Superannuation — the two-year confusion

The general rule is that a certificate is due no later than eleven months after the scheme year end, which lands on 28 February. The difficulty is which February.

28 February 2026 — the Estimate
Estimate of Pensionable Profits/Pay for 2026/27. Due before the year it estimates has even begun. Every GMS, PMS and APMS contractor.
28 February 2028 — the Annual Certificate
Annual Certificate of Pensionable Profits for 2026/27. Every Type 1 / GP provider and non-GP provider, one per contract. Two years after the estimate for the same year.
28 February 2028 — the Type 2 form
Type 2 Medical Practitioner Self-Assessment for 2026/27. Every salaried, long-term fee-based and career out-of-hours GP.
Worth knowingThe Type 2 form is the one most often missed, because nobody chases it and the consequence is invisible until retirement: an incomplete pension record. If you are salaried and have never completed one, that is worth resolving now rather than discovering it when the record is being finalised.

Monthly

GP Solo form — monthly
For a Type 1 or Type 2 practitioner doing self-employed ad hoc work. Monthly, not annual.

The contract year

1 April 2026
Global sum rises to £130.07 per weighted patient from £123.34. London Adjustment £2.18 per registered patient with a Greater London Authority postcode — a separate addition. Out-of-hours opt-out deduction 4.70% of Initial GSMP, £6.11 per weighted patient.

The reconciliation, and who pays for it

Arrears are the surgery’s, not the individual’s
NHSBSA, in terms: where a GP provider, non-GP provider or salaried GP has underpaid contributions, the arrears are paid by the surgery, not by the individual — even if they have left the surgery. And where there has been an overpayment, it is the surgery that is reimbursed, not the individual. The surgery must ensure it has suitable arrangements in place to cover the liability.
Worth knowingThis makes the partnership deed and the leaver mechanism the operative documents, not the pension forms. A departing partner's contribution shortfall lands on the continuing partners unless the deed says otherwise — and by the time it surfaces, on a certificate filed two years after the year it relates to, they have usually gone. NHSBSA's own worked example: a provider estimated at £70,000 whose certified actual is £80,000 owes further employee contributions on the difference, and further employer contributions at 14.38% on the £10,000.

Two pension deadlines that are not February

31 July — the Scheme Pays election
Form SPE2, by 31 July in the year following the tax year the charge relates to. A transition member must complete both parts — it is not possible to elect for one NHS scheme to pay the whole charge. NHSBSA advises not to delay an election while waiting for a pension savings statement: estimate the liability and elect.
6 October — the pension savings statement
Where NHSBSA receives the membership information it needs by 6 July, it writes by 6 October. Where the information arrives later, it has three months from receipt. A tapered GP may get no automatic statement at all, because statements are issued on growth above the standard allowance — so someone over their personal allowance but under £60,000 has to request one.
Worth knowingThe deadline extends where a statement is provided on or after 2 May: you must then notify before the earlier of three months from the date of the statement or six years from the end of the tax year. And note the difference in who carries the risk — under mandatory Scheme Pays the scheme becomes responsible for paying HMRC; under voluntary Scheme Pays you remain responsible for the charge and any interest if HMRC is paid after 31 January.

The ordinary tax dates

Self assessment on 31 January with payments on account on 31 January and 31 July; corporation tax nine months and one day after the period end where the practice has a company; PAYE monthly. None of that is specific to general practice, which is exactly why it is at the bottom of this page rather than the top.

One caveat if the practice has a year end other than 31 March or 5 April: 2023/24 transition profit is still spreading across 2023/24 to 2027/28, and DHSC and the Treasury have confirmed that pensionable pay on the Annual Certificate follows the tax return — so the same slice is spread for pension purposes as well. It inflates both the tax reserve and the pension input amount in years that otherwise look unremarkable.