AA is the maximum amount of pension growth you can have before it’s subject to a charge. This includes pension savings you make yourself and any made on your behalf by a third-party.
The AA applies to pension benefits across all registered pension schemes.
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) publishes the AA limit for each tax year. You can find the limit for this year and each previous tax year back to 2011/12.
If you exceed the AA limit, you may have to pay an AA charge to HMRC.
If you have any unused AA from the previous 3 tax years, you may be able to 'carry forward' this amount and add it to the AA in the current tax year. This could prevent or reduce the amount of AA charge liability you have for the current tax year.
The unused AA for the previous tax year is the difference between the total pension input amount for that year and the AA in that tax year.
You’ll be sent a Pension Savings Statement (PSS) if the total pension growth across your NHS Pension Schemes is more than the AA.
HMRC changes for public service pension schemes from 2023/24
From tax year 2023/24, if your pension input amount in the 1995/2008 Scheme is negative, this can be offset against a positive amount in the 2015 Scheme in the same tax year.
For tax years before 2023/24, any negative pension input amount will always be shown as zero.
You cannot carry forward a negative pension input amount.
The change does not affect the 2015 Scheme. Any negative pension growth in the 2015 Scheme will always show as zero.
You can find more information in the ‘Negative pension input amount’ factsheet on our website.