As an ST7, you are likely paying for GMC, BMA, medical indemnity, your college and often a CCT application.
A typical ST7 pays £1,978 to £2,515 a year on these. £756 to £971 of it can come back from HMRC, if you keep the receipts.
Estimates from published fees for a typical full-time ST7. Yours might differ. Fees checked on against each body’s own fee page.
ST7 take-home pay after tax and NHS Pension ›ST7 tax rebate on fees, back four years ›
What you pay, receipt by receipt
Three fees come with every ST7, whatever the specialty. The GMC charges an annual fee to keep you registered. The BMA charges for membership. Medical indemnity is an estimate, because the MDU, MPS and MDDUS each quote individually.
That is £1,372 a year before any college fees or your CCT. 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 fees and CCT, by pathway
Your college fees depend on your specialty. Here are five common pathways. Each adds college fees, which count for tax back. Four of them also add the one-off GMC fee to apply for your CCT, the certificate of completion of training. Surgery does not show it this year.
No pathway has an exam in a typical ST7 year. The last slip in each row adds it all up, with the three fees above.
Medicine two more receipts
ST7 · Medicinea typical year, with the three costs above
You pay in total£2,055
HMRC, 40%£787
Surgery two more receipts
RCS Englandforwarded email
Membership
Standard member rate
Total£336.00
✓ HMRC tax back
ST7 · Surgerya typical year, with the three costs above
You pay in total£1,978
HMRC, 40%£756
Anaesthetics two more receipts
ST7 · Anaestheticsa typical year, with the three costs above
You pay in total£2,239
HMRC, 40%£860
Obstetrics and gynaecology three more receipts
ST7 · Obstetrics and gynaecologya typical year, with the three costs above
You pay in total£2,515
HMRC, 40%£971
Paediatrics two more receipts
RCPCHreceipt.pdf
Membership
Ordinary member in training
Total£388.00
✓ HMRC tax backST7 · Paediatricsa typical year, with the three costs above
You pay in total£2,276
HMRC, 40%£875
Logos belong to their owners and show where each fee goes. Reimbsr is not affiliated with these bodies.
Who pays you back
In a typical ST7 year there is no exam, so your trust has nothing to pay back. HMRC gives tax back on your fees, once you ask.
Nothing in a typical ST7 year
Your trust pays back the first two attempts at a royal college exam, for sittings from 1 April 2026. No pathway here has an exam this year, so there is nothing to claim.
From April 2027 your trust pays back royal college membership and portfolio fees too. Until then, they count for tax back instead.
Every receipt on this page
On fees you pay yourself, HMRC gives back tax at your income tax rate, including the one-off CCT fee if you pay it. The estimate uses 40% for an ST7. For the BMA, it counts 85% of the subscription.
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.
At ST7, everything comes back from HMRC, which covers this tax year and the last four. Your fees go to different bodies on different dates, and the receipts land in different places. The P87 feels like a job for another day.
- If you apply for your CCT this year, the GMC receipt is a one-off that is easy to lose.
- College and trainee fee receipts come from different bodies, on different dates.
- Your medical indemnity invoice sits apart from your GMC and BMA records, with nothing tying them together.
- The P87 means finding a year of statements in one sitting.
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, your GMC, BMA, medical indemnity and college fees, and any CCT fee, are already in one place, ready for your tax back. 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 (ST7) are typically eligible for £756 to £971 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.