Pension and adjusted net income calculator
Your adjusted net income (ANI) decides whether you pay the High Income Child Benefit Charge, lose your Personal Allowance over £100,000, or miss out on Tax-Free Childcare. Enter your income and pension payments to see your ANI for 2026-27 and how much you'd need to pay into a pension (or give with Gift Aid) to get under each threshold.
Your income for the tax year
Pension payments and Gift Aid
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How this is worked out
- Adjusted net income: all your taxable income before the Personal Allowance, minus salary sacrifice, net-pay pension contributions and pension payments made gross, minus relief-at-source pension payments and Gift Aid grossed up (the amount you paid × 1.25). Employer contributions don't change your ANI.
- Personal Allowance: £12,570, reduced by £1 for every £2 of ANI over £100,000, so it's gone at £125,140. The lost allowance is taxed at 40% (England, Wales and Northern Ireland), which is why income between £100,000 and £125,140 is taxed at about 60%.
- Child Benefit charge: 1% of your Child Benefit (£27.05 a week for the eldest child, £17.90 for each other child, 52 weeks) for every full £200 of ANI over £60,000, all of it at £80,000. Rounded down to whole pounds.
- Childcare: you can't get Tax-Free Childcare or Free Childcare for Working Parents if you or your partner expect ANI over £100,000.
- Pay-in needed: to cut your ANI by £1,000 you pay £800 into a relief-at-source pension; your provider adds £200 basic-rate relief. Higher-rate relief is claimed on top through Self Assessment.
Sources: GOV.UK adjusted net income, Personal Allowance over £100,000, High Income Child Benefit Charge, Child Benefit rates, Tax-Free Childcare, pension tax relief, annual allowance (£60,000). Checked 16 October 2026. General guidance only, not tax or financial advice.
Plan your whole year in one sheet
The Tidy Sheets UK Pension Contributions & Adjusted Net Income Planner 2026-27 logs every pension (relief at source, net pay, salary sacrifice, employer) and Gift Aid donation, follows the GOV.UK four-step ANI method, checks your annual allowance including the tapered allowance, and has a what-if tab for any target income. Excel and Google Sheets.
Visit the shopWant to see your payslip with a pension contribution? The take-home pay calculator shows Income Tax, NI, student loan and pension per month. Getting Child Benefit? The Child Benefit tax charge calculator and High Income Child Benefit Charge guide go into the £60,000 to £80,000 taper in more detail. Over £100,000? Read the £100,000 tax trap guide. Paying for childcare? See what you could get with the Tax-Free Childcare calculator.