Annual Allowance Pension Tax Index
The annual allowance and NHS doctors: pension tax charges across UK registered pension schemes
A sourced read on how annual allowance pension tax has grown in the UK. The recurring money series is HMRC data for all UK registered pension schemes. A separate NHS layer, from NHSBSA Freedom of Information data for the England and Wales scheme, shows how doctors sit within it. Built entirely from official open data. Annual data, published by HMRC each July, so the latest figures are around two tax years behind.
Key facts
- Across all UK registered pension schemes, £350m of annual allowance charges were settled through pension schemes’ Accounting for Tax returns (Scheme Pays) in 2023/24, provisional (HMRC).
- The value of annual allowance charges paid through Scheme Pays rose from £64m in 2016/17 to £350m in 2023/24 (provisional), across all UK registered pension schemes (HMRC).
- The number of people reporting pension savings above the annual allowance through Self Assessment peaked at 56,270 in 2021/22, up from 18,720 in 2016/17, across all UK registered schemes (HMRC). This is a count of individuals, not a tax charge value.
- The standard annual allowance was cut from £215,000 in 2006/07 to £40,000 for most of the 2016/17 to 2022/23 period, then raised to £60,000 from 2023/24, so more savers were pulled over the threshold even before pensions grew (HMRC).
- In the NHS Pension Scheme for England and Wales, 46,135 officer members (hospital doctors and other non-practitioner staff) had pension growth above the standard annual allowance in 2021/22, alongside 7,991 practitioners (GPs), on an NHSBSA Freedom of Information snapshot.
- The 2021/22 NHS spike reflects that year’s high CPI revaluation of the 2015 pension scheme, which inflated members’ measured pension growth. It is a mechanical effect of how defined-benefit growth is calculated, not a change in pay.
- Reported charges appear to fall in 2022/23, but this is a reporting artefact: NHS and other public-service members were directed to report 2022/23 annual allowance charges through HMRC’s public service pension adjustment service (the McCloud remedy route) rather than Self Assessment. The underlying burden did not fall.
Source: Medical Accountants UK analysis of HMRC Private pension statistics (July 2025) and NHSBSA data, all under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Free to cite with attribution to Medical Accountants UK. This page is a data summary and not tax advice on any individual situation.
The money settled through Scheme Pays is climbing
Each bar is the total value of annual allowance charges settled through pension schemes’ Accounting for Tax (AfT) returns in that year, across all UK registered pension schemes (HMRC Private pension statistics, Table 7). This is the Scheme Pays route: the scheme settles the charge with HMRC in exchange for a permanent reduction in the member’s benefits. The 2023/24 bar is provisional.
Scheme Pays reporting through the Accounting for Tax return began in 2012/13, so this series does not extend earlier. The PODS digital service (from 2020/21) improved reporting and may lift later years. All UK registered pension schemes (HMRC).
Reports of pension savings above the allowance
Each bar shows the number of individuals who reported pension savings above the annual allowance through Self Assessment that year, across all UK registered pension schemes (HMRC). This is not a count of charges paid; it is a count of people whose pension input exceeded the allowance and who reported it via Self Assessment.
All UK registered pension schemes (HMRC). The Taper marker (2016/17) shows where the count also began including members caught by the tapered allowance and the money purchase allowance, a definitional widening (visible step up), not purely a behavioural rise. The McCloud marker (2022/23) shows where the fall occurred: public-service members were directed to report 2022/23 charges through HMRC’s public service pension adjustment service instead of Self Assessment (see note below). 2023/24 provisional.
The 2016/17 taper widening
From 2016/17 this count also includes members caught by the tapered allowance and the money purchase allowance, a definitional widening (visible step up), not purely a behavioural rise.
The 2022/23 McCloud reporting artefact
The 2022/23 fall (56,270 in 2021/22 to 34,190) is a reporting artefact: public-service (McCloud) members were told to report 2022/23 charges through HMRC’s public service pension adjustment service instead of Self Assessment. It is not a real fall in the burden.
How the standard allowance has changed
The step chart below shows the standard annual allowance set by policy each tax year. Falling allowances, not just larger pensions, drove the rise in the number of people caught above the limit. The chart covers all UK registered pension schemes (HMRC). The allowance rose from £40,000 to £60,000 from 2023/24; the 2023/24 £60,000 level is a legislated figure (the provisional flag applies to the accompanying charge data, not to the allowance itself).
The standard annual allowance, set by policy. It fell from £215,000 (2006/07) to £40,000, then rose to £60,000 from 2023/24. Falling allowances, not just larger pensions, drove the rise in charges. All UK schemes.
Inside the NHS Pension Scheme (England and Wales)
The chart below is drawn from NHSBSA Freedom of Information data (FOI-02228) for the NHS Pension Scheme in England and Wales only. It shows how many practitioner members (GPs) and officer members (hospital doctors and other non-practitioner staff) had pension growth exceeding the standard annual allowance in each year. The data covers 2015/16 to 2021/22 only; 2022/23 and 2023/24 are excluded because they were not yet fully calculated at the snapshot date (26 September 2024). These figures count the standard allowance only and do not include members caught solely by the taper.
NHS Pension Scheme, England and Wales. A point-in-time NHSBSA Freedom of Information snapshot (data as at 26 September 2024, on the pre-McCloud-rollback basis). Counts members whose pension growth exceeded the standard annual allowance only, so members caught by the taper are not included. The 2021/22 officer spike (46,135) reflects that year’s high CPI revaluation of the 2015 scheme.
| Tax year | Practitioners over standard AA | Officers over standard AA | Total over standard AA |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015/16 | 3,111 | 12,562 | 15,673 |
| 2016/17 | 8,996 | 20,817 | 29,813 |
| 2017/18 | 9,251 | 18,776 | 28,027 |
| 2018/19 | 6,637 | 13,259 | 19,896 |
| 2019/20 | 6,925 | 19,130 | 26,055 |
| 2020/21 | 6,200 | 23,289 | 29,489 |
| 2021/22 | 7,991 | 46,135 | 54,126 |
In 2019/20, GPs registered 8,239 Scheme Pays election forms and hospital doctors 9,745, together about 90% of the roughly 19,900 forms that year (NHSBSA FOI-02711, submission-date basis, England and Wales). Label clearly as a single-year illustration on a different counting basis from the table above, so it is not tied into any trend.
The full HMRC series
| Tax year | Standard AA | Scheme Pays charges (AfT) | Value of Scheme Pays charges | Individuals over AA (SA) | Value of contributions in excess of AA (SA) | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006/07 | £215,000 | n/a | n/a | 140 | £2m | |
| 2007/08 | £225,000 | n/a | n/a | 230 | £3m | |
| 2008/09 | £235,000 | n/a | n/a | 190 | £8m | |
| 2009/10 | £245,000 | n/a | n/a | 170 | £5m | |
| 2010/11 | £255,000 | n/a | n/a | 140 | £6m | |
| 2011/12 | £50,000 | n/a | n/a | 5,570 | £148m | |
| 2012/13 | £50,000 | 590 | £14m | 3,850 | £95m | |
| 2013/14 | £50,000 | 2,460 | £51m | 5,840 | £178m | |
| 2014/15 | £40,000 | 1,780 | £40m | 7,280 | £184m | |
| 2015/16 | £40,000 | 3,010 | £62m | 5,460 | £143m | |
| 2016/17 | £40,000 | 2,940 | £64m | 18,720 | £584m | Revised |
| 2017/18 | £40,000 | 6,810 | £122m | 29,990 | £914m | Revised |
| 2018/19 | £40,000 | 13,770 | £210m | 34,490 | £824m | Revised |
| 2019/20 | £40,000 | 21,630 | £256m | 45,210 | £1011m | Revised |
| 2020/21 | £40,000 | 20,070 | £216m | 44,290 | £822m | Revised |
| 2021/22 | £40,000 | 50,590 | £328m | 56,270 | £1288m | Revised |
| 2022/23 | £40,000 | 54,920 | £348m | 34,190 | £728m | Revised |
| 2023/24 | £60,000 | 49,590 | £350m | 23,370 | £466m | Provisional |
Methodology and sources
HMRC Private pension statistics, Table 7 (annual allowance), July 2025 edition. Taken: the standard annual allowance by year; the number and value of annual allowance charges reported through schemes’ Accounting for Tax returns (Scheme Pays), 2012/13 onward; and the number of individuals reporting pension savings above the allowance through Self Assessment, plus the value of those excess contributions, 2006/07 onward. This is all UK registered pension schemes; there is no NHS split in this source.
NHSBSA FOI-02228. Taken: the number of NHS Pension Scheme (England and Wales) practitioner and officer members whose pension growth exceeded the standard annual allowance, 2015/16 to 2021/22. Used as a point-in-time snapshot only.
NHSBSA FOI-02711. Taken: the single-year 2019/20 split of Scheme Pays election forms by role (GPs, hospital doctors and others). Illustrative role colour only, on a different counting basis.
NHS Pension Scheme Annual Report and Accounts (section 3.3 movement table). Taken: closing active, deferred and pensioner member counts at 31 March 2023, 2024 and 2025 (England and Wales), as population context.
Honesty caveats
- Annual data with a lag of roughly 18 to 24 months; HMRC publishes each July; the July 2025 edition reaches 2023/24, still provisional; next release summer 2026.
- The Self Assessment money column is the value of contributions above the allowance, not a tax charge. HMRC does not publish a Self Assessment annual allowance charge value.
- Scheme Pays (Accounting for Tax) charge values begin in 2012/13, so the money series does not extend earlier.
- From 2016/17 the Self Assessment count also captures tapered and money-purchase allowance breaches, a definitional widening.
- The 2022/23 fall in Self Assessment figures is a McCloud reporting artefact, not a real decline.
- Counts are gross; an annual allowance charge does not mean a member left the scheme.
- NHS figures are England and Wales only (Scotland and Northern Ireland run separate schemes). The FOI figures are a pre-McCloud-rollback snapshot, standard allowance only, with 2022/23 and 2023/24 excluded as undercounted at the snapshot date.
- The HMRC series is all UK registered pension schemes, not NHS-only; the two layers are kept separate.
- Private pension statistics (Table 7, annual allowance) (HM Revenue and Customs)
- NHS Pension Scheme Annual Report and Accounts 2024-25 (membership, section 3.3) (NHS Business Services Authority)
- FOI-02228: members exceeding the annual allowance and Scheme Pays records (NHS Business Services Authority)
- FOI-02711: Scheme Pays election forms 2019/20 by role (NHS Business Services Authority)
Download the HMRC annual allowance data (CSV)
All sources are published under the Open Government Licence v3.0. This report is Medical Accountants UK analysis of HMRC and NHSBSA data.
How to cite
Cite as: Medical Accountants UK, Annual Allowance Pension Tax Index, analysis of HMRC Private pension statistics (July 2025) and NHSBSA data, 2026. Free to reuse with attribution.
Reviewed on each HMRC annual publication (each July). This edition uses data to the 2023/24 tax year.
Concerned about your annual allowance position?
The numbers in this report show the scale of the issue across the profession. Your own position depends on your pension input, income level, and whether the taper applies to you. Our NHS pension annual allowance calculator models your situation, and we can review your position directly.
Frequently asked questions
Does an annual allowance charge mean a doctor has to leave the NHS pension scheme?
No. An annual allowance charge is a tax charge on pension growth above the allowance in a year, and it does not remove the member from the scheme or stop future accrual. Many members settle the charge through Scheme Pays, where the NHS scheme pays the charge to HMRC in exchange for a permanent, actuarially assessed reduction in that member's benefits. The figures in this report are gross counts of members and charges, so a member appearing in one year is still an active or deferred member of the scheme.
Why does this data lag by around two years?
HMRC publishes its Private pension statistics once a year, each July, and the newest tax year it covers is around 18 to 24 months behind because annual allowance charges are reported through Self Assessment and through schemes' Accounting for Tax returns, which are filed and processed after the tax year ends. The July 2025 edition used here reaches the 2023/24 tax year, and that year is still marked provisional. The next edition is due in summer 2026.
What changed in 2023/24?
The standard annual allowance rose from £40,000 to £60,000 from 6 April 2023, and the minimum tapered allowance rose from £4,000 to £10,000. A higher allowance means fewer members breach it, which is one reason Self Assessment counts fall in 2023/24. Because 2023/24 also overlaps the McCloud reporting change, the two effects should be read together, not treated as a single clean trend.
What is Scheme Pays?
Scheme Pays lets a pension scheme settle a member's annual allowance charge with HMRC, so the member does not have to fund it from cash, in exchange for a permanent reduction in their scheme benefits. In the NHS scheme, mandatory Scheme Pays is available where the charge is more than £2,000 and the member's pension input in the NHS scheme alone exceeds the £60,000 standard allowance; a charge driven only by the taper below £60,000 is voluntary Scheme Pays. The election deadline is 31 July in the year after the year the charge relates to, so a 2025/26 charge must be elected by 31 July 2027. The money series in this report is HMRC's national count of charges reported and paid this way, across all UK registered pension schemes.
Why did reported charges fall in 2022/23?
The fall is a reporting artefact, not a real decline. For 2022/23, public-service pension members, a group that includes NHS doctors, were directed to report their annual allowance position through HMRC's public service pension adjustment service, set up for the McCloud remedy, rather than through Self Assessment. That pulled a large block of charges out of the Self Assessment count, which dropped from 56,270 individuals in 2021/22 to 34,190. The underlying burden did not fall; it was recorded elsewhere.
Is this an NHS-specific dataset?
Partly. The recurring money and count series comes from HMRC and covers all UK registered pension schemes, not the NHS alone, although HMRC states that a significant share of annual allowance charges come from public-service scheme members. The NHS-specific layer comes from NHSBSA Freedom of Information data for the England and Wales scheme, which counts how many practitioner and officer members had pension growth above the standard allowance. We keep the two clearly separate throughout, and we do not present a national money figure as if it were NHS-only.
Can I use these figures?
Yes. Every source here is published under the Open Government Licence v3.0. You are free to cite the figures and download the underlying data, with attribution to Medical Accountants UK. If you are a doctor trying to work out your own annual allowance position, our NHS pension annual allowance calculator models your pension input against the £60,000 allowance and the taper, and we can review your position directly.