Claim a tax refund when you've flexibly accessed all of your pension (P53Z)
Source: gov.uk (2025-04-05)

If you’ve received a serious ill-health pension lump sum or flexibly accessed all of your pension,  claim a tax refund with form P53Z .

You can claim back any tax we owe you on a pension lump sum with form P53Z if:
- you’re reclaiming tax because you’ve flexibly accessed (https://www.gov.uk/pension-administrators-annual-and-lifetime-allowance-statements) all of your pension
- you’ve received a serious ill health lump sum — to reclaim, in year, any overpaid tax on these lump sums
You’ll need to use form P53 instead (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/claim-a-tax-refund-when-youve-taken-a-small-pension-lump-sum-p53) if you have taken:

all of your pension as cash — trivial commutation of a pension fund

a small pension as a lump sum

Before you start

You’ll need to:

Tell us about any other income you expect to get during the tax year.

Check you have part 2 and 3 of all forms P45 from your pension payments — we’ll not be able to deal with the claim without the P45.

You can tell us the estimated figures if you do not have final figures. You’ll need to use whole numbers, rounded down to the nearest pound. We’ll make checks at the end of the tax year and contact you if the amount is different.

You should keep this paperwork until these checks are done.

Claim online

You’ll need to sign in to use this service. If you do not already have sign in details, you’ll be able to create them.

Start now (https://www.tax.service.gov.uk/digital-forms/form/Repayment-flexi-pension-lump-sum/draft/guide?_ga=2.27990588.xx-xxxx-xxxx.1689696973-52690837.xx-xxxx-xxxx)

Complete this form online if you cannot sign in

You can use our interactive guidance. You’ll need to:

Get all of your information together before you start. You will fill this form in online and you cannot save your progress.

Start your claim online (https://www.tax.service.gov.uk/guidance/claiming-back-tax-paid-on-a-flexibly-accessed-pension-lump-sum-P53Z).

Print the form.

Sign the declaration.

Post to HMRC.

Pay As You EarnHM Revenue and CustomsBX9 1AS

If you do not wish to start your claim online

(https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/67d998f45bad4b1a7f01ed90/P53Z_2025.pdf)

P53Z form (https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/67d998f45bad4b1a7f01ed90/P53Z_2025.pdf)

PDF, 672 KB, 9 pages

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Print the form.

Fill it in by hand.

Post it to HMRC (the address is at the end of the form).

What happens next

We’ll work out any repayment due to you and we’ll send you a payable order. We can send this direct to you at your home address or to your nominee’s address. The payable order can only be paid into an account held in your name or your nominee’s.

Repayments cannot be made by Bacs (Bankers Automated Clearing Service).

Find out when you can expect to receive a reply from HMRC to a query or request you’ve made (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/check-when-you-can-expect-a-reply-from-hmrc).

Information you’ll need to claim

You’ll need your:

National Insurance Number

employer PAYE reference number — if you have it

parts 2 and 3 of your p45 — if not tell us why (for example, you may be retired, or a UK Crown servant employed abroad)

self-employment profits made in this tax year — if there are any

Your P45 shows how much tax you’ve paid on your salary so far in the tax year (6 April to 5 April).

You’ll also need to confirm if you’ve had any:

pensions from a former employer

public service pensions

forces pensions

personal pension annuities

small pensions paid as lump sums (trivial commutation)

State Pension

taxable benefits from 6 April in the current tax year

You should also check if you’ve had any income from:

property

trusts

commissions

tips

foreign income

profits paid out on UK life insurance policies

any other source you have not entered on the form