs are tested.

What is the lump sum allowance for 2026/27?

The standard Lump Sum Allowance is £268,275 and the Lump Sum and Death Benefit Allowance is £1,073,100. Members with Fixed Protection 2016 keep higher figures (£312,500 and £1,250,000).

When does the tapered annual allowance start for 2026/27?

Only when threshold income exceeds £200,000 and adjusted income exceeds £260,000. Above the adjusted-income gate the allowance falls by £1 for every £2, down to the £10,000 floor.

← Learn/Reference · Rates and allowances

Pension and bond tax rates and allowances 2026/27

The annual allowance and taper, the MPAA, the post-LTA lump-sum allowances and the income-tax and savings bands for 2026/27 — the figures a paraplanner reaches for most.

Read directly from the engine's verified 2026-27-v1.14 tax-year configuration (official sources in the table footnotes).

5 min read · Last reviewed 13 Jul 2026

— In short

This reference gathers the pension and bond tax figures for the tax year in one place: the standard annual allowance and its high-earner taper, the money purchase annual allowance, the post-lifetime-allowance lump-sum allowances, and the rest-of-UK income-tax and savings bands. Every figure is read at build time from the same versioned tax-year configuration the calculators compute against, so the table cannot drift from the engine.

Every figure below is read at build time from the engine’s verified configuration for 2026/27 — the exact constants the calculators compute against. The page cannot drift from a result the tools produce. It refreshes on its own when a new tax-year config is published. For the full desk reference — every domain, per-year archives back to 2020/21, the allowance history tables, a printable A4 card and an embeddable version — see the UK Pension & Tax Rates quick reference.

Annual allowance and pension funding

Pension annual allowance — 2026/27

Standard annual allowance: £60,000
Taper — threshold income gate: £200,000
Taper — adjusted income gate: £260,000
Taper — reduction: £1 for every £2 over the adjusted-income gate
Tapered allowance floor: £10,000
Money purchase annual allowance (MPAA): £10,000

The standard allowance is £60,000. The taper bites only once both income gates are cleared, cutting the allowance £1 for every £2 of adjusted income above £260,000, down to a £10,000 floor. Flexibly accessing defined-contribution benefits normally triggers the £10,000 MPAA for money-purchase inputs. If those inputs exceed the MPAA, a separate alternative annual allowance limits other pension inputs; otherwise total pension saving remains subject to the standard or tapered annual allowance. Run a position on the annual allowance calculator, the tapered annual allowance calculator or the MPAA calculator. (PTM051100 · PTM057100 · PTM056510.)

Lump sum allowances (post-LTA)

Lump sum allowances — 2026/27

Lump Sum Allowance (LSA): £268,275
Lump Sum & Death Benefit Allowance (LSDBA): £1,073,100
LSA — Fixed Protection 2016: £312,500
LSDBA — Fixed Protection 2016: £1,250,000

Since 6 April 2024 two tax-free-cash ceilings replace the lifetime allowance: the £268,275 LSA and the £1,073,100 LSDBA. Protected members keep higher figures. Anything above an allowance is taxed at the recipient’s marginal rate. Use the LSA calculator and the LSDBA calculator, or read the lump sum allowances guide. (FA 2024 Sch 9 · PTM171000 · PTM172000 · PTM174700.)

Income tax and savings (rest-of-UK)

Income tax & savings bands — 2026/27 (rUK; Scottish rates differ)

Personal allowance: £12,570
Personal allowance — abated from: £100,000
Basic-rate band (above the PA): £37,700
Additional-rate threshold: £125,140
Basic / higher / additional rate: 20% / 40% / 45%
Personal savings allowance (basic / higher / additional): £1,000 / £500 / £0
Starting rate for savings band: £5,000
Dividend allowance: £500
Dividend rates (ordinary / upper / additional): 10.75% / 35.75% / 39.35%

These figures drive a bond chargeable-event-gain and top-slicing-relief computation: the personal allowance and its abatement above £100,000, the band thresholds, and the savings allowances that are recalculated inside the relief for gains from 6 April 2021. The personal savings allowance is £1,000 for a basic-rate taxpayer, £500at higher rate and nil at additional rate. The table above shows England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Scotland’s separate non-savings bands are modelled on the canonical rates page and in the UK income tax calculator. See the top-slicing relief calculator. (ITA 2007; Finance Act 2026 ss.3–4.)

DB revaluation

Defined-benefit opening-value revaluation — 2026/27

September CPI used to revalue the DB opening value: 3.8%

A defined-benefit pension input amount revalues the opening capital value by the prior September’s CPI before subtracting it from the closing value (FA 2004 s.235). For 2026/27 that figure is 3.8%. The DB pension input amount calculator applies it, and the DB-PIA guide works it through. (PTM053301 · FA 2004 s.235 · ONS series D7G7.)

These figures are read from the engine’s 2026-27-v1.14 configuration, verified against official sources on 2026-07-13; every calculation the tools run stamps the same config version for audit. For planning and illustration only; this reference does not constitute financial or tax advice.

PTM051100 · PTM057100 · PTM056510 · PTM171000 · PTM172000 · PTM053301 · FA 2024 Sch 9 · FA 2004 s.235 · ITA 2007 · Finance Act 2026 ss.3–4

Common questions

What is the pension annual allowance for 2026/27?: £60,000 as standard. It tapers for high earners to a £10,000 floor. Flexibly accessing defined-contribution benefits normally triggers the £10,000 money purchase annual allowance for money-purchase inputs and changes how other pension inputs are tested.
What is the lump sum allowance for 2026/27?: The standard Lump Sum Allowance is £268,275 and the Lump Sum and Death Benefit Allowance is £1,073,100. Members with Fixed Protection 2016 keep higher figures (£312,500 and £1,250,000).
When does the tapered annual allowance start for 2026/27?: Only when threshold income exceeds £200,000 and adjusted income exceeds £260,000. Above the adjusted-income gate the allowance falls by £1 for every £2, down to the £10,000 floor.

Sources & grounding

Every figure is read at build time from the engine's versioned tax-year configuration 2026-27-v1.14 (app/calc-engine/configs/2026-27.json), verified against official sources on 2026-07-13 — the same constants the calculators compute against, so the table cannot drift from the engine.
Annual allowance / taper / MPAA: PTM051100 (annual allowance: essential principles — the standard AA; corrected 2026-08-06 from PTM055100, which is “Annual allowance: carry forward: general”, gov.uk-checked), PTM057100 (taper gates + floor), PTM056510 (MPAA) — config fields standardAnnualAllowance / taperThresholdIncome / taperAdjustedIncome / taperFloor / mpaaAmount.
Primary sources:PTM051100 PTM055100 PTM057100 PTM056510
Lump-sum allowances: FA 2024 Sch 9; PTM171000 (LSA), PTM172000 (LSDBA), PTM174700 (FP2016 ceilings) — config fields lsaAmount / lsdbaAmount / protectionCeilings.FP2016.
Primary sources:PTM171000 PTM172000 PTM174700
Income tax + savings: ITA 2007 (personal allowance + abatement, basic-rate band, savings allowances, starting-rate band); Finance Act 2026 s.3 enacts the 20% / 40% / 45% default and savings rates for 2026-27, and s.4 enacts the 10.75% / 35.75% dividend ordinary and upper rates from 6 April 2026 (the 39.35% additional rate is unchanged) — config fields personalAllowance / basicRateBand / additionalRateThreshold / personalSavingsAllowance* / startingRateBand / dividend*.
Primary sources:ITA 2007 (personal allowance + abatement, basic-rate band, savings allowances, starting-ra
DB revaluation: FA 2004 s.235 / PTM053301 — priorSeptemberCPI (the September figure used to revalue a DB opening value), ONS series D7G7.
Primary sources:PTM053301 FA 2004 s.235 / PTM053301

For planning and illustration purposes only. Verify all inputs against source documents. This explainer does not constitute financial or tax advice.

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