NHS superannuation & annual allowance
The NHS pension input amount measures the growth in your benefit, not what you paid in, so a part-time NHS dentist with any private or dividend income can breach the annual allowance without making a personal contribution. We match you with an accountant who models the carry-forward waterfall, runs the Scheme Pays versus personal-pay comparison, and files the election before the irreversible deadline.
What a specialist actually does.
- 01Annual allowance calculation including pension input amount (PIA)
- 02Three-year carry-forward modelling
- 03Tapered annual allowance review for high-earning dentists
- 04Scheme Pays election (mandatory and voluntary) — including deadline tracking
- 05Total Reward Statement interpretation
- 06Pension growth projections for retirement planning
Who this is for.
- NHS-contracted dentists with any private or limited-company income
- Senior partners whose pensionable pay has stepped up recently
- Dentists approaching or exceeding the £260,000 adjusted-income taper threshold
- Dentists with HMRC annual allowance charges already flagged
- Dentists planning retirement in the next 5–10 years
How pricing works.
Annual allowance work is usually handled as part of a broader self-assessment engagement — the specialist reviews your pension position when preparing your tax return. Standalone one-off reviews are also available on a fixed-fee basis. The work almost always pays for itself in the first year, often in the first Scheme Pays decision alone.
We don't publish fake "£X/month" tables. The accountant you're matched with quotes directly, and you see the fee before any work starts.
About nhs superannuation.
How do I know if I have breached the annual allowance?+
You probably won't find out from HMRC in time to act. Your NHS pension Total Reward Statement arrives months after the tax year it covers, and by then Scheme Pays deadlines are close. A specialist accountant will model your likely PIA in advance, so you know before you file — not after.
Is Scheme Pays always the right answer?+
No. Scheme Pays permanently reduces your eventual NHS pension by an actuarial factor — for dentists in their 40s and 50s, paying the charge personally often works out better over a full retirement, if the cash is available. The specialist models both options against your retirement horizon before you elect.
What is carry-forward and why does it matter?+
You can carry forward unused annual allowance from the previous three tax years, provided you were a member of a registered pension scheme in each of them. For most NHS dentists, that's automatic. A one-off PIA spike — often triggered by a partnership promotion or a CPI adjustment — can often be absorbed entirely by carry-forward with no charge at all, but only if it's calculated and claimed correctly.
Does this apply to associates, or only practice owners?+
Both. Any dentist contributing to the 1995, 2008, or 2015 NHS pension scheme can breach the allowance if their pensionable pay grows or their total adjusted income triggers the taper. Associates with a mix of NHS sessions, private work, and a limited company are at particular risk because the income streams interact in ways that are not obvious.
NHS superannuation across UK cities.
Dedicated city pages with local context for the 0 UK cities we cover. Service is delivered nationally — these pages exist for the markets where nhs superannuation demand is concentrated.
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