As a consultant, you are likely paying for GMC, BMA, medical indemnity and your college fellowship.
A typical consultant pays £1,702 to £3,970 a year on these. The range is wide because medical indemnity and fellowships vary. £645 to £1,553 of it can come back from HMRC, if you keep the receipts.
Estimates from published fees for a typical full-time consultant. Yours might differ. Fees checked on against each body’s own fee page.
Consultant take-home pay after tax and NHS Pension ›Consultant tax rebate on fees, back four years ›
What you pay, receipt by receipt
Three fees come before your fellowship. The GMC annual fee keeps you registered, and the BMA charges for membership. Medical indemnity is quoted individually by the MDU, MPS and MDDUS, so its figure is an estimate with a wide range.
That is £1,372 to £3,072 a year before the fellowship. All three count for tax back: HMRC returns the income tax you paid on that money, once you claim it.
GMCreceipt.pdf
GMC annual fee
With a licence to practise
Total£481.00
✓ HMRC tax back
BMAcard statement
BMA membership
Annual subscription
Tax back on 85% of the fee
£49.25 a month
Total£591.00
✓ HMRC tax back
Then your college fellowship
One more fee: your royal college fellowship. The figure is an estimated range across the main colleges, and the receipt links to the fee pages at each end.
The last slip adds it all up, with the three fees above.
Consultanta typical year, with the three costs above
You pay in total£1,702 to £3,970
HMRC, 40%£645 to £1,553
Logos belong to their owners and show where each fee goes. Reimbsr is not affiliated with these bodies.
Who pays you back
As a consultant, nothing comes from your trust, so HMRC is the only one that pays you back, and only once you ask.
Nothing for a consultant post
Trusts in England pay back exam fees, and from April 2027 membership fees, for resident doctors and locally employed doctors, not consultants.
Your fellowship is not covered either, so it counts for tax back like the other three.
GMC, BMA, medical indemnity and fellowship
On fees you pay yourself, HMRC gives back tax at your income tax rate. The estimate uses 40% for a consultant. For the BMA, it counts 85% of the subscription. Medical indemnity and the fellowship are estimates.
You claim on the P87, HMRC's form for claiming tax back on work costs you pay yourself (like GMC and BMA fees). It covers this tax year and the last four. Over £2,500 in a year, you use Self Assessment instead.
Claiming is easy. Proving it, a year later, is not.
Four fees go to four bodies, each billed on its own date and sent to its own place. The medical indemnity invoice and the fellowship receipt are the two that show where in the range you fall. By the time you claim, nothing ties the four together.
- The fellowship receipt is a PDF saved under a name that does not say which year it covers.
- Medical indemnity varies widely, so without the invoice you are guessing at the figure.
- Four bodies each hold part of the record, and none holds all of it.
- The P87 covers this tax year and the last four, so the statements you need go back as far.
Keep each receipt the day it arrives, and the claim is ready when you are.
Reimbsr keeps the proof from the day you pay
At the end of the tax year, all four fees are already in one place, including the medical indemnity invoice and fellowship receipt that show your real figures. No old emails to search, no year of statements to piece together.
- Snap it or forward itSnap the receipt, forward the email to your own Reimbsr address, or add a drive. It reads the amount, date and claim deadline for you.
- See who pays you backEach expense is sorted into what your trust pays back and what HMRC gives tax back on, with the rule behind it. Not sure? Ask Reimbsr. It answers from published NHS and HMRC guidance, with sources, and in a grey area writes the question for you to send to medical staffing.
- Check it, then send itReimbsr builds one PDF with every line and receipt, and drafts the email to whoever approves your expenses. You check it and send it from your own email.
- Get your tax backIt fills in your P87 at the end of the tax year, on Free and Pro, so you get tax back on the fees your trust does not pay.
Doctors like you (Consultant) are typically eligible for £645 to £1,553 back as tax relief a year.It will be free to try; you may never need to upgrade. Pro is £49.99 a year (£0.96 a week), only if it saves you more than it costs. See pricing ›
Free to start. Upgrade only if it pays.
In keeping with making financially savvy decisions, Reimbsr will be free to try. Only upgrade to the Pro version (£0.96 a week) if you think the app can help you save more money than it costs.