The NHS Pension Scheme is complicated, particularly if you are a GP.
If you are a GP, it is your pension and you are required to do certain things to keep it up to date. This overview and the below “GP pensions - key dates”, will give you a summary of the main actions you need to perform to keep your pension position up to date.
Detailed guidance for completion of each relevant step is available via PCSE’s website here:
GP Pensions - Support - Primary Care Support England
This is a general overview of the process assuming it is already underway. If you are new to a practice, leaving a practice or are transitioning from Salaried to partner (or vice versa), then you should liaise with the practice manager, and consult PCSE guidance on performers list here:
New Performers - Primary Care Support England and Joiners and Leavers here: GP Pensions Leavers and Joiners
Be sure to contact our healthcare team at MHA if any assistance is required in reporting your earnings for pension scheme purposes. As specialist medical accountants, we can assist with any issue around the reporting of pensionable earnings to PCSE.
As accountants we can advise on the annual compliance/reporting of your pension, explain some of the options available and any tax impacts there may be. You should liaise with your independent financial advisor if wanting to make any decisions that affect your retirement benefits.
Why is it complicated, “Particularly if you are a GP?"
Simply, it is the level of available information and the length of time it takes to report a single year. You never seem to feel like you are up to date.
The whole process, if working smoothly and without issue, takes just shy of 30 months to complete (See - “GP pensions scheme - key dates” below). For example, when considering the 2023/24 pension scheme year, you will be contributing each month from 1 April 2023, but will not know how any of it has impacted your retirement benefits until the middle of August 2025 at the earliest which is
- 29.5 months after the start of the reporting process and
- 16.5 months after the end of the reporting year to which it all relates
At any given time, there will usually be multiple years of pensionable earnings data being gathered and reported at varying stages of the process which is another factor as to why it is so hard to keep track of.
As highlighted above, this is if it is working smoothly and without issue. At the time of writing, arguably this is often not the case, so we can be looking at some GPs being many years out of date and finding it difficult to plan for retirement.
Read through this summary and keep a copy of the key dates available to hand. Discuss with your practice manager to ensure everything is completed and submitted on time for the practice and yourself.
Finally, talk to our specialists here at MHA if you have any questions or are concerned there is a historic issue that needs to be fixed.
GP Pensions Scheme - key dates
Deadline 1 March (before pension year commences)
Prior to the pension year beginning, an estimate of pensionable profit needs to be submitted by the practice via PCSE online which summarises estimated pensionable earnings for the following year for all GP Partners, salaried GPs and non-GP Partners.
These estimates and the identified tier rates are used by PCSE to deduct monthly Employee’s and Employer’s contributions from the Practice throughout the pension year.
Whilst it can be difficult to predict practice profits for GP and non-GP partners, the more accuracy you can get at this stage helps avoid significant cash flow adjustments later – See Superannuation certificate section below.
PRACTICE MANAGER KEY TIP:- Be sure to fully understand your salaried GPs and any pensionable income they have outside the practice1.
Operating the correct Tier rate on the payroll is important to avoid staff owing the practice for under-deducted employee contributions.
The pension year begins where pensionable income for all active members will be earned.
For salaried GPs (Type 2):
- Practice deducts employee contributions (and any AVCs) via the payroll at a Tier rate, usually calculated by the payroll provider, unless specified by the practice 1
- These contributions are retained by the practice in the first instance and not paid to NHSBSA directly (as other staff contributions are)
- PCSE deducts regular monthly contributions from the practice throughout the year based on the “Estimate of pensionable profits”. This can be different from the payroll deductions.
- Any monthly difference between the payroll deductions and what PCSE take should usually be found within the practice’s liabilities in the financial accounts.
For Partners (Type 1):
- PCSE deducts regular monthly contributions from the practice throughout the year based on the “estimate of pensionable profits”.
- Your drawings should be lower than other partners not in the pension scheme. This reflects that the practice is paying Employee and Employer contributions on your behalf.
- Within the accounts, each partner’s portion of Employee and Employer contributions is treated as drawings.
PRACTICE MANAGER KEY TIP:- Check you PCSE statements to ensure that deductions are being taken for all GPs that are active members of the scheme. Addressing any issues promptly can avoid significant practice liabilities building up.
Each member has now earned their income and it will need to be reported to PCSE so that 2 main things happen:
- PCSE make suitable balancing adjustment for each member via the practice to ensure correct Employee and Employer contributions have been received and paid across to the scheme. See Step 6.
- PCSE update NHSBSA with pensionable income figures to use in calculating scheme benefits for each member. See step 7.
Deadline 28 February
The single most important step in the annual superannuation process.
Every GP (who is an active member of the pension scheme) will need to complete at least one certificate to summarise their pensionable earnings for the year:
- For salaried GP’s - a Type 2 certificate is required and will cover all salaried roles held
- For partners - a Type 1 certificate will be required for each partnership role held in the year.
Salaried GP’s will need to report their gross salary. Do not use your P60 figure for this as it is not the correct figure. Payslips themselves are usually the best source of information for this figure.
The practice’s specialist medical accountant will usually complete all the partners’ superannuation certificates for that practice. This is because the key information used in preparing them derives from the practice accounts and is adjusted in line with tax rules. This is why the deadline is after the tax returns; all practice accounts and tax returns need to be completed first to then feed the appropriate information into the superannuation certificates.
How do I know if my Type 1 Certificate is accurate?
For partners, “pensionable profit” is not the same as “taxable profit” due to the way the funding for employer’s contributions is built into practice income. To verify your returns when providing your approval, the figure you see on your tax return for “partnership profit”, will usually agree to box 20 on your superannuation certificate (speak to us if this is not the case to understand why).
PCSE have processed and accepted your certificate, then they will make a financial adjustment to the practice. They will look at the certificate and the total Employee’s, AVCs and Employer’s contributions due, and compare to what they have already deducted from the practice and the adjustment will balance this up.
This in theory brings the cash position between PCSE and the practice up to date for the relevant year for each individual.
For partners, a specialist medical accountant such as MHA, will ensure that your drawings reflect the total contributions due for each year.
For salaried GPs, you need to be mindful as to whether any additional employee contribution or refund is due to or from the practice. Under the pension scheme rules, you are responsible for liaising with the practice to make good any adjustments2.
PRACTICE MANAGER KEY TIPS:- For partners, everything will flow through their drawings and subsequent current accounts. The Practice accountants should ensure this is presented appropriately.
For salaried GPs, this is a little trickier and the practice accountants won’t know the answer in most cases as they will not know what practitioner roles the GP may have outside of the practice.
Other practitioner roles can impact the Tier rates and subsequently change the final contributions due.
We strongly recommend the practice works with its salaried GPs each year2 and encourages preparation of the Type 2 forms.
It is good practice to request a copy of Type 2 forms for the practice’s records too if the GP is willing. Ultimately, the practice will want to be able to reconcile and balance both sides of the following two equations to ensure neutral cash impact for the practice:
| Practice and Employee | |
| Total Employee’s + AVCs due | = Total Employee’s and AVCs deducted from GP via payroll in year |
Any adjustment required to make the above work is due to/from the practice, from/to the GP. These adjustments should be made via the payroll.
| Practice and PCSE | |
| Total Employee’s, AVC and Employer’s due | = Total Employee’s, AVCs and Employer’s deducted by PCSE |
Any adjustment required to make the above work should be identical to the end of year adjustments made by PCSE.
Talk to our specialist team here at MHA if you are concerned about any balancing adjustment or if you are unable to reconcile the position.
Following submission of the certificates, PCSE then have to the end of May to update NHSBSA with the earnings figures for each GP (so long as your certificate is submitted on time and is approved by PCSE).
NHSBSA then have until the middle of August to process this information, update member records and make this available via the Total Rewards Statement (TRS). For example, for the financial year ended 31 March 2024, the TRS should update in August 2025 (16.5 months after the year end).
Use your TRS to discuss your retirement plans with your family and your financial adviser.
Key Tip:- Most GP’s will have previously accessed the TRS via a government gateway login to the TRS system. This is no longer possible. You should receive a letter to register to a new digital service called “My NHS Pension” and this should have come out in August 2023.
If you did not receive this letter, call NHSBSA member helpline on the below and ask for assistance in getting set up on the new system: NHS Pensions - Member helpline: 0300 330 1346
Download our GP Pension Scheme - Key Dates Summary
GP Pension Scheme - Key Dates Summary
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Contact the team1. Tier rate is important to understand. A GP’s tier rate is calculated by reference to all their pensionable earnings across all practitioner roles held. If there is a “portfolio career”, it is easy for a practice to get the Tier rate wrong on a payroll, and end up being due money back from a salaried GP. Practice’s need to understand what other roles their salaried GPs are undertaking to get the correct tier rate on both the “Estimate of Pensionable Profits” and on the payroll to avoid liabilities and debtors building up on the balance sheet.
2. If Salaried GPs do not complete their Type 2 forms, the End of Year adjustments will not be made and there will be either gaps or estimates in the pension record. In rectifying this (often for many years, and it can go back all the way to 2009/10), significant adjustment can be made with the relevant practices.
When PCSE are made aware of an adjustment that is needed, they will go to that practice on the next available payment run and make the adjustment. There is no real alternative process for this. This can catch practices unaware, especially when it relates to a GP that left the practice many years ago. It is still in the scheme rules that the GP should make good the position with the employer, but this whole process, due to the complexity, is not always fully understood. It can be hard to recover funds from a GP if they have left the practice, particularly if they have moved abroad.
