Claim back Income Tax on a pension death benefit lump sum payment if you've stopped working P50Z(DB)
Source: gov.uk (2025-05-01)

How to claim a refund in the current tax year on a pension death benefit lump sum payment if you've stopped working.

You can claim back tax we owe you on a pension death benefit lump sum payment if you’ve emptied your pension pot and the following apply:
- you’re not claiming a taxable state benefit (https://www.gov.uk/income-tax/taxfree-and-taxable-state-benefits)
- you’ve stopped work and do not expect to go back
You can also claim if you’ve:
- retired permanently and you’re not getting a pension from your old employer
- returned to full-time study
Before you start

Only send this form when 4 weeks have passed since you stopped working or finished your pension.

Keep any paperwork relating to your claim until we’ve completed these checks.

If you’re not a UK resident for tax purposes (https://www.gov.uk/tax-foreign-income/residence), you do not need to fill in this form. You can check how to make a claim under a double taxation agreement (https://www.gov.uk/tax-foreign-income/taxed-twice).

If you fill in a Self Assessment tax return

If you fill in a tax return:
- do not include any estimated Self Assessment income in this claim, unless you want us to include this in calculating your repayment
- you’ll still need to pay any balancing payments owed and payments on account when due — you can ask us to use your repayment to lower your payments on account
- include any repayment you’ve received on your next Self Assessment tax return
- you must let us know when you no longer need to complete a Self Assessment tax return
If you’ve got PAYE (Pay As You Earn) and Self Assessment income, we will not include any Self Assessment income in calculating your repayment, unless you ask us to do so.

Information you’ll need to claim

You’ll need:
- your National Insurance number
- your employer PAYE reference number
- parts 2 and 3 of your P45 — if you do not have this, tell us why (for example, you may be retired, or a UK crown servant employed abroad)
- your nominee’s name and address — if you do not want the refund sent to your address
You’ll also need to tell us how much you expect to receive from:
- your death benefit lump sum payment
- employment income
- self-employment income
- any taxable state benefits — such as Employment and Support Allowance, Jobseeker’s Allowance, Incapacity Benefit
- any other income — including property, trusts, commissions
You should use:
- estimated figures if you do not have final figures
- 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.

Ways to claim

To start your claim online.

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

Fill in form P50Z(DB) (https://www.tax.service.gov.uk/guidance/claim-for-repayment-of-tax-when-you-have-stopped-working).

Print and post it to HMRC, using the postal address shown on the form.

If you do not want to start your claim online

(https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/65afd025f2718c0014fb1ba4/P50ZDB_0622.pdf)

Form P50Z(DB) (https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/65afd025f2718c0014fb1ba4/P50ZDB_0622.pdf)

PDF, 276 KB, 5 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 after you’ve claimed

Once we have received your completed claim, we’ll confirm if you are owed a refund or contact you if we need more information.

It may take 30 days to get a reply. You should not contact us during that period to check on progress.

You can check when you can expect a reply from HMRC (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/check-when-you-can-expect-a-reply-from-hmrc).

We will send a cheque to you or your nominee.