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How to use form R40 to reclaim tax on savings interest and investment income

Before April 2016, banks automatically deducted 20% tax from savings interest and paid it to HMRC.

Non-taxpayers and low-income savers had to reclaim it using R40.

Since 2016, banks pay interest gross — so R40 is less commonly needed for savings.

But R40 is still valuable for reclaiming tax on pension lump sums taxed at the wrong rate, PPI refunds, and other income taxed at source.

This walkthrough covers who can use R40, when it is better to file an SA100 instead, and exactly what information HMRC needs.

✓ Official source checked 2 September 2026 · GOV.UK last updated that page 13 November 2025R40 on GOV.UK
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United KingdomInformational, not legal or financial adviceOfficial source: GOV.UK
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This is the same official R40 file HM Revenue & Customs publishes on GOV.UK — the link below fetches the current version live from GOV.UK the moment you click it, so it can never go out of date.

Current version: November 2025 · confirmed on GOV.UK 2 September 2026

This walkthrough takes R40 field by field, in plain English. Most of the form is straightforward; the hard part is knowing whether R40 is even the right form. Since April 2016 banks pay interest gross, so R40 is now mostly for reclaiming emergency tax on a one-off pension lump sum, the interest element of a PPI payout, or trust distributions — and for a pension overpaid in the current tax year, the P55, P53Z or P50Z is usually quicker.

The form most people no longer need — and the cases where it still pays
Not realising that from April 2016, most bank interest is paid gross (without tax deducted).

R40 is no longer useful for reclaiming tax on ordinary bank interest — because HMRC stopped requiring banks to deduct tax at source.

The personal savings allowance (£1,000 for basic-rate taxpayers) means most people pay no tax on savings interest at all.

R40 is now most commonly used for: pension lump sums taxed at the emergency rate; PPI compensation with tax deducted; and certain investment trust or unit trust distributions.
The form, in summary

The R40 form, in summary.

Valoren
R403 pages22 fields guided
With Valoren15 minutes
Without Valoren30–60 minutes
Deadline
4 yearsfrom end of the
tax year of income
Who Files
Taxpayeror executor for
deceased's tax year
£
Fee
Freerepayment claim
to HMRC
Filed with HMRC
Draws from your Estate File
the records this form is built from
PersonalFinancial Accounts·Digital Access Map·Asset Inventory·Income & Outgoings·Civil Dossier·Policy Index·Legal Instruments·Medical Abstract·Property Folio·Succession Plan·Digital Legacy Registry·Business Interests & Directorships·Funeral & Committal Wishes·Dependent Care & Handoff·Personal Record·RegistryMaster Registry·Renewal Register·People, Authority & Contacts·Designated Places·Kinship & Succession Map·SecureAccess Controls·Recovery Routes·Custody & Contingency·EventsDeath & Estate Activation·Incapacity & Medical Proxy·Absence & Continuity Cover·Access Loss & Identity Recovery·Legal Dispute & Evidence Protocol·Theft & Asset Compromise·Property Damage & Incident Response·Relocation & Address Update Protocol·Separation & Custody Documentation·Business Interruption & Continuity·PersonalFinancial Accounts·Digital Access Map·Asset Inventory·Income & Outgoings·Civil Dossier·Policy Index·Legal Instruments·Medical Abstract·Property Folio·Succession Plan·Digital Legacy Registry·Business Interests & Directorships·Funeral & Committal Wishes·Dependent Care & Handoff·Personal Record·RegistryMaster Registry·Renewal Register·People, Authority & Contacts·Designated Places·Kinship & Succession Map·SecureAccess Controls·Recovery Routes·Custody & Contingency·EventsDeath & Estate Activation·Incapacity & Medical Proxy·Absence & Continuity Cover·Access Loss & Identity Recovery·Legal Dispute & Evidence Protocol·Theft & Asset Compromise·Property Damage & Incident Response·Relocation & Address Update Protocol·Separation & Custody Documentation·Business Interruption & Continuity·
Legal basisStatute

R40 is a simplified claim form for individuals who do not file Self Assessment (SA100) but who want to reclaim tax deducted at source from savings interest or investment income.

Since April 2016, UK banks and building societies no longer deduct tax from savings interest automatically — but some income sources still have tax deducted (certain NS&I products, some pension providers, and distributions from unit trusts).

R40 can also be used by PRs to reclaim tax overpaid on the deceased's behalf for the tax year of death, although the more common route is through the deceased's final SA100.

Section by section

The form, section by section.

Before you start, you’ll need:
  • Who Files — The individual taxpayer (or the executor on behalf of the deceased's estate for tax years up to the date of death)
  • 3 pages · 22 fields guided
  • Draws from your Estate File — Financial Accounts
Section 1

Who should use R40 — and who should file SA100 instead

R40 is for people who do not normally file a Self Assessment tax return but have had tax deducted from a specific source and want it back.

If you already file SA100, use that instead — you simply include the income and credit the tax deducted.

Use R40 if

You are below the personal allowance (£12,570 in 2024/25) and have had tax deducted from income.

You received a pension lump sum or trivial commutation payment and emergency PAYE code was applied (this is extremely common for pension pots taken as one-off lump sums).

You received a PPI (payment protection insurance) compensation payment that had tax deducted on the interest element.

You received distributions from a real estate investment trust (REIT) with basic-rate tax already deducted.

Do not use R40 if

You already file an SA100 — include the income and tax credit on the return instead.

Your income is above the personal allowance and no tax was actually overpaid.

You want to reclaim tax on savings interest at a bank or building society — they pay interest gross since 2016, so there is nothing to reclaim in most cases.

Executors using R40

Executors can use R40 to reclaim tax on behalf of the deceased for income received before death.

This is an alternative to the deceased's final SA100, and may be simpler if the only overpayment is from a single source such as emergency-taxed pension income.

For all other estate income (received after death), use SA900.

4-year time limit

You have 4 years from the end of the relevant tax year to make an R40 claim.

For income received in tax year 2023/24 (year ended 5 April 2024), the deadline is 5 April 2028.

HMRC does not normally grant extensions for late R40 claims.

R40 is for people who do not normally file a Self Assessment tax return but have had tax deducted from a specific source and want it back.

HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) · R40
Section 2

Pension lump sums — the most common R40 use case

When someone takes their pension pot as a lump sum (or if a pension provider makes a payment from the pension after the member's death), the payment is often taxed at an emergency rate — sometimes 40% or even 45% — because the provider has no other information about the payee's total income. R40 is how you get the overpaid tax back.

Why emergency tax is applied

Pension providers must operate PAYE on lump sum payments.

If they have no current PAYE code for the individual, they apply an emergency code — which typically taxes the payment as if it were the only income earned in that month, grossed up to annual.

For a £20,000 lump sum, this can result in 40% or more tax being deducted, even if the person is a non-taxpayer or basic-rate taxpayer on their total annual income.

How to reclaim

The pension provider will give you a P45 or payment statement showing the amount paid and tax deducted.

Use these figures on R40.

HMRC will calculate the correct tax on the payment in the context of your total annual income and repay any overpayment.

Alternatively, contact HMRC directly on 0300 200 3300 with the P45 — sometimes they can process the repayment without a formal R40.

Post-death pension payments

If a pension provider pays a death benefit to the estate, the payment may have emergency tax deducted.

The executor can reclaim via R40 (if it was before death, using the deceased's tax position) or via SA900 (if it was paid to the estate after death, treated as estate income).

Most pension death benefits paid to a nominated beneficiary (not the estate) are paid without tax and do not need R40.

HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) · R40

Many people file R40 themselves — that is what this walkthrough is for. If the estate behind it has stopped being simple — inheritance tax to pay, a trust, foreign assets, a dispute — Signum, Valoren’s own specialist desk, can take it on, and we say so plainly: it starts with a free intake, and if you do not need us, we will tell you. Prefer an independent adviser? STEP and the Chartered Institute of Taxation both keep public member directories, and neither pays Valoren a referral fee.

FAQ

R40 questions, answered.

R40 is HMRC's simplified claim form for reclaiming tax that was deducted at source from savings or investment income, used by people who do not file a Self Assessment return (SA100).

Since April 2016 banks pay interest gross, so today it is most often used to reclaim emergency tax on a one-off pension lump sum, tax taken from the interest element of a PPI compensation payment, or basic-rate tax on certain trust and investment-trust distributions.
The individual taxpayer — typically someone whose income is below the personal allowance (£12,570 in 2024/25, frozen into 2025/26; check the current year) or within the personal savings allowance, who has had tax deducted and wants it back.

An executor can also use R40 to reclaim tax on the deceased's behalf for income received before death; for income the estate receives after death, the route is SA900.
You have 4 years from the end of the tax year in which the income was received to make the claim (Taxes Management Act 1970 s.33).

For income received in 2023/24 — the tax year ended 5 April 2024 — the deadline is 5 April 2028.

HMRC does not normally grant extensions for late R40 claims.
No. R40 is free — it is a repayment claim to HMRC, not a paid application.
The figures showing tax already taken at source: a P45 or payment statement from the pension provider for a lump sum, the bank, building society or NS&I interest figures, and any PPI or trust-distribution voucher showing the tax deducted — plus your total income for that tax year so HMRC can work out the correct tax and repay the difference.
It depends on timing.

For pension money flexibly accessed in the current tax year, HMRC's dedicated in-year forms are usually quicker — P55 if you have only taken part of the pot, P50Z if you have emptied it and have no other income, and P53Z if you have emptied it but have other taxable income.

R40 is the route once the tax year has ended, or for non-pension sources such as PPI interest and trust distributions.

This is general information, not tax advice — for a complex estate, check HMRC's guidance and consider professional advice.

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Where this fits

R40 is one form. The file behind it is the rest.

Forms are easier when the records are ready.

For R40, that means the figures showing tax already deducted at source — a P45 or payment statement from the pension provider, the bank, building society or NS&I interest figures, and any PPI or trust-distribution voucher showing the tax taken — together with your total income for the tax year you're claiming.

When you're ready — not before — our £179 Executor's First Hour walks you through registering the death, notifying banks and pensions, and getting probate started, in the right order. The free checklist above covers the essentials; this is for when you'd rather have a hand to hold. Executor's First Hour — £179

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