Salaried GP plus locum income: tax return records

The salaried gp plus locum income money model

The money model is mixed: PAYE tax may already be deducted from salary, while locum income may arrive gross or through chambers. Professional expenses such as indemnity, GMC, courses, equipment and mileage may relate to one or both income streams.

GP accounting is rarely just a normal sole-trader or limited-company workflow. NHS income, partnership profit shares, drawings, PCN funding, superannuation, premises and sessional income can all sit in different reports.

Examples where this gets messy

• A salaried GP assumes PAYE tax covers locum sessions paid gross.
• Chambers fees are deducted before payment, so gross locum income is unclear.
• Indemnity covers both salaried and locum work.
• Mileage between surgeries is mixed with ordinary commuting.
• Pensionable locum income records arrive separately from invoices.

How to brief an accountant

Brief the accountant with a two-column summary: employment income and locum income. Then list shared expenses and ask how each should be allocated or treated.

A good brief should say what changed in the year, what is still uncertain, which deadlines are close, and which numbers are estimates. That saves the first call from becoming a vague price conversation and lets the accountant quote for the real work: bookkeeping cleanup, accounts, tax return, payroll, VAT, pension forms, management accounts or one-off advice.

Situation notes

• PAYE salary does not mean locum income is already taxed.
• Chambers deductions should be reconciled to gross income.
• Shared professional costs need an evidence-based allocation.

These situations are exactly where generic accountancy pages become too shallow. The page should help you name the issue, collect evidence and ask the accountant a practical question rather than asking for a broad opinion.

A simple monthly workflow

For salaried gp plus locum income, monthly discipline is usually more valuable than a long year-end cleanup. Start with the source report, not the bank feed. For this topic, that usually means checking p60, payslips and tax code notices., locum invoices, statements and payment records. and chambers statements and fee deductions. before the numbers are summarised. Then reconcile the report to money received or paid, label any deductions, and keep a short note for anything that looks unusual.

The note does not need to be polished. A useful note might say that a payment was a prior-month adjustment, a deduction was taken before the bank receipt, a partner's drawings changed from a certain date, a clinician moved practice, an invoice included equipment and installation, or a pension statement has not arrived yet. Those notes make the accountant's work faster because they explain why the bank movement and the tax figure may not match.

At year end, build one folder for source documents and one summary sheet. The source folder proves the figures; the summary sheet helps the accountant navigate them. If you only keep the summary, the accountant may still need to ask for the original documents. If you only keep the originals, the accountant may spend extra time rebuilding the story from scratch.

What a useful accountant answer looks like

A useful accountant answer should be more specific than "that should be fine". For salaried gp plus locum income, ask for a short explanation of the treatment, the records relied on, the assumptions made and the items still uncertain. If the question affects VAT, payroll, pension, employment status, goodwill, capital allowances or partner profit share, ask whether the answer should be reviewed again before filing or before a transaction completes.

The best output is a decision trail. It might say which report was used as the gross income source, how deductions were treated, which costs were excluded, how a partner or associate figure was allocated, whether an official threshold or relief was checked, and what should be monitored next month. That decision trail is useful for the current return and for future years, because the same issue often returns with slightly different numbers.

Common mistakes

• Combining PAYE salary and locum receipts into one income figure.
• Using net locum payments where gross statements exist.
• Claiming ordinary commuting as business mileage.
• Forgetting pension records linked to locum work.

The safer approach is to keep source reports and accountant notes together. If a number is later queried, you want to show how the figure moved from the original report into the accounts or tax return.

When to speak to an accountant

Speak to an accountant before the tax return or accounts deadline if the figures affect drawings, partner profit share, NHS pension records, payroll, VAT, premises, capital accounts or a change in role. Waiting until all reports are closed can make the cleanup more expensive.

Questions to ask an accountant

• Do I need Self Assessment for my locum income?
• Should locum income be treated as self-employed income?
• How do chambers fees appear in the accounts?
• Which professional expenses can be reviewed?
• How should pension records be handled?
• What tax should I set aside from locum sessions?

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