Pension tax withdrawal calculator

Get an idea of how much tax you’ll have to pay on money you take from your pension

Use the calculator

What do I need to know about tax on pension withdrawals?

Your pension is likely to play a major role in your retirement planning. And once you start taking money out of your pension, tax comes into the equation. Understanding how much of your pot you might lose in tax could have a big impact on those plans.

As it stands, you can withdraw up to 25% of your total pension value tax-free. Anything above that will be treated as income, and will be subject to tax along with any other earnings. You can take the tax-free amount all at once, or each time you make a withdrawal from your pension.

How our pension tax calculator works

This will calculate tax for a defined contribution pension. With this type of pension, the amount of money you have is based on what you and your employer have paid in – your contributions – how the investments have performed over time, and any charges taken.

Read more about defined contribution and defined benefit pensions.

As there are plenty of factors that can affect how much tax you might pay on a pension income, our calculator makes several assumptions – and there are other things you might need to consider too.

What you need to know about using this calculator

Assumptions we've made

  • Your pension is a defined contribution pension.
  • Any figures take into account all the defined contribution pensions you have.
  • The maximum tax-free lump sum you can take is 25%, and you don’t have an enhanced tax-free lump sum protection.
  • Your personal allowance, the amount you can earn before income tax applies, is £12,570 in the tax year 2026/2027.
  • Your non-pension income does not include dividends and savings.

What to bear in mind

  • This is not a personal recommendation, but a rough guide based on general information from HMRC.
  • Tax bands are based on HMRC rates for England and Northern Ireland – Scottish and Welsh income tax thresholds may be different.
  • It uses 2026/2027 tax year information so, if you’re using this as an estimate for forward planning, the tax may be different in a future tax year.
  • This calculator only looks at the amount of income tax you may have to pay on your pension withdrawal. It doesn't look at other taxes, or at National Insurance contributions.

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Our pension withdrawal tax calculator

This calculator gives an idea of how much tax you’ll pay on money you take out of your pension within this tax year. Remember, if you’re thinking ahead, tax rules could change for future tax years.

Answer all the questions as accurately as you can.

Calculate the tax on your pension withdrawal

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Put in the full amount you wish to take out during the 2026/2027 tax year. If you want to take out money in several instalments, add these together and enter the total as a single withdrawal amount.

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This could include any salary, or income from a property, the state pension or a defined benefit pension scheme. Don’t include any savings or dividend income.

How do you want to take your tax-free amount?
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We assume the most you can take tax-free from your pension is 25% of its total value. You can withdraw all of this as a lump sum first, take 25% of each withdrawal from your pension, or choose a specific tax-free amount.

Have you already taken a tax-free lump sum from this pension?

Your provider should send you confirmation each time you take out a tax-free amount.

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The term ‘uncrystallised’ means any money in your pension you haven’t accessed in any way. This means you can still take a tax-free amount from it.

When you take tax-free money from your pension, an amount of three times this value (the 75% that is not tax-free) will become crystallised. This might also be known as your drawdown pot. Whether you take that money out now or in the future, all of that crystallised money will be subject to income tax.

If you’ve started to take money from a pension, your app or most recent statement should show you a remaining uncrystallised amount.

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This is so we know the total amount you could take out of your pension tax-free.

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Give this as a value in £, making sure it's lower than 25% of the total withdrawal amount you put in above. 

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The term ‘uncrystallised’ means any money in your pension you haven’t accessed in any way. This means you can still take a tax-free amount from it.

When you take tax-free money from your pension, an amount of three times this value (the 75% that is not tax-free) will become crystallised. This might also be known as your drawdown pot. Whether you take that money out now or in the future, all of that crystallised money will be subject to income tax.

If you’ve started to take money from a pension, your app or most recent statement should show you a remaining uncrystallised amount.

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This is so we know the total amount you could take out of your pension tax-free.

Your results

Here’s an indication of the income tax you could pay for this tax year on your pension withdrawal and the other taxable income you told us about. We add them together because the income tax you pay depends on the tax band you fall into. These calculations apply tax to your other income first, then to your pension withdrawal. Some or all of your pension withdrawal could move you into a higher rate of income tax.

Why you’ll see two different tax rates

The standard tax rate shows what income tax you may ultimately pay on your pension withdrawal, taking your other income over the whole tax year into account, after any adjustments are made. The emergency tax rate shows how much tax you may pay initially if an emergency code is applied to the withdrawal you're thinking about taking now. This is most likely if you're making a pension withdrawal for the first time.

Choose your tax view

Standard tax rate

Your pension withdrawal

Estimated income tax to pay:

Withdrawal amount before income tax:

Estimated withdrawal amount after income tax:

Your other taxable income

Estimated income tax to pay:

Amount before income tax:

Estimated amount after income tax:

Your total

Estimated income tax to pay:

Total income amount before income tax:

Estimate amount after income tax:

Your tax-free lump sum

Emergency tax rate

Your pension withdrawal

Estimated income tax to pay:

Withdrawal amount before income tax:

Estimated withdrawal amount after income tax:

Your other taxable income

Estimated income tax to pay:

Amount before income tax:

Estimated amount after income tax:

Your total

Estimated income tax to pay:

Estimated amount of tax you still owe:

Total income amount before income tax:

Estimate amount after income tax:

Your tax-free lump sum

Plan for your future today

Working out how best to prepare for retirement, how much you’ll need, and whether your plans are on track can be complicated. We’re here to help, through online tools and, if you choose, with personalised advice.

Consider pension advice

If you've got £300,000 or more in total across all your pension and investment savings, we could help plan your retirement with expert, personalised advice .

Learn more about our pension advice ""

Try our pension calculator

If you don’t yet know your final pension amount, this online tool will give you an idea of what your pension could be worth by the time you can take your money.

Try the calculator ""

If you don't have £300,000 or you want more information about pensions and retirement, you can visit the MoneyHelper website.

Key questions to ask before you withdraw money from your pension

When can I take money out of my pension?

You can set the retirement age on your pension, which is when you plan to take your pension income. You can't normally access your money until you reach the normal minimum pension age.

The normal minimum pension age (NMPA) is currently 55. From 6 April 2028 this will increase to 57 unless you have a protected pension age.

Read more about changes to the minimum pension age.

Can I choose how to take the money out of my pension?

There are different ways to take the money you’ve been saving for retirement. It’s important to understand all your options for using your pension money​.

Bear in mind that your pension scheme may not allow you to take lump sums from your pension. If you can, there may be charges and limits on how much or how many lump sums you can take.

Once you've made a withdrawal from your pension pot, you won't be able to change your mind.

Will taking money out of my pension affect any benefits?

It could do, and there are two types of benefits to think about here.

Firstly, there are benefit guarantees that can be written into the pension itself, which are sometimes known as ‘safeguarded benefits.’ They offer a promise – or guarantee – of what they’ll give you in retirement. You should check with your provider before you access your pension if you have any benefit guarantees, and whether taking out money at that time might affect them.

Your pension could also affect your entitlement to means-tested benefits from the government, such as universal credit. Find out more about benefits.

Also, if you’re in debt, creditors may have a call on any money withdrawn from your pension pot.

Should I get advice or guidance before taking money out of my pension?

Using your pension money is a decision that could affect the rest of your life, so it’s certainly something to consider carefully. It’s good to know the difference between the two.

Guidance is when you get information or options that may help narrow down your choices but, importantly, without making a specific recommendation. You can access free, impartial pension guidance through Pension Wise.

Advice is a service which will recommend you a particular course of action based on your own circumstances and goals. You'll usually need to pay a fee for getting advice. If you already have a financial adviser, you may wish to talk to them. For help finding one, you can use
the guide to getting regulated financial advice at MoneyHelper.

If you have £300,000 or more in total across all your pensions and investment savings, then we can also offer personal pension advice.

What else you need to know about tax on pension withdrawals

How do I pay tax on my pension earnings?

Each time you take money from any pension, you'll be responsible for paying any tax that’s due. However, your pension provider will always deduct tax using either your current tax code, if they have it, or an emergency tax code. 

How will I know how much I’ve already taken tax-free?

Each time you take tax-free benefits you should get confirmation of the amount of the Lump Sum Allowance (LSA) and Lump Sum & Death Benefit Allowance (LS&DBA) you’ve used.

What do I do if I’m charged an emergency rate of tax?

We'll use an emergency tax code to tax your first withdrawal of taxable income from your pension, whether that's as a lump sum or as drawdown income. On an emergency tax code, you only get access to one twelfth of your usual personal allowance, along with the basic and higher rate tax bands. This may mean you pay more tax than you're due to when you look at your income over the whole tax year.
Learn more about emergency tax codes.

Once I’ve taken money from my pension, can I still pay into it?

Withdrawing some or all of your money from your pension pot may trigger the reduced money purchase annual allowance (MPAA), which means you'll have a reduced annual allowance and any contributions paid in excess of this will incur a tax charge. Read more about the MPAA.

What happens to my pension if I die?

Any money you withdraw from your pension which is left when you die will form part of your estate for inheritance tax purposes. From 6 April 2027, this will also apply in most cases to any unused funds left in the pension after your death.

Learn about pension and retirement planning

We’ve got lots of helpful guides to get you ready for pension advice.

Higher rate pension tax relief

Discover the ins and outs of higher rate pension tax relief.

Pension calculator

See what your pension could be worth in retirement.

Annuity calculator

Work out the annual pension income you could receive.

Inheritance Tax calculator

Plan ahead and work out how much you might have to pay.

Learn about pension and retirement planning