Any lump sum payable under a final salary pension scheme is not taxable. However, current rules state that you can take a maximum of 25% of your notional "pension pot" as a lump sum. Becasue final salary schemes do not have a "pot" in the same way as a money purchse scheme does final the value of the pot is usually calculated by taking any normal lump sum due and adding twenty times the annual penaion payable upon retirement. (Twenty years is the ball park figure that actuaries use as average life expectancy). So if your scheme would pay (say) a lump sum of £30k and a £10k pension, your pension pot is £230k. So the maximum you could take as a lump sum would be £57.5k.