now:pensions is a net pay pension scheme. You, the workplace, take pension contributions out of workers’ gross pay and pay them into now:pensions before income tax is deducted.  

You’ll need to: 

• work out pension contributions on gross (before tax) pay, and 

• calculate and deduct your workers’ income tax after you’ve taken their pension contributions. 

As a result, your workers who are taxpayers won’t pay any income tax on their pension contributions. They automatically get full tax relief. 

Workers who don’t earn enough to pay tax don’t normally get tax relief. The government has set up a scheme to pay a tax top-up to these workers, so they don’t miss out. HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) will contact workers who aren’t taxpayers directly about this. Payments are expected to begin in 2026 for the 2024/25 tax year.

Self-employed workers will need to claim tax relief through their annual self-assessment tax return.

What other types of tax relief are there? 

There’s another type of tax relief arrangement called relief at source. In this kind of arrangement the workplace takes workers’ pension contributions from their pay, after income tax has been taken off. 

The pension scheme then claims the tax relief from HMRC each month, adding the basic tax rate of 20% to workers’ contributions.

Higher or additional-rate taxpayers can claim back the rest of their tax relief from HMRC through their annual Self-Assessment tax return. 

Make sure you set up your tax relief correctly

For now:pensions, you must set up your workplace pension for tax relief on the net pay basis. Otherwise, your workers’ contributions won’t be worked out correctly and you could end up having to compensate for any losses they may incur. If you’re not sure how to do this, please ask us for help using webchat.

Your ER code, also known as your company code, is a unique four-character code now:pensions uses to identify your company when you sign your Participation Agreement with us.

You can find this code in now:u and on any communications we send you.

A PSR number is allocated to workplace pension schemes by The Pensions Regulator. It’s an eight-digit number starting with 1.

Our Pension Scheme Registry Number is 12005124. You’ll need this number to complete your declaration of compliance.

An EPSR is a unique identifier for an employer. It’s allocated by the trustees or managers of personal pension or multi-employer workplace pension schemes. As an employer, you need this number to register with The Pensions Regulator.

Your EPSR number for the NOW: Pensions Trust (‘now:pensions’) is your employer code.

You can find this code in now:u and on any communications we send you. You’ll need it to complete your declaration of compliance.