A pension tax refund of emergency tax is claimed from HMRC online or by post, on the form that fits how much of your pot you took, or comes after the year.
If tax came off your first pension withdrawal at a rate that looks too high, you may be able to get it back. For the wider choices about drawing a defined contribution pot, MoneyHelper's Pension Wise is free and describes itself as impartial and backed by government. Anyone wanting their own payslip and pots read by a professional can use this page's enquiry form to reach an FCA-authorised adviser, at no cost.
Why does emergency tax happen on a first pension withdrawal?
When you take money from a defined contribution pension in a flexible way, the provider deducts tax before paying you. Unless the provider holds a P45 dated in the current tax year (see the questions below), HMRC's PAYE Manual says "the scheme administrator will use the emergency tax code on a month 1 basis against the first payment", even where there is "a P45 from the previous tax year". HMRC then issues a code for later payments.
The same manual lists what counts as accessing a pension flexibly, including "a payment from a flexi-access drawdown fund" and "an uncrystallised funds pension lump sum (UFPLS)". It adds that these payments "will be taxed as pension income and the normal PAYE rules will apply to them."
How drawdown is taxed and how a pension tax code works explain the mechanics, and the tax-free lump sum guide covers which part of a withdrawal is tax free. HMRC's manual describes two ways an excess comes back: a refund claimed "in-year", before the tax year ends, or HMRC's own review afterwards if no claim is made.
Which form do you use to claim the tax back?
HMRC's refund guidance says "There are different ways to claim depending on the type of payment you've received", and warns that choosing the wrong form may hold up your refund. For a flexible withdrawal, the forms are matched to how much of the pot you took. The conditions below are quoted as each form prints them.
| Form | HMRC's title | When the form says to use it |
|---|---|---|
| P55 | Claim back tax on a flexibly accessed pension overpayment | "if the following applies": "you've flexibly accessed your pension"; "you've only taken part of your pension pot and will not be taking regular payments"; "the pension body is unable to make any tax refund" |
| P53Z | Claim a tax refund when you've flexibly accessed all of your pension | For a lump sum "where you've": "taken a pension flexibility payment which used up all your fund"; the same list also names other lump sums and "received a P45 from your pension provider" |
| P50Z | Claim a tax refund if you've stopped work and flexibly accessed all of your pension | "if any of the following apply": "you've taken a pension flexibility payment which used up all of your pension pot and you've had a form P45 from your pension provider"; "you're not claiming one of the taxable benefits" the form lists; "you do not expect to go back to work"; "you've retired permanently and you're not getting a pension from your old employer"; "you've returned to full-time study" |
HMRC's PAYE Manual draws the same split. The P50Z scenario is a member who withdraws the whole pot and "has no other existing PAYE/Pension income or is only in receipt of state retirement pension". The P53Z scenario is a member who has withdrawn the whole pot and has "one or more existing employments and / or multiple pensions". The P55 scenario is a member who "does not withdraw all of their pension pot". So the questions that decide the form are whether you emptied the pot and whether you have other income that is still being taxed.
The P50Z form also lists cases where it should not be used, including when "the payment you've received has not extinguished your whole pension fund", for which it points to the P55. For "a one-off lump sum pension payment (Trivial Commutation or small pots)" it points to form P53 instead; how small pots are taxed covers those. If you are unsure which applies, HMRC's online check, below, is its tool "to find out how to claim your refund".
How do you claim online or by post, and how long does it take?
The starting point is GOV.UK's Check how to claim a tax refund on your pension. It says you may be able to claim if you have "flexibly accessed all, or some, of your pension" or "stopped working and taken all your pension". To use it you need your National Insurance number, "the amount of pension payment and tax taken from it" and details of "any other taxable income" you expect to receive, plus payment details for you or your nominee. It adds that "To claim online, you'll need to sign in to use the service", and you can create sign-in details if you have none.
If you cannot claim online, HMRC's guidance on claiming by post gives these steps: check which form to use, print it, fill it in by hand and post it to HMRC at the address given at the end of the form. The forms ask for details of other income you expect in the tax year, and the P55 says that if you do not know the final figures you should "enter the most accurate estimates you can." Estimates are where a second pair of eyes helps: send a short note with the form on this page, and before anything is posted an FCA-authorised adviser can check pots, earnings and State Pension with you.
Once a claim is in, HMRC will "work out any repayment due to you" and pay it "by Faster Payments into a bank account held in your name or your nominee's". At the end of the tax year it will check "again to make sure we've refunded the correct amount and will contact you if this is different", so a refund made on estimates can be revisited.
To see how long your claim should take, HMRC points to its check when you can expect a reply tool, which shows "when you can expect to receive a reply from HMRC to a query or request you've made".
A P45 from your provider matters too. HMRC's manual says that for a one-off payment "the scheme administrator will issue a P45", which "will enable the member to claim any tax refund that might be due in-year", and the P53Z and P50Z both refer to it.
If you are not resident in the UK for tax purposes, all three forms say you do not need to complete them and send you instead to GOV.UK's page on being taxed twice; UK pension tax for people living abroad covers the wider picture.
What happens if you do nothing?
HMRC's PAYE Manual says that in all of the scenarios, "if no contact / repayment request is made we will automatically review the position after the end of the tax year and issue a tax calculation to the customer detailing any over or underpayment of tax." So the money can come back without a claim, only later.
GOV.UK's guide to tax overpayments and underpayments says that after the tax year HMRC sends either a tax calculation letter (a P800) or a Simple Assessment letter, which "will tell you how to get a refund or pay tax you owe", and that "The letters are sent out between June and March of the following tax year". Those registered for Self Assessment have their bill adjusted automatically instead (declaring pension income on a tax return).
So the choice is between waiting for HMRC's review and claiming sooner. Which suits a reader depends on how much was taken, what else they receive and whether the money is needed now. Where the rest of the pot stays invested, its value can fall as well as rise and you may get back less than was paid in, which matters when deciding how much more to take while a refund is pending.
Questions people ask about reclaiming pension tax
How much emergency tax will I pay on a pension withdrawal?
It depends on the tax code the provider uses and on the size of the payment. To claim, GOV.UK's refund check asks for "the amount of pension payment and tax taken from it". How drawdown withdrawals are taxed sets out the general rules.
Can I avoid emergency tax on a first withdrawal?
Only in the cases the manual sets out. If a member has a P45 from a previous source "dated on or after 6 April in the current year", the scheme administrator will operate the code on that P45 on a month 1 basis, and a provider already paying you under a code may use it for a flexible payment only "if they are being made at the same time". Otherwise the emergency code applies. Ways of lowering tax on withdrawals more generally are in reducing tax on pension drawdown.
Does emergency tax apply to every later withdrawal?
The manual says a fund that is not emptied by the first payment "will be treated as an ongoing PAYE source", and that HMRC issues a tax code to be used on later payments. Where a repayment is made on a P55 claim, "a new tax code will be issued to the administrator" so that future payments use the right code. How regular withdrawals work is in the pension drawdown guide and taking money out of a pension.
Is this the same as pension tax relief?
No. A refund of emergency tax corrects tax taken from a withdrawal, whereas tax relief is added to money paid in; pension tax relief explains it, and tax on pension income covers how withdrawals are taxed overall.
Where the refund is only part of the story, say how much to draw next year and from which pot, an FCA-authorised adviser can talk that through by phone once your name and number reach them through the form on this page.
Sources: HMRC, Claim a tax refund on your pension by post; HMRC, Check how to claim a tax refund on your pension; HMRC PAYE Manual, PAYE94055 and PAYE76170; HMRC forms P55, P53Z and P50Z; GOV.UK, Tax overpayments and underpayments; MoneyHelper, Pension Wise (archived copy). Accessed 18 October 2026.