Tax credit exemptions no longer valid from 6 April 2025

Tax credit payments made by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) are ending on Saturday 5 April 2025. After this date, people who hold a tax credit exemption certificate will no longer receive automatic entitlement to free NHS prescriptions under the ‘Tax Credit exemption certificate’ category as it will no longer be a valid prescription charge exemption reason.

People receiving tax credits are being moved to Universal Credit. It is important to note that Universal Credit does not automatically entitle patients to help with their health costs. To continue being entitled to free NHS prescriptions, patients must meet the Universal Credit criteria for help with health costs or qualify under another valid exemption reasons.  More information can be found on the NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) website here.

Although the exemption category ‘Tax Credit exemption certificate’ (EPS code 0013 or labelled ‘M’ on paper forms) will no longer be valid from 6 April 2025, prescriptions dispensed on or before the 5 April 2025 using this exemption category may still be claimed after 5th April 2025.

The reverse of FP10 prescription forms and EPS tokens will be updated in due course to remove the ‘Tax Credit exemption certificate’ category. We will update pharmacy teams as soon as we receive a timeline for this change.

If your pharmacy PMR system is enabled with Real Time Exemption Checking (RTEC) this can be used to find out if a patient has a valid exemption before dispensing their prescription. If an exemption is confirmed by RTEC, patients will not need to provide any proof of entitlement to free prescriptions and will not need to make a declaration on the reverse of the EPS token.

Patients can be directed to the NHSBSA eligibility checker to check if they are entitled to free NHS prescriptions. If a patient is unsure of their entitlement to free NHS prescriptions, pharmacy staff should advise the patient to pay for their prescription and provide them with an  FP57 receipt and refund form at the point of payment. To claim a refund, the patient can return to any community pharmacy with their FP57 form along with evidence of their entitlement to free NHS prescriptions.