Pension tax guide
What is pension carry forward?
Carry forward can let you use unused pension annual allowance from the previous three tax years. It can be useful where pension saving is higher than usual in one year, but the calculation depends on your pension history, earnings and whether other restrictions apply.
The basic rule
Unused annual allowance can be carried forward for up to three years.
HMRC allows unused annual allowance from the previous three tax years to be added to the amount available in the current year, where the relevant conditions are met.
For the 2026/27 tax year, the carry-forward years are 2023/24, 2024/25 and 2025/26.
Carry forward only becomes relevant once the available annual allowance for the current tax year has been used.
Eligibility
You must have been a member of a registered pension scheme in the year being carried forward.
You do not necessarily need to have paid a contribution in that earlier year, but HMRC requires you to have been a member of a registered pension scheme during each year whose unused allowance is being used.
HMRC states that carry forward applies automatically. If it removes an annual allowance tax charge, you do not normally need to make a separate claim to HMRC simply to use it.
Order matters
Unused allowance is used from the earliest available year first.
After using the current year's allowance, HMRC requires unused allowance from the previous three tax years to be used in chronological order, starting with the earliest year.
First
Use the available 2026/27 annual allowance.
Then
Use unused allowance from 2023/24 first, then 2024/25, then 2025/26.
This ordering matters because unused allowance expires once it falls outside the three-year carry-forward window.
Personal contributions
Carry forward does not override the earnings limit for personal tax relief.
If you are making your own personal contribution to a defined contribution pension, tax relief is generally limited by your relevant UK earnings for the current tax year.
You might have enough carry forward to support a £100,000 pension input, but that does not automatically mean you can personally contribute £100,000 with tax relief if your relevant earnings are lower.
Employer contributions are not restricted by the employee's personal earnings in the same way, although they still count towards the annual allowance.
Flexible pension access
The Money Purchase Annual Allowance changes the carry-forward position.
If you have flexibly accessed a defined contribution pension and triggered the Money Purchase Annual Allowance, the MPAA applies to future money-purchase pension saving. For 2026/27 the MPAA is £10,000.
Carry forward cannot be used to increase the MPAA itself. This can make the order of pension withdrawals and future contributions particularly important.
Before a large contribution
Work through each tax year separately.
1. Establish pension input
Find the pension input amount for every relevant scheme in each tax year.
2. Establish that year's allowance
Do not assume every year used the standard allowance; tapering or other rules may have reduced it.
3. Calculate unused allowance
Subtract pension input from the allowance available in that year.
4. Check scheme membership
Confirm you were a member of a registered pension scheme in each carry-forward year.
5. Use the oldest year first
Apply unused allowance in the statutory order after using the current year's allowance.
6. Check earnings and MPAA
For personal contributions, check tax-relief limits as well as annual allowance; also confirm whether the MPAA has been triggered.
The pension input amount is based on the increase in the value of promised benefits under the statutory calculation, not simply the employee contributions deducted from salary.
Personal pension planning
Considering a pension contribution above your normal annual allowance?
A carry-forward calculation can establish what allowance is genuinely available before a large personal or employer contribution is made.
Book a conversationThis guide is for general information only and is not personal financial or tax advice. Carry-forward calculations depend on pension history, earnings, annual allowance rules and individual circumstances. Content checked against current HMRC/GOV.UK and MoneyHelper guidance on 15 September 2026.