Claim a tax refund if you've stopped work and flexibly accessed all of your pension (P50Z)
Source: gov.uk (2025-05-01)

How to claim a refund in the current tax year if you've stopped working, have flexibly accessed and emptied your pension pot, and have a P45 from your pension provider.

You can claim back tax we owe you on a recent pension flexibility payment (https://www.gov.uk/pension-administrators-annual-and-lifetime-allowance-statements) if you’ve emptied your pension pot and the following apply:
- you’ve stopped work and do not expect to go back to work
- you’ve flexibly accessed your whole pension and have a P45 from your pension provider
- you’re not claiming a taxable state benefit (https://www.gov.uk/income-tax/taxfree-and-taxable-state-benefits)
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 and you’re not receiving any income
Before you start

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

If you’re not a UK resident for tax purposes, 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).

When you should not use this form

Do not complete this form if:

you’re unemployed and expect to start a new job within 4 weeks — hand your new employer parts 2 and 3 of your P45 and they’ll make any repayment due to you through your salary

you’re claiming a taxable state benefit (https://www.gov.uk/income-tax/taxfree-and-taxable-state-benefits) — wait until after the next 5 April, or until your benefit claim ends (if this is sooner) and Jobcentre Plus will send you a repayment

the pension flexibility payment has not emptied your pension pot — use form P55 (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/claim-back-tax-on-a-flexibly-accessed-pension-overpayment-p55)

you’ve received a serious ill health lump sum, or have flexibly accessed all of your pension and have other income — use form P53Z (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/claim-a-tax-refund-when-youve-flexibly-accessed-all-of-your-pension-p53z)

you’ve had a one-off lump sum pension payment — use form P53 (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/claim-a-tax-refund-when-youve-taken-a-small-pension-lump-sum-p53) for trivial commutation or small pots

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 Pay As You Earn (PAYE) and Self Assessment income, we will not include any Self Assessment income in calculating your repayment, unless you ask us to do so.

Claim online

The quickest way to claim is 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.

Claim now (https://www.tax.service.gov.uk/digital-forms/form/claim-tax-back-when-you-have-stopped-working-flexible-pension/draft/guide?_ga=2.81377297.761811874.1679991172-1654839305.xx-xxxx-xxxx)

Complete this form online if you cannot sign in

To use this form, 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/claim-for-repayment-of-tax-when-you-have-stopped-working-P50z).

Print the form.

Sign the declaration.

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

If you do not wish to start your claim online

(https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/668ea625fc8e12ac3edafa8d/P50Z_05-24.pdf)

Form P50Z (https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/668ea625fc8e12ac3edafa8d/P50Z_05-24.pdf)

PDF, 285 KB, 5 pages

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Print the form.

Complete the form.

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

What happens next

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

It may take 14 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).

If you do not have a bank or building society account, tell us the name and address of someone who does, so we can make the payment to them.

We will send a payable order to you or your nominee.

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

Information you’ll need to claim

You’ll need:
- your National Insurance number
- your employer PAYE reference number — if you have it
- 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)
You’ll also need to confirm:
- the amount of pension flexibility payment and amount of tax deducted from it
- details of any income you’ve received since you stopped working and any tax paid
- details of any state benefits you have received since the start of the tax year
- if you have parts 2 and 3 of your P45, the amounts of pay you received and tax you paid
- your payment details, or your nominee’s, if you are due a refund