GP pension tax bills deadline extended

The voluntary ‘scheme pays’ deadline for GPs to claim the NHS pension scheme support with their pension taxes has been extended until March 2023. The original deadline to claim for the 2020/21 tax year was 31 July 2022.

Under the current NHS pension scheme, the highest earning GPs will be paying at least 14.5% in contributions. However, the tapered annual allowance limits the amount of money that can go into a pension each year without facing large tax penalties. Under the current rules, many GPs are opting to reduce their hours or retire early to avoid these large tax bills. However, the ‘scheme pays arrangement’ allows GPs to apply for annual allowance tax charges to be deferred until retirement. At this point, the annual allowance tax will then be taken from their pension fund. This prevents GPs from having to pay these large tax bills upfront. The government decided to introduce this arrangement to prevent GPs from worrying about taking on more shifts because of annual allowance charges.

How can we help?

At Hawsons our dedicated team of GP accountants offers a specialist service to GPs and their practices, utilising our in-depth knowledge and experience in the sector.

We are up to date with the changes in the health service and recognise the need for doctors to devote maximum time to patient care. We strongly believe that through the use of our specialist knowledge and expertise this can be achieved.