How to Get Your NHS Pension P60 (and a Copy)

This guide is for people who draw an NHS pension and need their P60: for a mortgage or loan, a tax query, a benefit claim, or simply because the one that should have arrived has not. You rarely have to ask. NHS Pensions sends it automatically. Here is when, what is on it, and exactly what to do if it is missing.

When your NHS pension P60 arrives

NHSBSA's knowledge base says that once you are receiving your NHS Pension Scheme benefits it sends you a P60 every year, normally by the end of May. The 2026 pensioner newsletter explains how that worked this year: the P60 was sent in batches with the newsletter, shows your total pay, pension and tax paid in the previous tax year up to 5 April 2026, and if you did not receive yours with the newsletter, NHSBSA would send it before the end of May.

The same package normally includes an Advice of Payment, the pensioner newsletter and an NHS Retirement Fellowship leaflet. The Advice of Payment is the page that gives your yearly rate and what the April increase added, and it is a good document to keep next to your P60.

• ✓ Tax year: 6 April one year to 5 April the next. The P60 you get in May 2026 covers 2025/26. The one for the current year, 2026/27, is due by the end of May 2027
• ✓ One P60 per payment type: a separate P60 if you receive scheme pays compensation, injury benefits, a dependent pension or Pension Credit
• ✓ If you also have a job: your employer issues its own P60 for your wages. The NHS pension P60 covers the pension only
• ✓ If you live abroad: a P60 only exists for the UK tax year. For another period, ask for a letter of earnings and tax paid

If it has not arrived, or you need a copy

Follow these steps in order, and stop when you have what you need.

What is on your NHS pension P60

NHSBSA's 2026 newsletter describes the P60 as showing your total pay, pension and tax paid in the previous tax year. In its glossary, it explains each heading:

• NHS pension: the gross amount of NHS pension payments you received in the tax year and the tax deducted from all taxable payments.
• In previous employment: pay and tax from earlier employment in the same tax year, which HMRC tells NHS Pensions about.
• Final tax code: the code used for your final NHS pension payment in the tax year. NHS Pensions may have used other codes earlier in the year.
• PAYE reference: your "pay as you earn" reference, which HMRC asks for when you contact it.

NHSBSA also says the tax code on your P60 is the code applied to your last pension payment of the year. If HMRC changes your code during the year, the code on your P60 can differ from the one on your tax coding notice at the start. That is normal, not an error.

Why the figures do not match your yearly rate

NHSBSA's 2026 newsletter explains that the gross pay on your P60 is usually different from the annual rate you were paid for most of the year, and that the total will not match the amount shown on your Advice of Payment. It lists the reasons:

• ✓ The first NHS pension payment you received in that tax year covered a period running across two tax years
• ✓ Your pension started part-way through the tax year
• ✓ The last NHS pension payment you received in that tax year covered a period running across two tax years
• ✓ Your yearly rate changed during the year, for example with the April increase, which is applied only from the first Monday after 5 April

The first three are NHSBSA's own; the fourth follows from how the increase is applied, as set out in our payment dates guide. If you want to check your P60 total by hand, add up your payments in the tax year from your bank statements or payslips and compare them with the gross pension figure, remembering that payments are made in arrears.

If you think your P60 is wrong

There are three different problems, and they go to different places.

• Wrong tax or tax code. NHSBSA says it is unable to change the tax code unless HMRC tells it to, so any query about your tax code or tax liability goes to HMRC, quoting your National Insurance number. If you think you have paid too much or too little tax, the 2026 newsletter says you are responsible for reporting it to HMRC. Our guide to being taxed wrongly on NHS pension payments sets out the steps.
• Wrong pension or tax amounts. NHSBSA's FAQ says to write to NHS Pensions explaining why you believe there is an error, and that if there has been a genuine error it will send revised information to HMRC. You can also query it with HMRC.
• A big arrears payment that should have been spread over earlier years. NHSBSA says payments are taxed in the year they are paid, not the year they are due. It can, on request, give you a breakdown of what you should have received in earlier tax years, which you can send to HMRC.

What to use your P60 for

NHSBSA suggests keeping your P60 in a safe place. It says the P60 proves the amount of tax you have paid and is a handy way of proving your income for loan or mortgage applications. Typical uses are:

• Proof of income for a mortgage, loan, rental or credit application.
• Checking that the tax deducted matches what you expect, using the NHS pension tax calculator.
• Supporting a tax refund query with HMRC, along with the PAYE reference printed on it.
• Filling in a Self Assessment tax return, if you send one. gov.uk says you must include income from your State Pension and private pensions.
• Dealing with the estate of someone who has died. NHSBSA says it can provide pension payment and tax deduction details to help administer the estate: see what to do when an NHS pensioner dies.