Paying into a UK pension after moving abroad

Yes. If you were UK resident when you joined a UK registered pension scheme, you remain a “relevant UK individual” for the five tax years after the last tax year in which you were UK resident, and can get tax relief on contributions of up to £3,600 gross a year (£2,880 paid in, with £720 added by the scheme). The relief is given only through schemes that operate relief at source. If you still have UK earnings taxed in the UK, relief can instead go up to the amount of those earnings.

Who can get tax relief on pension contributions at all?

Section 188 of the Finance Act 2004 gives relief on “relievable pension contributions” to an individual who is an active member of a registered pension scheme and a relevant UK individual for the tax year in which the contribution is paid. HMRC’s Pensions Tax Manual at PTM044100 adds that relief can only be claimed for the tax year in which the contribution is actually made. Section 189(1) gives four ways to be a relevant UK individual for a year:

1. having relevant UK earnings chargeable to income tax for the year;
2. being resident in the UK at some time during the year;
3. having been resident in the UK at some time during the five tax years immediately before the year, and also when you became a member of the pension scheme;
4. having, or having a spouse or civil partner with, general earnings from overseas Crown employment subject to UK tax.

The third route is the one that keeps relief alive after emigration. PTM044100 describes it under the heading members who move overseas, and confirms that such members may qualify for relief on contributions up to the basic amount of £3,600.

How does the five year window work?

Residence is decided tax year by tax year under the statutory residence test. HMRC’s Residence and FIG Regime Manual at RFIG21010 confirms that you are either resident or non resident for a whole tax year; a split year divides a resident year into a UK part and an overseas part, but you are still UK resident for that year. So the year you leave normally satisfies the second route, and the five following tax years satisfy the third route.

Illustration only. Mark joined a personal pension in 2015 while living in Manchester. He moves to Portugal in August 2026 and has no UK earnings afterwards.

Tax year	Why he is a relevant UK individual
2026 to 2027	UK resident for the year (split year), so route 2
2027 to 2028 to 2031 to 2032	Resident at some time in the five previous tax years, and resident when he joined, so route 3
2032 to 2033	None of the routes apply, so no relief

If Mark returns to the UK and becomes resident again, route 2 applies for that year and the five year clock restarts when he next leaves.

Why is the limit £3,600?

Section 190 caps relief each year at the amount of your relevant UK earnings chargeable to income tax. If those earnings are less than the “basic amount”, the cap is raised to the basic amount, which section 190(4) sets at £3,600. Someone abroad with no UK earnings is therefore limited to relief on £3,600 gross. GOV.UK expresses the same limit from the other side: a pension provider can claim 20% relief on contributions up to £2,880 a year if you have no earnings. You can pay in more, but no tax relief is given on the excess. The general rules on earnings and the £3,600 floor are explained in relevant UK earnings and the £3,600 rule.

Does the type of scheme make a difference?

Yes. Section 191(7) says relief that is due only because of the basic amount may only be given under section 192, the relief at source method, and that a net pay pension scheme does not have to give it. PTM044100 and PTM044220 repeat the point: relief at source is the only way to get relief on contributions above your UK earnings, up to £3,600. GOV.UK says relief at source applies in all personal and stakeholder pensions and in some workplace pensions; other workplace schemes use net pay instead. A contribution to an old employer’s net pay scheme after leaving the UK may therefore get no relief at all.

Relief at source is added at “the relevant rate”. Section 192(1A) makes this the Scottish or Welsh basic rate only where HMRC notifies the scheme that the member is a Scottish or Welsh taxpayer, and the UK basic rate in all other cases. A Scottish taxpayer must be UK resident for the year (Scotland Act 1998, section 80D), so once you are non resident the relief is added at the 20% basic rate.

What if you still have UK earnings?

The first route does not depend on residence or on any time limit. Section 189(2) defines relevant UK earnings as employment income, profits of a trade, profession or vocation, and certain patent income of an inventor. If you live abroad but are still taxed in the UK on, for example, pay for UK duties or UK trading profits, you can get relief on contributions up to those earnings, even after the five year window has closed. Two limits apply:

• Section 189(3) treats earnings as not chargeable to income tax if a double taxation agreement makes them not taxable in the UK, so treaty exempt pay does not count.
• Rental income, pensions, dividends and interest are not relevant UK earnings, and income from furnished holiday lettings no longer counts from 2025 to 2026, because section 189(2)(ba) was omitted by the Finance Act 2025.

What does a typical year look like?

Illustration only. In 2028 to 2029 Mark, now living in Portugal, pays £240 a month into his personal pension, £2,880 over the year. His provider claims £720 from HMRC at the 20% basic rate and adds it to his pot, so £3,600 gross is invested. Because he has no UK taxable income, there is no higher rate relief to claim: the extension of the basic and higher rate limits under section 192(4) only helps where UK tax at the higher or additional rate would otherwise be charged.

If Mark paid in more than £2,880, relief would still stop at £3,600 gross for the year. Anything above that is invested without relief, and his declaration to the provider should reflect the limit.

What do you have to tell the provider?

Before relief at source can apply, PTM044220 explains that the member must declare that total contributions to registered schemes on which they are entitled to relief will not exceed the higher of the basic amount and their relevant UK earnings. The member also confirms that they will tell the scheme administrator if something happens that means they are no longer entitled to relief, such as ceasing to have relevant UK earnings. That notice is due by the later of 5 April in the tax year in which the event happens and 30 days after the event. Reaching the end of the five year window, with no UK earnings, is exactly that kind of event.

What else limits relief after emigration?

• Joining a new scheme from abroad. The third route requires you to have been UK resident when you became a member of the scheme. A scheme opened after you leave does not qualify through that route.
• Age 75. Section 188(3)(a) excludes contributions paid after the member reaches 75 from relief; see pension contributions after 75.
• Employer contributions. Section 188(3)(b) takes employer contributions outside relievable pension contributions, so the five year rule governs only your own payments.
• Annual allowance. GOV.UK sets the standard annual allowance at £60,000; a £3,600 gross contribution is well inside it, but larger contributions linked to UK earnings may not be. See the pension annual allowance.

What mistakes do people make?

• Stopping contributions on leaving the UK in the belief that relief ends immediately.
• Carrying on past the end of the five year window without telling the provider, so that relief is claimed on contributions that no longer qualify.
• Paying into a net pay workplace scheme and assuming the £3,600 floor applies there.
• Counting rental profits from a UK property as earnings that lift the limit above £3,600.
• Forgetting how the new country treats UK pension contributions. The UK rules give relief against UK tax only, so local advice is needed as well; the wider checklist is in leaving the UK: tax steps.

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Related Accountapedia entries

• Keeping ISAs and UK accounts after moving abroad
• Can a UK company move its registered office abroad
• Can HMRC investigate you after you move abroad
• Leaving the UK: tax steps and form P85
• Paying into a pension for a child or grandchild

Sources

• legislation.gov.uk: Act 2004 c. 12, section 188
• legislation.gov.uk: Act 2004 c. 12, section 189
• legislation.gov.uk: Act 2004 c. 12, section 190
• legislation.gov.uk: Act 2004 c. 12, section 191
• legislation.gov.uk: Act 2004 c. 12, section 192
• GOV.UK: Manual page PTM044100
• GOV.UK: Manual page PTM044220
• GOV.UK: Print
• legislation.gov.uk: Act 1998 c. 46, section 80D
• GOV.UK: Manual page RFIG21010

Reviewed by Christine Anderson, Broker, Solar Protect. Last reviewed 24 October 2026. Part of Accountapedia, the Solar Protect guide to UK tax and accounting. This page is general information, not personalised advice.