Some £225m in tax relief is going unclaimed every year because a tenth of higher rate taxpayers are not paying into a pension, according to Prudential.
The company surveyed more than 300 higher-rate taxpayers and found that one in ten - equivalent to around 90,000 people - do not make a personal contribution to a pension and subsequently miss out on tax relief.
Prudential noted that those people who make additional personal contributions to their defined contribution pensions, pay in around £523 gross, receive tax relief of just over £200 a month or more than £2,500 a year.
Clare Moffat, a tax specialist at the firm, said: 'Saving into a pension offers valuable tax relief to all workers and particularly to higher rate taxpayers. With a lower threshold for higher rate tax more people stand to benefit from extra tax relief on pensions contributions. However, our research shows that significant number of higher rate taxpayers are passing up the opportunity to receive an extra helping hand with their future retirement income.'
Prudential's research also found that 15% of those surveyed do not know whether they claim tax relief or not. Another 6% said they do not make any additional contributions to their company pension scheme and therefore miss out on valuable tax relief.
The majority (59%) paying into DC group pension schemes do claim or receive the additional tax relief into their pension fund, the insurers said.