As a DFT, you are likely paying for GDC, BDA and dental indemnity.
A typical DFT pays £918 a year on these. £184 of it can come back from HMRC, if you keep the receipts.
Estimates from published fees for a typical full-time DFT. Yours might differ. Fees checked on against each body’s own fee page.
DFT take-home pay after tax ›DFT tax rebate on fees, back four years ›
What you pay, receipt by receipt
This page is for dentists in dental foundation training. Every DFT pays three things. The GDC charges a yearly retention fee to keep you on the dental register. The BDA charges for graduate membership, at the first-year rate. And you pay for dental indemnity. For foundation dentists, MDDUS, the DDU and Dental Protection all publish the same price.
Together that is £918 a year, with no royal college exam in a typical DFT year. The last slip adds them up. You can get tax back on all three, if you claim it.
GDCcard statement
Annual retention fee
Retention year 2026
Total£698.00
✓ HMRC tax back
BDAcard statement
Membership
Graduate year 1
£17.50 a month
Total£210.00
✓ HMRC tax back
Dental defenceinvoice.pdf
Dental defence membership
Same at MDDUS, DDU and Dental Protection
Total£10.00
✓ HMRC tax back
DFTa typical year
You pay in total£918
HMRC, 20%£184
Logos belong to their owners and show where each fee goes. Reimbsr is not affiliated with these bodies.
Who pays you back
At this grade only HMRC pays you back, and only when you ask. Your trust has nothing to pay back in a typical DFT year.
Nothing for this grade
There is no royal college exam in a typical DFT year, so there is no exam fee for your trust to pay back.
In England, trusts now pay back exam fees for sittings from 1 April 2026, and dental exams are included. That may matter after foundation training.
GDC, BDA and dental indemnity
HMRC gives back tax on fees you pay yourself, at your income tax rate. The estimate uses 20% for a DFT.
Claim on the P87, HMRC's form for claiming tax back on work costs you pay yourself (like GDC and BDA fees). It covers this tax year and the last four. Over £2,500 in a year, use a Self Assessment tax return instead.
Claiming is easy. Proving it, a year later, is not.
Nothing here is paid back unless you ask. HMRC looks back over this tax year and the last four, and wants you to show what you paid. But the GDC, the BDA and your indemnity provider bill you on different dates, in different places. By the time you claim, the paper trail has scattered.
- The GDC fee receipt is in an email you have since cleared out.
- BDA membership shows as a monthly amount, so the proof can be spread across twelve statements.
- Dental indemnity is a separate invoice from a separate body, so it sits apart from your GDC and BDA receipts.
- A P87 for earlier years means digging out statements from up to four tax years back.
Keep each receipt the day it arrives, and the claim is ready when you are.
Reimbsr keeps the proof from the day you pay
Nothing to remember: snap or forward each receipt when it arrives. Reimbsr reads the amount and date, works out who pays you back, and keeps it all ready for your P87.
- 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 (DFT) are typically eligible for £184 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.