As an ST8, you are likely paying for GMC, BMA, medical indemnity, your college and your CCT application.
A typical ST8 pays £2,494 a year on these. £962 of it can come back from HMRC, if you keep the receipts.
Estimates from published fees for a typical full-time ST8. Yours might differ. Fees checked on against each body’s own fee page.
ST8 take-home pay after tax and NHS Pension ›ST8 tax rebate on fees, back four years ›
What you pay, receipt by receipt
Three fees come with every ST8, 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 and CCT, in surgery
ST8 is shown for surgery only. There is no exam in a typical ST8 year, so the extra costs are your college membership, the JCST / ISCP trainee fee and the one-off GMC fee to apply for your CCT, the certificate of completion of training.
The last slip adds it all up, with the three fees above.
Surgery three more receipts
RCS Englandforwarded email
Membership
Standard member rate
Total£336.00
✓ HMRC tax back
ST8 · Surgerya typical year, with the three costs above
You pay in total£2,494
HMRC, 40%£962
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 ST8 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 ST8 year
Your trust pays back the first two attempts at a royal college exam, for sittings from 1 April 2026. The pathway here has no 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. The estimate uses 40% for an ST8. 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 ST8, 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.
- The GMC receipt for your CCT application is a one-off that is easy to lose.
- Your RCS England and JCST / ISCP 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, college, JCST / ISCP and CCT fees 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 (ST8) are typically eligible for £962 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.