Leaving the UK

How do I stop UK tax being deducted from my pension when I live abroad (the NT tax code)?

Answered by Jordan Onraet-Wells, Founder & Chartered Tax Adviser (CTA). Published 17 August 2026. Last reviewed 17 August 2026.

The short answer

You apply for an NT (No Tax) code, which tells your pension payer to pay you gross with no UK tax deducted at source. HMRC issues it where the double tax treaty between the UK and your country of residence gives that country the taxing rights over the pension, and for a pension the route is a DT-Individual treaty claim rather than the P85 form employees use. Advisory firms commonly cite around 12 to 16 weeks for the code to come through. The NT code only fixes future payments; tax already deducted has to be reclaimed separately.

The NT code means no UK tax is deducted at source; HMRC issues it where a double tax treaty gives your country of residence the right to tax that income.
For a UK pension the claim is made on form DT-Individual for your country of residence, certified by that country's tax authority where required.
The claim often needs a small trigger pension payment already in place, so HMRC has a live record to attach the code to.
Advisory firms commonly cite around 12 to 16 weeks for a pension NT code to come through; that is an indicative range, not an official HMRC figure.
An NT code is forward looking only: PAYE already deducted is reclaimed through a P85 or the SA109 residence pages of a Self Assessment return, and HMRC refunds by payable order into a UK bank account.

How the NT code works on a pension

The NT code is HMRC's instruction to your pension payer to stop deducting UK tax at source. It is issued where a double tax treaty gives your country of residence, not the UK, the right to tax the pension. For a UK pension paid to a treaty-resident retiree, the claim is made on the DT-Individual form for your country of residence: you complete it, have it certified by that country's tax authority where required, and submit it so HMRC can authorise the pension payer to pay gross. The claim often needs a small trigger pension payment to be in place first, so HMRC has a live record to attach the code to. Processing is not instant: advisory firms commonly cite around 12 to 16 weeks, which is an indicative range rather than an official HMRC figure, so plan your income around it cautiously. Our guide to double tax relief explains how treaty claims work more widely.

Employees use a different route

The DT-Individual route is specific to pensions. An employee of a UK employer going abroad for at least a complete tax year applies for an NT code through form P85 instead, which is the trigger HMRC uses to issue the code to the employer so future salary is paid gross. If you are drawing a pension and still have UK employment income, the two routes can run side by side. The full sequence of leaving-year forms, and which one applies to which income, is worked through in our P85, NT code and leaving-year refund guide.

Recovering the tax already deducted

An NT code stops future over-deduction but does not by itself recover tax already taken. That is a separate job: you reclaim it through a P85 if you are not in Self Assessment, or on the SA109 residence pages of your Self Assessment return if you are. Two practical points catch people abroad: HMRC pays refunds by payable order into a UK bank account in your name or a nominee's, and will not pay the fees to convert or send the money abroad, so keep a UK account open; and HMRC's free online filing service does not support the SA109, so non-residents file on paper or through commercial software. Horizon UK Tax Solutions handles the DT-Individual claim, the NT code and the refund end to end on a fixed fee agreed upfront; book a free 30 minute clarity call to get started.

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Sources and further reading

This is general information for the 2026/27 UK tax year, not personal tax advice; speak to a Chartered Tax Adviser about your own position.

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