Salary sacrifice to £100k calculator: how much pension to get under £100k

You need to sacrifice the amount your adjusted net income is over £100,000. On £110,000 that's £10,000 a year, or £833 a month; £12,000 (£1,000 a month) leaves a £2,000 buffer. Through a personal pension instead you'd pay in £8,000 and the provider grosses it up to £10,000.

Your household

Results update as you type. One earner; England, Wales or Northern Ireland rules, 2026-27.

Target under £100,000

No buffer

£2k buffer

£5k buffer

Salary sacrifice to reach £98,000

£12,000a year

That's £1,000 a month taken from pay before tax and NI, bringing adjusted net income from £110,000 to £98,000.

Personal pension instead: £9,600paid in
Grossed up to £12,000; higher-rate relief via self-assessment.
Take-home change: −£4,960a year
£7,040 of the sacrifice would have gone in tax and NI.
Marginal rate now: 62%of the next £1,000
Of the next £1,000 of gross salary, £380 remains after income tax, employee NI and any Child Benefit charge. This includes any tax-band crossing; childcare is shown separately.

What you keep if you sacrifice £12,000

Take-home change: −£4,960
Tax and NI saved: +£7,040
Childcare regained: +£10,550
Pension gained: +£12,000
Better off overall: +£17,590

Show the working

Line	Now	After
Gross pay Salary plus bonus for the tax year.	£110,000	£110,000
Adjusted net income (ANI) The figure HMRC uses for the £100k tests: taxable income after pension contributions and Gift Aid. GOV.UK	£110,000	£98,000
Personal allowance Reduced by £1 for every £2 of ANI over £100,000. GOV.UK	£7,570	£12,570
Income tax 20% / 40% / 45% on income above your personal allowance. GOV.UK	−£33,432	−£26,632
National Insurance 8% between £12,570 and £50,270, then 2%. GOV.UK	−£4,211	−£3,971
Take-home pay What lands in the bank from pay.	£72,357	£67,397
Child Benefit Paid for each child you claim for. GOV.UK	£1,407	£1,407
Child Benefit charge (HICBC) 1% of Child Benefit for every £200 of ANI over £60,000. GOV.UK	−£1,407	−£1,407
Tax-Free Childcare Lost: ANI is over £100,000. GOV.UK	£0	£2,000
Funded childcare hours (value) Working-parent hours excluded above £100,000; universal hours for the children selected are retained. GOV.UK	£0	£8,550

Tax year 2026-27. How we calculate. Guidance, not financial advice.

England childcare estimate: assumes all other eligibility conditions are met, including your partner’s income and both parents’ minimum earnings. Full Tax-Free Childcare needs £10,000 of eligible bills per child per year after funded hours, spread to use the £500 quarterly top-up. Funded hours are valued at £7.50 per hour. Universal 15 hours for the children selected remain above £100k and are excluded from the value at risk. Term dates, grace periods and disability enhancements are not modelled. Childcare assumptions. Pension contribution limits are not checked.

£110,000 salary, no pension, one child under 5. Adjusted net income £110,000.

Take the £12,000 plan with you.

One email with your numbers: the £12,000 a year, the £1,000 a month, the working line by line, and what to ask payroll for.

Worked example: £110,000, one child

Computed from the 2026-27 rules when this page was built. Change the household above for your own.

Childcare example: England, children aged 9 months to 2, a full year of eligible support and enough paid childcare to use the maximum top-up. Universal hours for older children reduce the amount at risk.

1Salary £110,000, no pension yet, so adjusted net income is £110,000: £10,000 over the line.
2Sacrifice £10,000 a year (£833 a month) and adjusted net income lands exactly on £100,000. Take-home falls by £3,800, because £6,200 of what you gave up would have gone in tax and NI.
3For a £2,000 buffer, sacrifice £12,000 (£1,000 a month). With one child under 3, £10,550 of childcare support depends on staying under.

How it works

Salary sacrifice comes off pay before tax and NI, so each £1 sacrificed cuts adjusted net income by £1. gov.uk/guidance/salary-sacrifice-and-the-effects-on-paye
A personal pension contribution is grossed up by 25% (basic-rate relief), so £8,000 paid in counts as £10,000. gov.uk/tax-on-your-private-pension/pension-tax-relief
Higher-rate relief on personal contributions comes through your tax return or tax code, not the provider. gov.uk/tax-on-your-private-pension/pension-tax-relief
The £100,000 test is adjusted net income for the whole tax year, 6 April to 5 April. gov.uk/guidance/adjusted-net-income

How we calculate, with every source

Questions people ask

Salary sacrifice or a personal pension (SIPP)?

Both reduce adjusted net income by the gross amount. Salary sacrifice also saves employee NI and needs your employer's scheme; a personal pension is paid from take-home pay, grossed up by the provider, with higher-rate relief claimed through self-assessment. The calculator shows both amounts.

How big a buffer do I need?

Enough to cover income you can't control: a bonus, interest on savings, a benefit in kind. £2,000 is a common starting point; if your pay is variable, use the bonus and RSU calculator to set a safe target from the range.

Is there a limit on how much I can put in?

Pension contributions have an annual allowance and the engine doesn't yet check it, nor any tapering of it for very high earners. Check the current allowance on GOV.UK before sacrificing large amounts.

Is the monthly figure exact?

It's the annual amount divided by twelve. If you start part-way through the tax year, divide the annual figure by the pay periods left instead. The 2026-27 rates were checked against official sources on 10 October 2026. Results are annual estimates within the scope explained on our method page.

Where next

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