How to Check Your Pension Tax Relief Is Actually Being Paid (2026/27)

This guide is general information, not advice.

This guide is for employees who pay into a workplace or personal pension and want to be sure the tax relief they are owed is actually arriving. Relief is given in three different ways, and each leaves a different trail on your payslip and your pension statement. If you look in the wrong place you can decide relief is missing when it is not, or miss a gap that is real.

By the end you will know which method your scheme uses, which lines to compare, and who to contact if something is wrong: your employer, your pension provider, or HMRC. If you pay tax above 20% and already know you are in a relief-at-source scheme, go straight to how to claim higher-rate pension tax relief.

Before you start

• Two or three recent payslips, ideally ones where nothing unusual (bonus, overtime) was paid.
• Your latest pension statement or online account transactions for the same months, showing each contribution and any tax relief added.
• Your P60 for the last full tax year, if you want to check a whole year.
• Your National Insurance number and your pension scheme reference.
• Your scheme booklet or joining letter, which normally says which relief method is used.

Step-by-step

1. Identify the method from the payslip. GOV.UK describes the two automatic routes: your employer takes contributions out of your pay before deducting Income Tax, or your provider claims relief at the basic 20% rate and adds it to your pot, called relief at source (GOV.UK). Under salary sacrifice you give up part of your salary and your employer pays it straight into your pension (GOV.UK workplace pensions). On the payslip:
   • Net pay: gross pay minus your pension contribution equals taxable pay.
   • Relief at source: taxable pay equals gross pay; the pension deduction is taken from pay after tax.
   • Salary sacrifice: your gross pay is already lower than your contract salary, and the pension is paid in by your employer rather than deducted from your pay.
2. Net pay: check taxable pay. If taxable pay is reduced by the contribution, relief is being given at your own rate through PAYE and there is nothing on the pension statement to look for. You do not need to claim.
3. Relief at source: check the pension statement. For every £80 you pay, your pot should receive £100: HMRC’s manual gives exactly this example (PTM044220). The provider claims the relief from HMRC — HMRC’s manual describes an annual claim, with the option of interim claims usually for each tax month — so the top-up can appear on the statement after your own payment.
4. Salary sacrifice: check the employer contribution. The sacrificed amount should appear on the pension statement as an employer contribution. There is no personal relief to check, because the money never passed through your taxable pay.
5. If the relief-at-source top-up is missing, contact the provider. GOV.UK says that before you pay in you must make declarations and give the provider your full name and address, date of birth, National Insurance number and employment status. If you were auto-enrolled your employer may do this, and you must confirm the details within 30 days. HMRC’s manual says no relief can be claimed by the provider until the information and declarations have been provided.
6. If you do not pay tax, check the limit. In a relief-at-source scheme GOV.UK says your provider can claim 20% on contributions up to 80% of your earnings in the tax year, or £2,880 if you have no earnings. That £2,880 net is £3,600 gross, which HMRC’s manual calls the basic amount.
7. Contact HMRC instead when the claim is yours to make. GOV.UK’s claim tax relief on your private pension payments service covers a basic-rate taxpayer paying into a workplace pension where the employer does not or will no longer claim relief, a basic-rate taxpayer paying a lump sum into a scheme that is not a net pay scheme, and intermediate or higher-rate taxpayers. If you file Self Assessment, GOV.UK says you must claim on the return instead.

Deadlines and what happens next

• Provider claims. HMRC’s manual says a provider may make interim claims, usually for each tax month, and its annual claim may be made at any time within 6 years after the end of the tax year concerned. None of the pages used here gives a deadline for the provider to credit a member’s pot.
• HMRC claims. After an online or postal claim, GOV.UK says HMRC will review it and contact you within 28 working days.
• The net pay gap for low earners. HMRC’s policy paper explains that relief-at-source savers get a 20% top-up even if they pay no Income Tax, while net pay savers get relief at their marginal rate, such as 0% (HMRC policy paper). It is aimed at people whose taxable income is below the Personal Allowance (£12,570 in 2026/27). HMRC’s August 2026 newsletter says the low earner’s pension payment applies from 2024/25 onwards, with eligibility assessed each year; payments for 2024/25 contributions begin in the coming months and roll out in phases into early 2027. The Registered Pension Schemes (Net pay Arrangements) Regulations 2026 (SI 2026/671), laid on 23 June 2026, take a wider range of reliefs, allowances and nil-rate bands into account when deciding eligibility (HMRC newsletter 184).
• You do not apply for it. The same newsletter says individuals do not need to contact HMRC: eligible people will be contacted by post or through their personal tax account.

Common mistakes

• Looking for a 20% top-up in a net pay scheme. There is none: the relief is the lower taxable pay on your payslip.
• Expecting the top-up on the same day as your payment. Relief at source is claimed by the provider from HMRC, so it can land later.
• Assuming the provider will chase missing details. Without your declaration and details the provider cannot claim.
• Claiming from HMRC on a net pay scheme. Net pay relief is already given in payroll at your own tax rate, so there is nothing extra to claim.
• Stopping at the 20%. If you pay tax above 20% in a relief-at-source scheme, the rest must be claimed separately.

Worked example

Monthly gross pay £2,500, employee pension contribution 5% (£125 gross).

Scheme type	Payslip	Pension statement
Net pay	£125 deducted before tax; taxable pay £2,375	£125 from you, no separate relief line
Relief at source	£100 deducted after tax; taxable pay £2,500	£100 from you plus £25 tax relief = £125
Salary sacrifice	Gross pay £2,375; no employee pension line	£125 employer contribution

The £100 plus £25 split follows HMRC’s £80 plus £20 example in PTM044220, scaled up. If the £25 line never appears, ask the provider whether it holds your declaration and National Insurance number.

Related reading

• How to claim higher-rate pension tax relief
• Pension auto-enrolment
• Salary sacrifice explained