£60,000 a year pension cap

gesdt50

Hi reading the .Gov website its say 1 can put upto 3 years of £60,000 into your pension however you have to be earning over that amount with very high earners also reduced to that amount - my wages are only 35,000 not sure as it's not stated on the .Gov website how 1 goes about adding as I am allready trying to have adjusment contributions from wages and the forms are quite technical and I feel the wording in the document can be interpeted from what the pension comapny mean easily, also the emloyer has to sign & there not to bright on many things unless its explained through an email trail & possibly a phone call so wondering if I can even put the whole gross wage £35,000 (total amount not net of tax) into the pension for each year; if anyone can help please?

Dazed_and_C0nfused

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6657111/60-000-a-year-pension-cap

The annual allowance limit isn't likely to be relevant for you.

How much do you currently contribute?

Do you know what method is used for your contributions, relief at source (tax relief is added within the pension) or net pay (your earnings shown on your P60 will be less than your salary).

Is your P60 in April 2026 going to show your taxable pay as £35,000?

DRS1

And just to answer the end of your post you can't use carry forward for that. So you can't say I had taxable pay of £35k in each of the tax years 23/4, 24/5 and 25/6 so in 25/6 I can pay 3 times £35k (less any contributions I have already made). In 25/6 you will be limited (for tax relief purposes) to a gross pension contribution of £35k assuming that is your taxable pay for the tax year and you haven't already paid any personal pension contributions in the year.

ader42

As above, but the £35k limit will include the added tax relief and contributions from anyone else including your employer contributions.

If your employer was not contributing anything then your contribution limit would be £28k (with £7k tax relief added).

If your employer puts £4k into your pension which gets £1k tax relief added then your limit would be £24k with £6k tax relief added, all adding up to £35k.

Dazed_and_C0nfused

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81901327#Comment_81901327

I suspect @Marcon may have something to say about this!

Grumpy_chap

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81901327#Comment_81901327

I don't believe that is correct.

An individual is limited to gross pension contributions equalling earned income within the tax year. (That includes pension contributions made via workplace pension deductions.)

An individual may also receive employer pension contributions which are not covered by the earned income restriction.

The AA at £60k is only an issue for those earning in excess of £60k or as a limit to personal PLUS employer contributions. When the £60k cap is reached, carry forward can be considered subject to the further rules and limitations to that provision. It seems unlikely to be a concern in this case.

The limit for pension contributions for the OP (assuming a regular PAYE job for the £35k) is likely to be £35k gross personal contributions (£28k) from all sources (payroll deductions and personal contributions) PLUS whatever employer contributions are made. Assume that the employment-linked pension is DC (defined contribution). There are different ways that the payroll deductions can be processed which may make the same figures look different between different cases so it is not always immediately obvious how much the payroll deductions amount to.

Aretnap

As above, but the £35k limit will include the added tax relief and contributions from anyone else including your employer contributions.

Nope. Employer contributions count towards the annual allowance £60K), but not towards the tax relief limit (£35K in the OP's case).

If your employer puts £4k into your pension which gets £1k tax relief added...

No tax relief is added to employer contributions, which is one reason why they don't count towards the tax return limit.

ader42

Thanks for correcting me guys :)

I’ll admit I was a little unsure so tried to check with AI - I should have known better…

Grumpy_chap

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81901433#Comment_81901433

"

No tax relief is added to employer contributions, which is one reason why they don't count towards the tax return limit.

"

I don't believe that is correct.

AIUI, the reason no relief is added to Employer contributions is because tax has not been deducted from these contributions prior to the contribution being made.

Conversely, personal contributions made from previously taxed income do attract the tax relief on entry to the pension scheme.

Dazed_and_C0nfused

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81901818#Comment_81901818

And personal contributions for a non taxpayer also attract relief (when made using the relief at source method).

Albeit with certain limits.

gesdt50

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81901261#Comment_81901261

My contributions is £151.75 with ER's contribution 113.81.

So £151.75 by 52 weeks of the year is £7891; can put and ask some relevamt deptartment of goverment or company, company pension scheme to put all the way upto £35k somehow or am I totally misunderstanding the whole £60,000 contirution scheme which I get that the £60,000 doesn't apply to me as I'm nowhere near that earning threshold only upto £35,000